The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2001 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who is described as "a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Christopher's condition is not stated, the book's blurb refers to Asperger syndrome (which today would be described as an autism spectrum disorder), high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome. In July 2009, …
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2001 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who is described as "a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Christopher's condition is not stated, the book's blurb refers to Asperger syndrome (which today would be described as an autism spectrum disorder), high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome. In July 2009, Haddon wrote on his blog that "The Curious Incident is not a book about Asperger's...if anything it's a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The book is not specifically about any specific disorder", and that he, Haddon, is not an expert on the autism spectrum or Asperger syndrome.The book uses prime numbers to number the chapters, rather than the conventional successive numbers. Originally written in English, it has been translated into 36 additional languages.
This is a story about the weirdness of the world as understood by Christopher John Francis Boone, a boy with autism who lives with his father in a small town in the UK. Christopher and his idiosyncrasies are instantly lovable. Through the eyes of a boy who thinks of everyone as different from himself, we’re reminded just how many common threads bind us all together.
Review of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Despite a serious amount of visual information which of course I miss, I managed to enjoy this book tremendously. I think the appeal for me is the very logical way in which Christopher approaches the world, it doesn't feel as if you're being told about disability, rather that you are perceiving the world in a way this young man lives it, in a direction so different from that our collective consciousness expects us to face. It's not a long read but it's seriously worth more thought per page than many books I've found.
Review of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]
i should have liked this more; it's an unfortunate case of bad timing. you see, i read Born on a Blue Day, an actual memoir of an autistic person, 2 or 3 years ago so this fictionalized version didn't seem quite as original and interesting as it would have if i'd read these 2 books in reverse.
that said, it was enjoyable enough. i liked the connections the author made with sherlock holmes, and the presence of red herrings in his stories. it's renewed my drive/desire to push this series on fierce :)
on a side note, my neighbor's pre-teen noticed me reading the book and announced she'd read it last year and liked it and that made the curious about the choice to make this an adult fiction, as opposed …
[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]
i should have liked this more; it's an unfortunate case of bad timing. you see, i read Born on a Blue Day, an actual memoir of an autistic person, 2 or 3 years ago so this fictionalized version didn't seem quite as original and interesting as it would have if i'd read these 2 books in reverse.
that said, it was enjoyable enough. i liked the connections the author made with sherlock holmes, and the presence of red herrings in his stories. it's renewed my drive/desire to push this series on fierce :)
on a side note, my neighbor's pre-teen noticed me reading the book and announced she'd read it last year and liked it and that made the curious about the choice to make this an adult fiction, as opposed to a young adult one. the content was appropriate enough, and might even have been accessible to the junior fiction crowd. i doubt a teen / pre-teen would pick up a thick memoir, but a short novel could do a great job as far as empathy goes.
