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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
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 the literary reviews I read as well. What I was expecting was an exciting roller coaster ride mystery about an autistic boy trying to find the killer of his neighbor's dog and, as he slowly sleuths out the killer, finds himself embroiled in dangerous life threatening situations. Kind of like Tartt's The Little Friend told from an autistic POV.
However, The Curious Incident... is not a mystery in any way, shape or form and because of this, the autistic POV begins to wear thin by the second half of the novel remaining sometimes fascinating yet sometimes tedious. Instead, you get a novel that starts off as a promising murder mystery. At the first half of the novel, the mystery is solved. Or rather we're unceremoniously told who is the murderer of the dog. From that point, the second half of the novel hugely focuses on Christopher attempting to travel to London by himself. A difficult task considering Christopher is autistic, hates crowds and can't stand to be touched by people. I won't tell who the murderer is or why Christopher takes off to London, as these are the only two real surprises of the novel. I will say overall this was a huge disappointment to me. I thought I was getting an exciting murder mystery and instead I got a highly readable family melodrama. Perhaps if this was not pushed as a murder mystery I would have enjoyed it much more.
An interesting read but I wouldn't recommend it.
by Mark Haddon
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 the literary reviews I read as well. What I was expecting was an exciting roller coaster ride mystery about an autistic boy trying to find the killer of his neighbor's dog and, as he slowly sleuths out the killer, finds himself embroiled in dangerous life threatening situations. Kind of like Tartt's The Little Friend told from an autistic POV.
However, The Curious Incident... is not a mystery in any way, shape or form and because of this, the autistic POV begins to wear thin by the second half of the novel remaining sometimes fascinating yet sometimes tedious. Instead, you get a novel that starts off as a promising murder mystery. At the first half of the novel, the mystery is solved. Or rather we're unceremoniously told who is the murderer of the dog. From that point, the second half of the novel hugely focuses on Christopher attempting to travel to London by himself. A difficult task considering Christopher is autistic, hates crowds and can't stand to be touched by people. I won't tell who the murderer is or why Christopher takes off to London, as these are the only two real surprises of the novel. I will say overall this was a huge disappointment to me. I thought I was getting an exciting murder mystery and instead I got a highly readable family melodrama. Perhaps if this was not pushed as a murder mystery I would have enjoyed it much more.
An interesting read but I wouldn't recommend it.
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You said, "The Curious Incident... is not a mystery in any way, shape or form."I would argue this point. On the one hand, you're right -- despite Christopher's insistence on "detecting," this is not a detective story. It's not a genre mystery. If you're looking for a story of the type shelved in the mystery section of the bookstore, you're in for disappointment.
On the other hand it is, most certainly, a mystery. The world is a mystery to Christopher -- other people's motivations, other people's emotions, even his own emotions, are all completely mysterious to him. This book is the story of his quest to find a way of making sense of what, to him, is senseless and incomprehensible. As much as autistic people are confusing and mysterious to "normal" people, so we are to them; all we can do is grope for some way to meet in the middle, to find some kind of common understanding.
A mystery is the perfect metaphor for this story.
I absolutely agree with where you're coming from in that regard She Who Reads. Had critical reviews and my book club marketed the novel in that manner, I most certianly would have enjoyed it more. I really thought I was in for a mystery novel in a literal sense, not a mystery novel in a figurative and metaphorical sense. Thanks for your insights. Maybe I will re-read it with this in mind.
Nooooo..... Abi, but my book club marketed this book in such a manner that I did have expectations of what the book would be about. I didn't know what to expect of the novel outside of hearing that it was a gripping mystery of a murdered dog told from the POV of an autistic boy. It was kind of like ordering lasagna but you get spaghetti instead: similar but not quite what you were expecting. However, regardless of that fact, I didn't particularly like the book.
Well, thanks . . . this thread is actually ABOUT the book! Ha Ha!I found this book something that left you thinking about autistic people.
Don't think I'll read it again, but it was enjoyable when I did it on audio one summer, while gardening.
"The chapters are cleverly numbered by prime numbers, which ties in with the novel."I know it's two years ago, but can you remember why you wrote this? I don't recall the chapter numbers tying in with the novel. I just assumed it was a marketing gimmick, employed to get people talking about the book: "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - isn't that the book with prime chapter numbers?"
I could be mistaken, but I think it had something to do with math and numbers calming the kid down. That he would count prime numbers in his head when things go too intense for him.
Joe, good review and good points of view. The only thing I will argue slightly (although I understand why you may have felt such a way) was about the book turning into a family melodrama. Yes, I agree, it did but I think it spoke wonders as to how hard it is to parent (mother) a child with autism and how hard it is to have your child not speak to you (father). It is a very difficult and real thing.
I loved the book, but I knew what I was getting before I began. I'm sure that I'd be disappointed if, say, Inspector Morse spent 300 or so pages doing his taxes or rearranging his record collection.