THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
by Mark Haddon
Vintage
Publication Date: May 18, 2004
From Goodreads:
Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor’s dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.
Well, that was quick.
Quick and really interesting. Even without knowing that author Mark Haddon had worked with autistic people, this felt like a very authentic perspective right from the beginning. Our main man, Christopher, gives us a peak at life through the eyes of an autistic boy and you can help but feel a wide range of emotions. Humour, sympathy, love, and even envy.
The book is written, as a book. Christopher acknowledges us, as the reader, a few times to explain a few things, which I found to be charming. Simple things like why he wrote something earlier, or why he wasn’t going to bother writing about something else, or why he numbered the chapters the way he did. That last one was something I had been wondering about until he revealed the reason.
This one was a lot of emotion packed into a small package. Everyone should read this book. At the very least, to gain perspective and reading it really felt like taking a little break from the world.
I have been meaning to read this one for ages. So glad you liked it! I have the audiobook downloaded already so I should really get to it!
I listened to the audiobook for this one as well. It was great! The narrator did a really great job of sounding like he was Christopher without getting ridiculous or insulting. Highly recommend it.
I’ve heard of this one but never really knew what it was about. So thank you for enlightening me. I’m still not sure it’s something I would read given how many books I already have in my TBR pile, but you did give me insight, so maybe.
I’ve wanted to read this for a while now. I have seen it around for a while now but maybe now I will pick it up!