Goodreads | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

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How did this get on the counseling shelf?	8	5 days ago, 09:49AM

Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

06/22/08

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: anyone looking for a reason to quit reading cold-turkey

Absolute garbage. Easily the worst book I’ve read in 2008, and certainly a contender for Worst Book I’ve Ever Read. This crap won the prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year honors, and while I have absolutely no idea what that entails, I firmly support both the eradication of this farcical award and the crucifixion of anyone on the selection committee that nominated this stinking smegma.

I’d seen this book prominently featured at many shops (mayhap Oprah was currently endorsing it as...more

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Sean rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

08/29/07

bookshelves: readit

Read in January, 2005

recommends it for: anyone who has a soul

This book I read in a day. I was in a Chapters bookstore in Toronto (that's like Barnes and Noble to the Americans in the crowd) and anyway I was just browsing around, trying to kill time. When suddenly I saw this nice display of red books with an upturned dog on the cover. Attracted as always to bright colours and odd shapes, I picked it up. It's only about 250 pages or so. I read the back cover and was intrigued. I flipped through the pages and noticed that it had over One Million chapters. I ...more This book I read in a day. I was in a Chapters bookstore in Toronto (that's like Barnes and Noble to the Americans in the crowd) and anyway I was just browsing around, trying to kill time. When suddenly I saw this nice display of red books with an upturned dog on the cover. Attracted as always to bright colours and odd shapes, I picked it up. It's only about 250 pages or so. I read the back cover and was intrigued. I flipped through the pages and noticed that it had over One Million chapters. I was doubly intrigued.

So I walked over to the far wall of the bookstore to sit and begin to read a few pages. I always do this to ensure that I don't waste what little money I have on a book possessing nothing more than a flashy cover. (I do the same at the cinema - if I don't like the first 20 minutes, I get a refund. Restaurants, too: if I don't like the first ten bites, I walk out on the bill).

This is a book written by a Child Developmental Psychologist - I think that's the right term... - anyway, a doctor who works with mentally or physically challenged youngsters. The novel itself is a first person tale written by a high-functioning, mentally challenged boy in England who wakes up one morning to find his neighbor's dog dead on his lawn. The boy's teacher suggests he should write about the incident, which he eagerly sets out to do. So we have his first "novel", "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". He plays Inspector and tries to solve the mystery as Sherlock Holmes would do...

Of course, if he's going to write a book, that means he can take control. He hates the way other books have chapter numbers that increase sequentially (1,2,3). He prefers prime numbers and will number his chapters in sequential primes - hence, by the end of the book, you're reading chapter 123,314,124 or whatever (I ain't no math guy ;)

Now then, he also writes about other things in his life and through his perspective you get some tear-jerking moments of true, unobstructed humanity: the way his parents broke up because of his state, how he has all these dreams about being someone great and going to a top college, even though you know that his situation will never really allow it.

Anyway. I read this book cover to cover sitting on the floor of that Chapters bookstore. By the end of it I was absolutely bawling my eyes out. Never cried so much in my life. In fact, as I type this and think back on that story, I'm dripping on my keyboard (and I'm at my office!). However - these are tears of joy. The boy does it. He can do anything. It's the most uplifting book I've ever read.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels anything deep down inside. ...less

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lkt rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

05/29/07

Read in January, 2006

From my Amazon.com review:

"...I wrote a book and that means I can do anything..."

What a sad, strange book. Christopher's stream-of-consciousness narration was unique to say the least (I liked how he jumped around from topic to topic, because organized writing can become quite a bore). While I don't see this as a study on autism, many autistic characteristics are displayed - most notably, the OCD. Can't have one sort of food touching another sort on his plate, ...more From my Amazon.com review:

"...I wrote a book and that means I can do anything..."

What a sad, strange book. Christopher's stream-of-consciousness narration was unique to say the least (I liked how he jumped around from topic to topic, because organized writing can become quite a bore). While I don't see this as a study on autism, many autistic characteristics are displayed - most notably, the OCD. Can't have one sort of food touching another sort on his plate, can't eat anything yellow or brown, the rigid timetables, counting the cars, etc. Yet he is highly functional IF certain conditions are met:

-no one touches him
-no crowds
-no loud noises
-there is order/if things make sense (he always appreciates order when he discovers it in new places, such as the train stops in intervals of 15 minutes)

There are others, of course. But he's basically highly sensitive to his surroundings and cannot cope when strangers, touching, or unfamiliar situations get in the way of an otherwise peaceful existence consisting of his preferred white noise and solving math equations. His mind can't process emotions correctly; instead, he reacts to negative emotions by screaming and moaning. He doesn't think highly of anyone besides himself and scientists.

Anyway, I found Christopher's dreams about being one of the only persons left on earth to be fascinating. He loves it because he can do anything - he can walk to the sea and it's raining and he can take ice cream from an abandoned shop and he can put on dry clothes at an abandoned house and, etc...(I wonder how many times "and" is used in that book!). He can do whatever he wants and no one bothers him.

Christopher didn't like to imagine things in his head that weren't happening, and the above reference was of course referring to a dream, but when he would imagine himself as an astronaut, isn't that a lie? He could become an astronaut, but he isn't one yet. He would look down on regular people who imagined things that weren't real, and yet he finds no fault with himself for doing this. Just an inconsistency. I can seem him as an astronaut, however, and I think he would make an extraordinary scientist if all environmental conditions were met. It wouldn't be good to have a breakdown in a lab full of dangerous substances.

I was quite angry to find out the truth about his mother, and his reaction was to be expected, I think, although if it had happened to a "normal" person, the repercussions would be longer lasting. How did this not destroy him? He is very fragile and though it's true that he hated his father and couldn't trust him for the rest of the book, it seems to me that he should hate his mother much more. She could have made more of an effort to see him, I think. Two years passed!! Perhaps she could have showed up at his school one day since his dad wouldn't have her at the house.

Overall, a really intriguing book, and I loved the drawings (I used to make drawings of floor plans of my house, neighbors' houses, relatives' houses, and stores to put in my diaries when I was younger. I also made intricate schedules and cried if my schedule would be disrupted, but those are only mild OCD symptoms, nothing near Christopher's --it just made me understand him a little more. I also hated places with lots of people; I would run out and hide in the car after church, for example) and appreciated his math and science explanations..most of it made a lot of sense and was very educational. I'll have to look up more about "The Case of the Cottingley Fairies" - those real life mysterious happenings are so interesting to me.
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Beth rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

02/03/08

Read in February, 2008

A very charming, insightful, engaging book. From the perspective of a 15-year-old boy who has a kind of high-functioning autism (which may not be autism, actually, but Asberger's?).

Some mature themes. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“For example, this morning for breakfast I had Ready Brek and some hot raspberry milk shake. But if I say that I actually had Shreddies and a mug of tea (footnote: But I wouldn’t have Shreddies and tea because they are both brown.) I start thinki...more A very charming, insightful, engaging book. From the perspective of a 15-year-old boy who has a kind of high-functioning autism (which may not be autism, actually, but Asberger's?).

Some mature themes. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“For example, this morning for breakfast I had Ready Brek and some hot raspberry milk shake. But if I say that I actually had Shreddies and a mug of tea (footnote: But I wouldn’t have Shreddies and tea because they are both brown.) I start thinking about Coco Pops and lemonade and porridge and Dr Pepper and how I wasn’t eating my breakfast in Egypt and there wasn’t a rhinoceros in the room and Father wasn’t wearing a diving suit and so on and even writing this makes me feel shaky and scared, like I do when I’m standing on the top of a very tall building and there are thousands of houses and cars and people below me and my head is so full of all these things that I’m afraid that I’m going to forget to stand up straight and hang on to the rail and I’m going to fall over and be killed. This is another reason why I don’t like proper novels…” pg. 19

“I said that I wasn’t clever. I was just noticing how things were, and that wasn’t clever. That was just being observant. Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new. Like the universe expanding, or who committed a murder. Or if you see someone’s name and you give each letter a value from 1 to 26 (a = 1, b =2, etc.) and you add the numbers up in your head and you find that it makes a prime number, like Jesus Christ (151), or Scooby-Doo (113), or Sherlock Holmes (163), or Doctor Watson (167).

Mr. Jeavons asked me whether this made me feel safe, having things always in a nice order, and I said it did.
Then he asked if I didn’t like things changing. And I said I wouldn’t mind things changing if I became an astronaut, for example, which is one of the biggest changes you can imagine, apart from becoming a girl or dying.” pg. 25

“Mrs. Alexander didn’t say anything. She walked to the little red box on a pole next to the gate to the park and she put Ivor’s poo into the box, which was a brown thing inside a red thing, which made my head feel funny so I didn’t look. Then she walked back to me.” pg. 57

“On the fifth day, which was a Sunday, it rained very hard. I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.” pg. 103

“And when I am in a new place, because I see everything, it is like when a computer is doing too many things at the same time and the central processor unit is blocked up and there isn’t any space left to think about other things. And when I am in a new place and there are lots of people there it is even harder because people are not like cows and flowers and grass and they can talk to you and do things that you don’t expect, so you have to notice everything that is in the place, and also you have to notice things that might happen as well. And sometimes when I am in a new place and there are lots of people there it is like a computer crashing and I have to close my eyes and put my hands over my years and groan, which is like pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL and shutting down programs and turning the computer off and rebooting so that I can remember what I am doing and where I am meant to be going.” pgs. 143-144
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Amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

07/07/07

bookshelves: common-reading-experience, read_summer_07

Read in June, 2007

I finished The Curious Incident... in under 24 hours. That is how much I loved the book. I felt it really accurately captured most family life with a special needs child, and it really brought autism to light. Christopher's interactions during his adventure reminded a bit of how people treat the main character in Alan Lightman's The Diagnosis. And the talk of math and science make me think it would be a great choice for BGSU's Common Reading Experience. (Check out the CRE blog too for reading su...more I finished The Curious Incident... in under 24 hours. That is how much I loved the book. I felt it really accurately captured most family life with a special needs child, and it really brought autism to light. Christopher's interactions during his adventure reminded a bit of how people treat the main character in Alan Lightman's The Diagnosis. And the talk of math and science make me think it would be a great choice for BGSU's Common Reading Experience. (Check out the CRE blog too for reading suggestions and the next possible CRE book!) I heard a rumor, though, that Mark Haddon doesn't like to travel, which wouldn't work to well, considering we like to have the author come to campus for a reading and meet and greets...

***

I tried so hard to like Kaufmann's The Sister, but I couldn't. I stopped reading it after page 50. Emily's sister was annoying me. I thought it would be a good esoteric read for my sister project (a collection of essays about my sister that I'm working on--however, it's taking me years to write them) and because I love Emily Dickinson. The Sister just bored me though, and I had to move on. I have to get through a lot of books before the new Harry Potter comes out. I don't have time to waste on being bored, which significantly slows down my reading! If anyone has read The Sister, liked it, and wants to shed some light on it for me, I'd be more than happy to listen. I've found with many books that if I wait a couple of years and to read it again, things click for me and I like it. Maybe I'll try again in 2010.

***

I'm having a frustrating week (I realize it's only Tuesday). I've been thinking lot and internalizing a lot and I feel like I have something to say, but I don't feel like being verbal, and when I am verbal I end up not communicating properly and sounding like an idiot or a bitch. Today while working out I realized I get like this when I'm starting a writing project and/or writing. I have two ideas I'm working on, and have been taking notes in my head, my computer's post-its, and in my dream journal. But I didn't really realize I was working on anything until last night when I was trying to go to sleep. Tomorrow I plan on writing. I'm hearing some language and feeling "disturbed," which are good things for me, but they may not be so good for people I try to talk with. I thank God every day for FD b/c he's the same way and we can understand each other. It's the people at the grocery store, the bank, etc.--whoever we run into that I feel for. Sometimes I wish I could just wear a fashionable shirt that said, "I'm not mad (as in upset and crazy), I'm just thinking." (It would be a really cute shirt if it had a LV on it or a Lilly Pulitzer palm tree.) And when I'm thinking really hard sometimes I wish every place was automated so I could think and do my chores and not talk and save my energy for writing.

I guess it's a blessing I do have a faculty job and I have the summer off and I don't get like this too much when I'm teaching. Normally, I get it over breaks. Or just in the morning before I teach. So I guess it would be a blessing that right now as I'm sitting here in the Student Athletics think tank no athletes are showing up. Would I sound like a complete ass right now if I tried to talk about writing?

Maybe that's why I like Christopher in The Curious Incident...Maybe because he was a thinker and I'm in that mode today.

I gotta stop. Writing of this thinking while thinking the thinking and thinking of how to write the thinking is driving me stinking crazy.

***

Sidenote: While here tutoring, I came to find out it is one my favorite people's in the Student Athletics Department birthday! And she called this (June) her "birthmonth" as well. See, I'm not the only one!...less

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Amir rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

04/28/08

مترجم: شیلا ساسانی نیا. در کتاب به این نکته هیچ اشاره ای نشده ولی از روی علائم راوی کتاب مشخص هست که به نوع خاصی از بیماری ذهنی دچار هست. کتاب از طرف بچه ۱۵ ساله ای به اسم کریستوفر نوشته شده که به نوع از بیماری ذهنی به اسم اوتیسم مبتلا هست. و نوع خاصی از بیماری اوتیسم که به اسم سندر...more مترجم: شیلا ساسانی نیا. در کتاب به این نکته هیچ اشاره ای نشده ولی از روی علائم راوی کتاب مشخص هست که به نوع خاصی از بیماری ذهنی دچار هست. کتاب از طرف بچه ۱۵ ساله ای به اسم کریستوفر نوشته شده که به نوع از بیماری ذهنی به اسم اوتیسم مبتلا هست. و نوع خاصی از بیماری اوتیسم که به اسم سندروم اسپرگر شناخته میشه. برای فهم بهتر کتاب دونستن علائم این بیماری ها خیلی مهم هست و در واقع نکته اصلی که نویسنده از نوشتن این کتاب در نظر داشته و یکی از دلایل مطرح شدن کتاب تاکید بر وضع چنین بیمارانی هست.این کتاب چندین جایزه ادبی گرفته و بخصوص در انگلستان کتاب مطرح و شناخته شده ای هست. مارک هادون نویسنده ای هست که بیشتر داستانهاش برای گروه سنی نوجوانان و جوانان هست ولی این کتاب رو به عقیده خودش برای بزرگسالان نوشته. از طرف ناشر کار این کتاب برای هر دو گروه معرفی شده. چیزی شبیه به مجموعه شناخته شده هری پاتر که در رده نوجوان، جوان و بزرگسال طرفدار داره به هر حال به نظر من کتاب مناسب سن دبیرستان یا کالج بود. سبک نوشتار و اطلاعات علمی که در کتاب از زبان راوی بیان شده از لحاظ ادبیات سبک نوشتاری هادون بیشتر تقلید خوبی از دو سبک بود. در نقل کردن داستان به این نحو بود که موضوعات یک فصل در میون دنبال میشدن.به این معنی که ادامه فصلی که تموم شده بود توی دو فصل بعدش بود و فصل بعدی یه موضوع حاشیه ای داشت. این سبک سبک ادبی هست که کالوینو با تاکید خیلی بیشتر در کتاب <اگر شبی از شبهای زمستان مسافری...> به کار برده. از لحاظ شخصیت درون گرا و فاقد احساسات راوی داستان هم داستان بیگانه آلبر کامو و یا سبک داستانهای سلیجر رو کاملا به ذهن میورد.به خصوص اینکه تحت تاثیر احساسات قرار نمیگرفت خیلی شبیه به شخصیت بیگانه آلبر کامو بود.با این وجود به نظر من اگر هم تقلیدی انجام داده تقلید خوبی بوده. در مورد بیماری کریستوفر که راوی داستان بود به نظر من اغراق شده بود. نکته جالبی که در مورد کتاب بود تفکرات بی خدایی راوی داستان بود که به طرز مشخصی وجود خدا رو قبول نداشت و استدلالهای خاص خودش رو هم در جاهای مختلف کتاب نوشته بود.(عقیده مارک هادون نویسنده کتاب هم همین هست). جایی از کتاب کریستوفر با کشیشی که ناظر جلسه امتحانش هست در مورد وجود خدا بحثی رو شروع میکنه که در ترجمه این بخش سانسور شده!نکته خوبی که کتاب داشت این بود که به نظر من ترجمه خیلی خوبی داشت
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Tony rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

05/29/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2008

An interesting book written from the perspective of an autistic teenager living in England with his father. It is an enjoyable and quick read, unless you stop to figure out the math problems yourself. As it's part mystery novel, I won't say much about the plot except that other themes take over the novel about halfway through, so be prepared.

I think the point Haddon is making is that the autistic mind can be seen as eerily similar to that of the 'normal' individual, and maybe even more revel...more An interesting book written from the perspective of an autistic teenager living in England with his father. It is an enjoyable and quick read, unless you stop to figure out the math problems yourself. As it's part mystery novel, I won't say much about the plot except that other themes take over the novel about halfway through, so be prepared.

I think the point Haddon is making is that the autistic mind can be seen as eerily similar to that of the 'normal' individual, and maybe even more revelatory of a genuine reaction to modern life. Aside from the effect of putting the reader in the shoes of an autistic boy, his inner thoughts, which dominate his attention as long as he isn't somewhere new, reveal aspects of his character which live on the borders of acceptability for the average individual - but these thoughts are in no way totally alien to the non-autistic, they're just pushed aside for the sake of social conformity and expectations of normative behavior. To me, at least, it is perfectly reasonable to go a little crazy in a crowded place and want to place your hands over your ears and close your eyes and moan or scream and block it all out until it goes away. I don't do it, but I understand where he's coming from, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. In this sense, I think Haddon accomplishes the goal of bringing us closer in proximity as well as kinship to his narrator.

On the other hand, I will say that I found the characters a bit lacking and one-dimensional, even too similar at points. For example, the narrator and the author of the letters that he reads halfway through the novel are fairly indistinguishable, especially in the cadence of their speech/writing. That said, there was a certain amount of genuine emotion in the most important of these letters, something I found generally lacking elsewhere in the book.

Of course, these criticisms could be mitigated by the fact that this is a book the narrator has supposedly written, and given who he is and how he thinks, it may make sense that the characters seem similar or one-dimensional since these are his thoughts and words, and he has only recently come to understand that other people have minds aside from him.

As for the dearth of 'feeling', the narrator opts for logic and mathematics over emotion and imagination, so it also makes sense that the characters populating 'his' story seem to just be going through the motions of feeling and reacting as expected, rather than harnessing the true magnitude of the passions engendered by their respective situations. Except for one of the letters and another passage, I felt that the novel didn't touch me as often or intensely as it should have - but these scant passages serve as proof that even through the prism of an emotion-phobic character there can still be some profoundly moving scenes.

Generally speaking, the book was good but uneven. I think some readers might get frustrated by the narrator's predilection for going off on tangents about math, physics and other curious but generally non-sequitor objects of his personal interest. Others might not warm up to the changing emphasis in the story, transitioning from detective novel to chase sequence to family drama. But much like Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, it is the unique perspective of the narrator which manages to make the book a unique and enjoyable experience, in spite of flaws which may have been intended and possibly even necessary....less

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Maricar rated it:

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01/09/08

bookshelves: favorites, mystery-thriller

whimsical yet packs a punch...

it may look inconspicuously thin, but the book, i bet, would be something that any lucky reader is sure to want to have for keeps. starts off innocently enough...well, okay, maybe not so innocent since the first scene was the finding of a brutally murdered dog. some may already think that that is all the story is going to be about--the finding of the killer. nothing too deep or exciting. heck...maybe not worth the effort at all (hey, don't pelt me--i own a dog a...more whimsical yet packs a punch...

it may look inconspicuously thin, but the book, i bet, would be something that any lucky reader is sure to want to have for keeps. starts off innocently enough...well, okay, maybe not so innocent since the first scene was the finding of a brutally murdered dog. some may already think that that is all the story is going to be about--the finding of the killer. nothing too deep or exciting. heck...maybe not worth the effort at all (hey, don't pelt me--i own a dog and i drown her with hugs and kisses...).

then readers will realize that the protagonist isn't the usual teenager. christopher's frames of argument, logic, judgements are so interesting to muddle through, you'll find yourself at times amused, oftentimes befuddled, and, sometimes still, sympathetic. the way haddon reveals how christopher thinks, feels, and understands the world around him was masterfully done--not too inflated, nor apologetic. there were chapters and chapters where it seems that everything in christopher's life would be untouched by his determination to find the perpetrator of the crime, and then suddenly what seemed so delicate and innocent came crashing down on his shoulders. the focus of the story then hones in mercilessly on christopher and his topsy-turvy world. one can actually feel his overwhelming fear as he is inevitably forced to "confront" the world outside his comfort zone, yet often one has the strangest desire to embrace him for his even stronger will to make things "safe" and "logical" for him again, if only for the sake of his sanity.

though special people like christopher may hardly ever be truly understood by any one person in all their entirety, haddon makes it excruciatingly evident to us that, what for most people is just a simple day, it's a series of endless emotional barrage for autistic people.

i found myself on the verge of tears when his father yearned to "hug" christopher but was unable to do so. you sort of "hurt" with the father and may even be empathetic to how it must be for him to look after a son with special needs, and yet you also can't help but inexplicably cry for christopher and for what he unknowingly needs but is unconsciously having such an enormous difficulty in reaching for -- indeed, there was a part of me that was relieved that the burden of having to know this will never be christopher's.

i immensely enjoyed this novel. it may begin on light, delicate feet but steadily gains ground, and before you know it, you are assailed with conflicting emotions you never thought to feel. a real treasure....less

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Darcy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

01/25/08

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The great think about Curious Incident isn't that it is a mystery story about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, it's that Mark Haddon does such a great job of reinventing the mystery formula. Let's face it, the Sherlock Holmes stories (which play a pretty prominent role in the novel's construction) are the benchmark by which a lot of detective narratives are mentioned. But they're pretty formulaic, especially in terms of character: Sherlock Holmes is a genius and Watson is a sidekick; Sherl...more The great think about Curious Incident isn't that it is a mystery story about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, it's that Mark Haddon does such a great job of reinventing the mystery formula. Let's face it, the Sherlock Holmes stories (which play a pretty prominent role in the novel's construction) are the benchmark by which a lot of detective narratives are mentioned. But they're pretty formulaic, especially in terms of character: Sherlock Holmes is a genius and Watson is a sidekick; Sherlock Holmes is a thinking machine and Watson takes dictation; Sherlock Holmes knows your darkest secrets from looking at your shoes and Watson can't even remember where he was wounded (his arm? His leg?). Doyle needed that structure--he had to have a straight man for his great detective; one who could palm the ace so that the readers could enjoy the pleasure of being told how the crime was committed (as opposed to the pleasure of figuring it out for themselves). After all, Watson always knows the who, what, where, and when, but he's very careful to keep it hidden from the reader by reporting himself as a (let's be honest) bumbling. Who else but a John (or was it James?) H. Watson would be willing to represent himself as perpetually awestruck?

Even though Holmes and Watson perpetually haunt Curious Incident, their roles have been radically rewritten. There's no need for a crime-fighting duo here (a puzzle master and his biographer, the brain and the brawn, or the machine and the lover). Christopher fulfills both those positions and in doing so, repeatedly hides the "whodunit" not from the reader, but from himself. It is this recurring dramatic irony--the reader watching Christopher struggle in coming to grips with the fact that deductive logic alone is not enough in crime solving--that makes the book effective in so many ways. For starters, Haddon is engaging with precisely those qualities that made Sherlock Holmes a literary celebrity. If Holmes truly is a thinking machine, how effective can he really be? When taken to the extreme, isn't Holmes simply Christopher? Or, alternatively, Christopher is what Holmes would be if he were removed from a fictional world in which people can be read like texts, soil can be identified on sight, and monographs can be produced on 140 varieties of tobacco ash. Christopher's world, in other words, simply doesn't measure up to the categories Holmes produces for people. After all, what is a detective to do when deductive analysis cannot filter out motivations for utterly irrational behavior?...less

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Jann rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

04/30/08

Read in April, 2008

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It certainly is an interesting look inside the mind of someone who is autistic. Christopher is so straight forward about things, but he is also a little condescending at times. He knows he is smart about math and science, and when he veers into these topics as he investigates the death of his neighbor's dog, his explanations of various terms, often including diagrams, are thorough. He assumes nothing of intelligence about his reader, which is both arrogant and refreshing. He is also remarkab...more It certainly is an interesting look inside the mind of someone who is autistic. Christopher is so straight forward about things, but he is also a little condescending at times. He knows he is smart about math and science, and when he veers into these topics as he investigates the death of his neighbor's dog, his explanations of various terms, often including diagrams, are thorough. He assumes nothing of intelligence about his reader, which is both arrogant and refreshing. He is also remarkably candid about his shortcomings. He explains that he doesn't understand jokes or metaphors and he prefers for people to be direct.

Christopher is almost incapable of actual emotion, and what emotion he does have manifests itself in physical ways-- he groans, he plugs his ears, or he literally becomes sick. He hates being touched, to the point that he always has a Swiss Army Knife in his pocket at the ready, and at various points he hits a police officer, his father, and a random passerby who is attempting to help him.

That being said, Christopher gets the shaft from well-meaning parents. His father especially knows how to relate to Christopher, and Christopher on the whole seems to really benefit from the interactions with his father and also his teacher the most. His mother takes off when she can't deal with him or his father anymore. The unfortunate part of this is the fact that Christopher's dad is total liar. When his lies are discovered, he can't explain because Christopher doesn't understand. His mind is so linear that, when told his mother was dead, she totally ceased to exist. The other option, discovered through letters hidden in his dad's closet, simply doesn't occur to him. He tries to rationalize it and ends up going into what I understand to be a classic 'autistic' style overload where he retreats so far into his own mind he is barely aware of his father's presence. The one thing his dad has going for him is that he doesn't flip out and get mad that Christopher was going through the closet. That was the only time I found anything his father did remotely relatable.

I found it very difficult to read the parts where he lapses into a description of the garden, an in-depth diagram of Swindon, or his explanation of mathematical deductions. The reprieve near the end, when Christopher adds an appendix explaining how he solved a math problem on a test, was much-appreciated. I have a Calculus textbook I can read when I want, I don't need it in a novel I'm reading as well.

Overall, the plot twist was enough to keep me interested, but I don't think I'll read this book again anytime soon since I know what happens. I liked it, just not enough to read over and over.
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Joe rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

05/28/08

The concept is interesting: narrating the novel through the POV of an autistic boy. The chapters are cleverly numbered by prime numbers, which ties in with the novel. It has interesting illustrations and diagrams to look at. However, I would not recommend this because it disappointed me and I couldn't, in good conscience, tell anyone to read a book I was disappointed in.

I guess my disappointment lies in the fact that not only did my book club tout this as a mystery novel but also many of ...more

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Emilie rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

03/07/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who is interested in a sweet story told from a different perspective

It's possible that I should spend a bit more time digesting this book before commenting on it, but I almost feel like if I were to do so, I would just end up with the same things to say. I would just be saying them a few days later.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is touching, innocently funny, frustrating, and at once a quick and difficult read. Mark Haddon's narrative style throughout the book is original and consistent (which is not always easy to do, it seems). Chr...more It's possible that I should spend a bit more time digesting this book before commenting on it, but I almost feel like if I were to do so, I would just end up with the same things to say. I would just be saying them a few days later.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is touching, innocently funny, frustrating, and at once a quick and difficult read. Mark Haddon's narrative style throughout the book is original and consistent (which is not always easy to do, it seems). Christopher is the sort of character that you cannot help but care about and be drawn in by, making his story all the more meaningful. Most notable, in my opinion, is the manner in which Haddon explains and spotlights mental disorders without ever labeling or stigmatizing anything. As a result, we see the world from Christopher's perspective instead of seeing Christopher from our own perspective; we can now understand what provokes a fit of violence, screaming, or intense silence from someone in Christopher's position. This perspectival reversal is probably what I liked best about the book. Overall, it seems that the story is just a backdrop for exploration of Christopher's character--what it is that makes him tick, react in different ways, etc. Through this unique narrative perspective, Christopher becomes more than the main character in the book, he becomes the voice of a mental condition, a figure who clears up confusion about what we are unable to see or understand, and a sort of spokesperson for those who suffer with similar conditions.

I have to admit that while reading this book I often found myself wondering whether or not I wanted to continue or whether I should put it down or walk away. Haddon's description of Christopher's journey to London made me uncomfortable; at the same time, I sort of realize now that discomfort was probably the effect he intended. It's possible that my own discomfort helped me to better understand the sort of turmoil and pain that Christopher was experiencing as a result of leaving his comfort zone. I think that was one thing that Mark Haddon did really well in this novel--instead of telling, he shows, allowing his reader to better understand and experience what is going on with the main character.

To a certain extent, I found the ending to be a bit disappointing. I thought it was a bit sugar-coated in a way that seemed unusual for a book that was generally realistic and straight-forward. On the other hand, I suppose that sugar-coated is acceptable given that we are being taken through a somewhat altered reality. Since we as readers can only be as informed as Christopher allows us to be, it would make sense that the ending would be unsatisfying in spite of the fact that it may seem satisfying and appropriate to him....less

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Guy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

01/29/08

Read in September, 2007

Een roman die bijna evenveel prijzen als lezers kreeg en in m’n omgeving door verschillende mensen bejubeld werd. Dan plots gevonden in de beste tweedehandszaak van Brussel, waar een exemplaar lag voor de ronde som van 1 euro. En het is waar wat de mensen zeggen: Haddons The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is een mooi, grappig en ontroerend boek, dat zowel bij jongeren als volwassenen met een hartslag in de smaak kan vallen. Het uitgangspunt van het boek – laat een vijftienjari...more Een roman die bijna evenveel prijzen als lezers kreeg en in m’n omgeving door verschillende mensen bejubeld werd. Dan plots gevonden in de beste tweedehandszaak van Brussel, waar een exemplaar lag voor de ronde som van 1 euro. En het is waar wat de mensen zeggen: Haddons The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is een mooi, grappig en ontroerend boek, dat zowel bij jongeren als volwassenen met een hartslag in de smaak kan vallen. Het uitgangspunt van het boek – laat een vijftienjarige autist het verhaal vertellen – had kunnen uitdraaien op een melig stukje pulp dat het al te makkelijk zou moeten hebben van goedkope effecten (geef toe: laat een boek/verhaal vertellen door een kind, een achterlijke of Bert Anciaux en gejammer is onvermijdelijk), en dat is het gelukkig niet geworden.

Natuurlijk buit Haddon het gegeven van de naïeve/onbetrouwbare verteller uit: de boek-in-het-boek-aanpak is sowieso al een garantie op interesse, maar laat het vertellen door een autist die de wereld rondom hem niet begrijpt en je krijgt een situatie waarbij je als lezer vaak meer weet, preventief medelijden kan hebben of door je voorkennis kan gaan vooruitblikken. Christopher heeft als autist bovenal behoefte aan zekerheden en eenduidigheid, iets dat hij in een volwassenenwereld van leugens en gebrek eenduidigheid moeilijk kan vinden. Hij houdt niet van metaforen, van onvoorspelbaarheid, van chaos, en zorgt ervoor zijn leven in de mate van het mogelijk orde te geven. Dit door vaste schema’s en planningen (die in het boek worden opgenomen), orde, routine en een obsessie met structuren en getallen. Dat heeft gevolgen tot in de details: de hoofdstukken zijn genummerd volgens de priemgetallen, en verder heeft de jongen ook een zwak voor lijstjes, schema’s, grafieken, fysica en wiskunde. De ondubbelzinnige wereld, vrij van ironie, multi-interpreteerbaarheid en twijfel.

Beginnen doet het boek met een onalledaags gegeven: Christopher vindt op een nacht de hond van een buurvrouw met een mestvork in zijn lijf. Het is zijn missie om te achterhalen wie deze moord op zijn geweten heeft en dat is meteen ook het verhaal dat hij gaat vastleggen in zijn boek. Het bijzondere (iets dat voorspelbaar is tenzij het een auteur betreft met bakken talent) is dat het boek, net doordat het verteld is door iemand die het functioneren van een maatschappij niet door heeft, de vreemde machinaties die schuil gaan achter zo’n maatschappij goed weergeeft, of duidelijk maakt dat veel dat we voor gewoon aannemen, echt wel vreemd is. En wat is er is godsnaam mis meteen boek dat doet grijnzen, blozen van gêne en meeleven en bovendien op regelmatige tijdstippen ook nog eens herkenbaar is? Up yours, Harry Potter. (****)

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Anthony rated it:

(review of isbn 1400032717)

09/24/07

bookshelves: law-school-procrastination

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: oliver sacks/sherlock holmes fans

One day in June I was joking with my sister, "I should TOTALLY write a story about an autistic detective! He would go around solving mysteries, but then not telling anyone about it because he doesn't relate well to people!" And then I thought for a second, and said "oh wait, I think there's already a book about this."

As someone who likes neurology case histories and detective fiction, this sounded like the book for me. And it was, kinda. A few months after buying it I sta...more One day in June I was joking with my sister, "I should TOTALLY write a story about an autistic detective! He would go around solving mysteries, but then not telling anyone about it because he doesn't relate well to people!" And then I thought for a second, and said "oh wait, I think there's already a book about this."

As someone who likes neurology case histories and detective fiction, this sounded like the book for me. And it was, kinda. A few months after buying it I started to read it while waiting for a plane and basically didn't put it down for more than 30 seconds during the flight. This book definitely grabs you enough to steam through it in about 3 hours.

While it was somewhat fulfilling to read, I did have my reservations, though. For one thing, Haddon does a pretty good job overall at presenting you his story through the eyes of an autist, which is to say the prose isn't the most graceful. It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to strike you with it's stiltedness and make you think about how the thought process of your narrator differs from your own. This is an effective technique, but one wonders if it's the best narrative choice for an entire novel. The story actually comes to a rather abrupt finish in the last twenty pages or so, which almost suggests that Haddon himself got tired of generating a story in this voice and wanted to put the book down himself. But of course, that's just speculation.

The narrator's unusual perspective is also indicated by the little tidbits of psychological facts that Haddon peppers the book with - which I found to be hit or miss. At times, they genuinely excited my curiosity. When the narrator describes failing a false belief test as a child, it made me wonder, do autists really remember in vivid detail a test like this so that they can understand how they failed it once they gain the ability to track intentions? It's just surprising enough for me to believe it, although it's unclear whether this is substantiated. But this episode also provides an example of the clumsiness of these insertions, as it comes off a little awkward for the narrator to tell us about his false belief test to begin with. For a book written in an autists voice, a little awkward can be a good thing, and maybe that's why this book just didn't wow me once I put it down three hours later....less

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