Hi Oriana,

I really, really loved this book too. I thought it pointed out with absolute guilelessness that our suppositions of what is normal are far from it. The way that the boy with autism reflected what the others around him said and did, the crazy things they said and did, was an extraordinary and clear reflection. And I loved the descriptions of his groaning episodes. Don't we all do that, in ways, when we comfort ourselves by whatever means we use -- food, sex, substances, etc? Have you read his follow-up book, A Spot of Bother? It is very good as well, although not at all about autism. I highly recommend it.

Mark

I am totally due to re-read this wonderful book. I did read A Spot of Bother, which I enjoyed very much, but was not remotely in the same stratosphere as Curious Incident. I've been meaning to read his poetry, too, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Haddon writes poetry? That's good to know ... although, I must admit I'm surprised. Even in Curious Incident (and I agree with you it was leaps and bounds superior to Spot of Bother) it was not the language that was so impressive, as much as the unique and perfectly rendered POV.

Thank you for the review!

Yeah, I was surprised to, to learn about the poetry too, because I agree, his language per se is not what makes his work so stunning, to me. But maybe we should both go get The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea before we make any decisions!

Thanks for the link! The reviews appear to be lukewarm at best. Let me know if you end up reading it :-)

I read somewhere that the book was originally written for children/young adults. Does anyone know if this is true?
Also I was told not to bother reading the next novel by someone I know as it would only dissapoint me. I gather that this isn't the general consensus here though, is it worth risking my hero worship of haddon on? I seemed to develop one after reading the curious incident!

I don't know about your first question, Tilly, but to your second: I think it's best to approach A Spot of Bother as if it's not written by Haddon at all. It's a nice book, maybe even a pretty good book, on its own, but if you're hoping (as I of course was) for something on par with Curious Incident, you're bound to be disappointed.

I agree. It's meant to be read in one sitting.

Yes, I know it is totally unrelated to this book. But, have you read "The tunnel" by Sabato? Also meant to be read in a single sitting and heck, that was (for me) the pinnacle of dissociation.

I haven't! But now I'm extremely intrigued, thanks. On the to-read shelf it goes!