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Product Description: 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.
This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years. Amazon.com: Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers. Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth, Amazon.ca Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
Misses the point
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," by author Mark Haddon, is the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, a fifteen-year-old boy who discovers his neighbor's dog dead and sets about to solve the mystery of who killed it, making many other discoveries along the way. In this book, readers are treated to a unique voice, not only in literature, but in life, as Christopher is developmentally disabled. He doesn't like other people and he doesn't like being touched; as a result, when confused or angry, he often screams, groans, or physically attacks others. In giving Christopher a voice, Haddon succeeds in showing us Christopher's humanity but ultimately falls short in fleshing him out as a character.
For many of us, seeing kids like Christopher can be a frightening experience. They can't communicate with us and often engage in behavior that seems unfamiliar, if not frightening. Over the course of the book, Christopher runs into many others who cast him as an outsider, if not an animal. As he goes to school, he is mocked: "[S]ometimes the children from the school down the road see us in the street when we're getting off the bus and they shout, 'Special Needs! Special Needs!'" Usually, Christopher is either at his school or with his family, so he does not engage with the public, but over the course of his journey to London, as he is forced to interact with others to figure out the train system, again Christopher's role as an outcast is clear, as people on the train term him a "train elf" and wonder whether they "should feed him some nuts." After he has an episode, he is left to sit on his bench in the train station alone, with nobody wanting to even be near him.
However, because we are allowed inside Christopher's mind, we can see that he is not an elf or a freak. In describing one of his episodes, Christopher says, "I felt giddy. It was like the room was swinging from side to side, as if it was at the top of a really tall building and the building was swinging backward and forward in a strong wind . . . I rolled onto the bed and curled up in a ball." Hearing about Christopher's outbursts in his own voice, we feel compassion for his experience instead of fear. While obviously he is different from us - he can multiply 251 by 864 in his head, he counts prime numbers when he is upset, and he lacks imagination - he is also similar. Like us, Christopher feels happiness and sadness. He is happy when he can pretend he is the only person in the whole world and sad when he finds the dead dog. Also, Christopher, like the rest of us, has dreams: he is going to pass his A-levels, take more A-levels, go to the university, and become an astronaut. In fact, by the end of the book, after he has passed his A-levels and makes plans to take further A-levels and finishes his book about who has killed his neighbor's dog, he knows he "can do anything."
Learning about Christopher's point of view, readers see that he is a person like the rest of us, but unfortunately Christopher is never fully fleshed out as a character because none of the other characters in the book are allowed to share our perspective and see him as a person. While Christopher may not be able to show his love or attachment to others, we should still see evidence that others love and are attached to Christopher. Instead, we learn from Christopher about his troubles with his mom: "Mother had hit me sometimes because she was a very hot-tempered person." His mother explains to him, "I'm not like your father. Your father is a much more pacient [sic] person." Although his mother does not seem to be able to understand or cope with Christopher, his father is the one who cooks Christopher's meals, cleans his clothes, looks after him when he is sick, and worries about him when he wanders off. Ultimately, though, his father turns out to be the book's biggest disappointment. Even before his character is sacrificed for a plot point, Christopher's father doesn't seem to be the advocate that Christopher needs or deserves. When a friend of his father's, Rhodri, treats Christopher like a trained seal and asks him to multiply 251 times 864, Christopher says, "I don't like it when Rhodri laughs at me. Rhodri laughs at me a lot. Father says it is being friendly." Instead of defending his son, Christopher's father defends the man who mocks him. Moreover, at another point, in the middle of an argument which Christopher does not understand, his father asks him, "How stupid are you?" While it is clear that Christopher's father cares about him and loves him, it is also clear that he doesn't recognize what makes Christopher special - he loves him in spite of his differences, not because of them. Christopher's father, the one who cares for him and loves him more than anyone else, does not recognize his own son's humanity.
This problem - that we, as readers, can see Christopher as a person, but the other characters in the book don't - seems to be the author's way of saying that, even though we should recognize the mentally disabled as people with their own "voice," there is still in fact a barrier that makes communicating with them difficult. Because we are able to get inside Christopher's head, he does not seem so different from us; he is someone who can, to some extent, communicate with us, and someone we can learn from. But what about other mentally disabled people whose voices we don't have access to? In the classic book, "Flowers for Algernon," we come to like the disabled protagonist, Charley Gordon, not because he is similar to us, but because he is different. His differences are what make him special, and when he loses these differences, his character becomes almost unlikeable. In the "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," however, we come to identify with Christopher because we can see that he shares some of our qualities - he is good at math, or he likes dogs, or his parents are having problems - and we choose to ignore his differences. He is not like the other people at his school - "All the other children at my school are stupid" - because he is going to pass his A-levels. In fact, the other "stupid" kids at his school are difficult to identify with - for example, Joseph Fleming, one of Christopher's classmates, who "eats everything," including "one of the little blocks of blue disinfectant which hang inside the toilets," "a 50 pound note from his mother's wallet," "string and rubber bands and tissues and writing paper and paints and plastic forks," and also "bangs his chin and screams a lot." Is this someone we can grow to like like Christopher or is this kid more like an "elf" or freak or someone we wouldn't want to sit near in the train station? In setting himself as different from this boy, Christopher in fact becomes "one of us" - someone who is not stupid and who can feel free to disregard the other people at his school. In truth, though, we probably shouldn't like Christopher for how he is one of us, but for his differences. In the end, a book like "Flowers for Algernon" makes a stronger point: we should not, as "Curious Incident" suggests, find the developmentally disabled tolerable because somewhere, somehow, they are like us, but instead we should recognize them for their differences, because that is what makes them special.
Rating:
Date: 2008-07-05
I tried SO HARD to like this book ...
Alas, while fascinating to understand the perspective of a child with special needs, it's just not entertaining. Read this to be edified, and to be grateful to be who you are and capable of all you can do ... but do not read this book for entertainment. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-03
I just can't make it through
This book was recommended to me by a co worker and supervisor who both loved the book. While I know it's fiction, I really am bothered by a non- autistic person trying to write from the perspective of a child with Autism. This disorder is so unique to each child, I just think there are plenty of Autistic Adults who could write a novel and do a better job. I work daily with a student with autism and I know there are things that are sterotypical but I would just prefer to read something more 'realistic" that is also fiction. I get irritated when people throw their perceptions on special needs kids, when they are capable of telling you themselves....I am sure this is my issue...you may love the book as my supervisor and co-worker, also in the field and working with Autism daily did.
It is a difficult read I am half way through, can't seem to keep going but I am told it will get better as I go. There is a lot of cursing in the book as well as the child has no spiritual beliefs, which is something that also bugs me because every child I have worked with in the past 3 years has had some form of spirituality in their life. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-26
A unique, entertaining story.
This story, though not actually a mystery, captivated me from the very beginning. Seeing the world through Christopher's eyes is both entertaining and educational. I've never read anything like this before. It's both simple and complex at the same time. I'm suggesting this book for my book club. This is a great book for anyone thirteen and older (my estimate). Rating:
Date: 2008-06-19
An amazingly accurate portrayal of a person with Asperger's.
I was amazed to find that Haddon doesn't actually have Asperger's. His portrayal is spot on. A fascinating and accurate look into the thought processes and experiences of a person with Asperger's.
Stephanie Moulton Sarkis PhD NCC LMHC
Author and Psychotherapist, specializing in ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders |
