The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
January 11, 2007 08:40 PM EST
views: 30
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rating: 9/10
(5 votes)
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comments: 5
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon What a super book. It was quick to read, and had me laughing all the way through. As a teacher of teenagers, it was an interesting insight to the mind of a 15 year old with autism. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is a young mathematical mind. He can not cope with people very well, a result of the autism. He has no friends, a limited functioning family, and a unique outlook on the world. The book is centered on an event that occurs in the night time, as the title suggests. Young Christopher finds his neighbor’s poodle dead, stabbed by a fork. Christopher goes to the animal, cradles it in his arms, and is the main suspect for the murder when he is caught in this precarious position by Wellington’s (the poodle in question) owner. Poor Christopher is arrested. This drives Christopher to begin his own investigation into the tragic demise of Wellington. A familiar social worker behooves Christopher to write a novel about the investigation. He does so in a rain man type fashion, naming chapters by his favorite prime numbers, and including illustrations to conceptualize what is going on in his superb mind. His quest for the truth leads him to uncover truths in his own life that were wholly unexpected. This first novel by Mark Haddon is something to make you say “WOW”.
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Comments: 5
It seems we might have the same taste in books, so let me now recommend a book to you. It's titled "Last Days of Summer" written by Steve Kluger. The whole book is comprised of newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, and letters exchanged between a professional baseball player (era 1940) and a rather precocious 12-year-old fan. Against all odds, these two become great friends (and this is all told without dialogue; just their letters back and forth). Witty, charming, and I'm not finished with it yet, but I fear it might have a tear-jerk ending. It's just so different from other books I've read in the same way "The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time" is different. Enjoy!
Jill