From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

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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What Members Thought

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 12, 2019 Colleen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-on-the-shelf

Really sweet book about an autistic kid's story telling. It was nice to get inside Christopher's head and live there for a while.

Birds singing = the Dawn Chorus ...more

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Nov 30, 2016 Martha rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2016, fiction

This is one of those "OMG HOW HAVE YOU NOT READ IT!?" that I was actually very disappointed by. It wasn't bad, I just was...unmoved.

I liked the whole concept, and really liked having the perspective of someone with Aspergers Syndrome, as it does a dual job of highlighting what it's like to live with that kind of condition (and live with someone who has it), but also highlighting the ridiculous and confusing nature of our everyday lives. Like those sayings that make no sense - "I laughed my socks This is one of those "OMG HOW HAVE YOU NOT READ IT!?" that I was actually very disappointed by. It wasn't bad, I just was...unmoved.

I liked the whole concept, and really liked having the perspective of someone with Aspergers Syndrome, as it does a dual job of highlighting what it's like to live with that kind of condition (and live with someone who has it), but also highlighting the ridiculous and confusing nature of our everyday lives. Like those sayings that make no sense - "I laughed my socks off", "he was the apple of her eye" etc., and how we make assumptions about it being okay to touch people we don't know and how we underestimate how confusing the world can be. I also liked the little touches like the chapters being numbered with prime numbers (I spent far too long trying to figure out why there was no Chapter 1 before I twigged...) and the diagrams.

What I didn't like is that I was entirely unmoved by all of the characters. I was frustrated by how crap Mother and Father were; though I absolutely appreciate that it's likely a very accurate portrayal of the imperfect nature of parenting, and especially parenting children with special needs - but that was very much my head's response, my heart just wasn't drawn in (and I'm very much a cryer, so my lack of sympathy is a mystery).

(view spoiler)

Ah well, you win some, you lose some. Not a bad book by any means, but it's certainly not one I'd rush to read again. ...more

1 like · Like · see review