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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

Start date: April 1, 2017

Finish date: May 1, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: April's Bonus Read- National Autism Awareness Month

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time…more
[close] April's Bonus Read- National Autism Awareness Month

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

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Apr 14, 2017 Josh Caporale rated it did not like it

1.5 stars

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an interesting contribution to the world of literature. It is one of the first and one of the few novels to cover an Autistic Spectrum Disorder told from the point of view of someone with the condition and written by a man who has worked with special ed students (though I am quite sure he himself is neurotypical). I have gotten mixed responses from different people about this novel, many of which were positive, some of which were nega 1.5 stars

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an interesting contribution to the world of literature. It is one of the first and one of the few novels to cover an Autistic Spectrum Disorder told from the point of view of someone with the condition and written by a man who has worked with special ed students (though I am quite sure he himself is neurotypical). I have gotten mixed responses from different people about this novel, many of which were positive, some of which were negative, one of which that was scathing, and I must say that I reside a bit more with those in the second and third options that I gave. In other words, I did not like this book and feel that it could give readers a bit more of a harmful impression of those that are neurodivergent than one of empathy.

Christopher John Francis Boone is a British boy living with his father at the beginning of the book, because from what he was told, his mother died of a heart attack. Christopher sees that a dog from down the street (owned by a Mrs. Shears) was killed and as he goes over to hold it and pull out the pitchfork that was used to kill it, it looks as if he himself committed the murder and Mrs. Shears is horrified. Christopher does his best to solve the mystery himself, much to his father's dismay, while also telling us about things that interest him (like math, physics, and astronomy), things he likes (like the color red and animals), things he dislikes (like the colors yellow and brown and being touched), while also incorporating the details about the mystery and happenings of his everyday life.

Christopher clearly is written to have a condition on the Autistic spectrum, but his functioning level is not necessarily the highest. In some ways, I feel that his actions are a bit unrealistic, for someone who is fifteen years old and has his intelligence would likely have the self-control to not hit someone that touches him and be well aware of just that. He may try to get himself away from them, but not noticeably strike them. It does not add up. Then again, neither do many of the things in this novel.

The worst part, though, were his parents. I hated Ed and Judy Boone with a passion. I felt they were self-centered, self-prioritizing, small-minded dips that only tended to Christopher because they felt it was their need to do so as parents. The things that Ed did should have landed him in prison, while the mother was just as neglectful and demonstrated how she was unfit to be a parent. If I had a say in the events in this piece, I would have had Christopher taken away from both parties and placed in a more caring home. While it would have taken Christopher time to adjust, these parents bothered me beyond belief and felt that a "sorry" and a finger-based contact (since Christopher did not like further touching) was enough. Both of them were garbage (and the same could be said about Mr. Shears). Also, in the context in which this is being told and the events in which it took place, the fact that killing a dog is "a small crime" bothers me immensely.

There were some decent qualities in this piece, like how the chapters were counted by prime number instead of in order (for instance, the chapters were 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, etc.), for it was an interest of Christopher's and I also liked where he would spend chapters talking about things that interested him. There were many details, though, that were presented in ways that I found it challenging to wrap myself around. I am not sure if his striking of the police officer would have resulted in immediately being detained instead of the stalling that took place. I am also assuming that he was in a special school or classroom, but to have him in a room with a high school student that ate their own excrement does not add up to me. This student has to be really low functioning. I would definitely say that Christopher does not have Asperger's, for his impulses do not support a diagnosis of this nature. He does definitely have a form of Autism, though, despite the fact that its portrayal is a bit off.

I feel that after reading this novel, there needs to be more books written about those that have Autism, Asperger's, and other conditions of this nature. If this is the literary reference to novels about the Autistic Spectrum, that would be really sad. I cannot recommend this book and encourage that people that are on the spectrum to write stories about character's on the spectrum and also encourage those with a greater understanding (such as parents, guardians, and others) to do the same.

You can find my video review for this book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL3HJ... ...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Jun 07, 2014 Suzy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: listened-to, mia-book-tours, london, crime-mystery, coming-of-age, amateur-sleuths

This book was a glimpse into the mind of an autistic 15-year-old boy who lives with his father in Swindon (UK), written with tenderness and humor. Christopher tells his story in first person and it's a great reminder that not everyone reacts the same to situations and circumstances, thinks the same and sees the world in the same way. So many things I loved - the mystery of the murdered dog, the lists, his experience at school, his pet rat, his travel adventure and especially what he had to say a ...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Alana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: educational, boxall-s-1001-books

So my in-person book club made the unfortunate choice to read Haddon's second book, The Red House, purely because of all the hype of "Dog," and that book was so awful that I didn't want to read anything else by the author.

I waiting entirely too long to read this one, however. It is COMPLETELY different. I wouldn't have believed it was written by the same author. He jumps so easily into the mind of this child, making him completely relate-able, though so different from myself. The note at the beg ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2017 Jeanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-around-the-world, read-2017, ya, ability

Why do you read fiction? I read for several reasons, but largely to understand, especially to understand people who are different from me – people who see the world differently, who have gone through things outside my experience.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time , by Mark Haddon, is a quirky little book that offers me that. Curious Incident is told in first person by Christopher, a mathematically-gifted and autistic 15-year-old who finds a murdered dog. Many of us have difficulty und Why do you read fiction? I read for several reasons, but largely to understand, especially to understand people who are different from me – people who see the world differently, who have gone through things outside my experience.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time , by Mark Haddon, is a quirky little book that offers me that. Curious Incident is told in first person by Christopher, a mathematically-gifted and autistic 15-year-old who finds a murdered dog. Many of us have difficulty understanding people diagnosed with autism, people who often seem to do things "for no reason." In Curious Incident, we hear these reason(s). When questioned by a policeman, for example, Christopher observed:

He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were stacking up in my head like loaves in the factory where Uncle Terry works. The factory is a bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And sometimes a slicer is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. I sometimes think of my mind as a machine, but not always as a bread-slicing machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it. (p. 7)

He makes sense, right? Christopher does all sorts of "crazy" things throughout the book, all making sense when we hear his perspective on the world. His voice is interesting, honest, and engaging, often making me laugh.

While this is a lesser part of the story, Christopher's parents struggle in parenting him and often make mistakes. Those of us who've ever parented know that parenting can be a no-win situation – at least at the time. Parenting well is even more difficult for parents of children on the spectrum, as his father discovers. His parents err, sometimes seriously, but try to get back on track.

Christopher's story is often about courage: his parents', yes, but more importantly, his own. And because I've been thinking about PBS and Sesame Street, I'll leave you with this segment with Itzhak Perlman. We can only guess what courage someone else needs to get through the day. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2015 Mom2triplets04 rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own-read

I would rate this book a 3.5 stars. About a boy who is 16 and is autistic. It was a good story, however, a bit confusing because the main character would go on a tangent using different forms of math problems which started to become redundant and I found myself skipping those parts to get to the main story. The main story was very intriguing and kept me reading to find out what would happen next. Read this book in 3 days.

1 like · Like · see review