The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Everywhere I went The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon was there. People talking, blog writers reviewing, list makers making. This book just seemed to show up everywhere and I could hear the whisper in my head saying read this book, read this book. After recently reading Rules by Cynthia Lord, I thought this would be a perfect companion book and thought that I had better hurry and get to it. I’m glad I finally have discovered what this book is all about. I hate being the one left out in the dark and I have finally been enlightened!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon believably takes us into the mind of 15 year old Christopher Boone. Christopher is autistic. For autistic children (and adults) most stimuli registers with equal impact. Because these pieces of information are not processed effectively, life can become a very confusing with consistently competing signals. Christopher has to figure out how to deal with all these competing signals and how to function in a society where he doesn’t understand other people, environments, or situations.
In Christopher’s world he knows every country and their capital, every prime number up to 7,057, hates the color yellow and brown, loves the color red, 5 red cars in a row is a Super Good Day while 4 yellow cars in a row is a Black Day, won’t eat food that touches on his plate, does not talk to strangers, does not like to be touched, cannot understand human emotions, is unable to lie, is a math genius, and has a photographic memory in which he says, “My memory is like a film . . . And when people ask me to remember something I can simply press Rewind and Fast Forward and Pause like on a video recorder.”
Christopher who loves animals finds his next door neighbor’s dog has been murdered and he’s determined to find the culprit. Christopher begins writing a book to tell his story (thus this book). To solve the mystery, Christopher is taken well out of his comfort zone, has to make difficult decisions, take risks, venture out into unfamiliar environments, and talk to strangers. Along the way he finds out more than he bargained for and has to assimilate new information and circumstances into a world that already doesn’t make any sense for him.
Cons: Just a warning. This book has a lot of foul language. Why? Why do authors always do this? I liked the story enough to buy this book but the language is holding me back. Sigh.
This was a great book. I’d recommend it. I enjoyed the story, the quirks, the character. To be taken into the mind of an autistic child was interesting and well worth the read to try to understand the world in which an autistic child lives. I enjoy books which leave me with empathy and understanding. And a little fun along the way certainly helps.
Group reading guide and discussion questions from the publisher.
Have you read this book? What did you think? Any other book recommendations for me?
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Category: Book Reviews, Fiction, Young Adult
Tags: A-D Title, E-H Author
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I loved this book. It’s incredibly difficult just to write _about_ an autistic boy, much less from the _perspective_ of an autistic boy.
And, not to sound snarky, but I’m guessing that the foul language is there because of its undeniable presence in real life. Whether you like it or not, I think Haddon’s just trying to paint a realistic picture.
on February 4th, 2008 at 1:16 pmI’ve been wanting to read this one for a long while. It keeps popping up, like you said.
on February 6th, 2008 at 3:05 pmI read this last year and loved it. Thanks for the other recommendation (Rules); I will add it to my TBR list.
on February 7th, 2008 at 1:11 pmI liked this book for various reasons, not the least in that it does feel like a very realistic description of what goes on inside the head of someone who is autistic.
Since you are reading YA books, I would like to recommend “Princess Academy” by Shannon Hale. I read it recently and loved it, and my only regret is that I don’t know any girls of the right age to give it to.
on February 8th, 2008 at 1:39 amHeliologue – realistic picture yes, but still . . . Do people swear more in Europe? I just don’t know.
LisaMM – one to add to the TBR pile.
Diane – Rules was a fun, quick read. You’ll enjoy it.
Bibliophile – Funny that you should mention Shannon Hale. I just got an email this morning from the library that I have A Book of a Thousand Days and Austenland waiting for me to pick up. I hadn’t put Princess Academy on the list because I was nervous of the the whole princess thing. But I’m not one to ever turn down a recommendation, so I’m putting it on hold right now. Thanks!
on February 8th, 2008 at 10:08 amNatasha— I can’t speak with any sort of hard data, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Europe isn’t nearly as conservative as America, generally speaking. Not that you don’t find plenty of swearing in America, too.
on February 8th, 2008 at 8:07 pmThis book is on my TBR list. I want to read it even more after finishing “Look Me in the Eye,” about a man with Asperger’s Syndrome. Thanks for your review.
on February 8th, 2008 at 11:55 pmThanks for your review. I’ve read both Curious Incident and Rules and really enjoyed them both; you can find my reviews at my blog. Christopher is such an engaging character!
on February 9th, 2008 at 10:05 amFramed – Thanks for the recommendation. I read your review on your blog. Sounds interesting. Another book that was recommended by Off at a Tangent is Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. I may now have to add both to my TBR.
Mindy – I’ll make my way over to read your reviews. Thanks!
on February 9th, 2008 at 11:55 amI’m still “in the dark” about it, with everyone around me talking about it! =D I keep meaning to get to it and haven’t yet. Just another prod.
Thanks for your review!
on February 9th, 2008 at 12:41 pmI read this book over two years ago. I did not love it but it has stayed with me. it’s an interesting portrayal of a mind a “normal” person cannot fully understand. I had an English teacher agree with me that the ending was abrupt and predictable.
on February 18th, 2008 at 2:56 amCarrie – I read this one out of pure curiousity. I can’t stand to see a book that’s buzzing in the book blog world and not read it. I guess that’s why my TBR list is getting longer and longer.
Adrianna – Thanks for stopping by! I love comments. I’m glad this book stayed with you. Half the time I can’t remember what a book was about a year after I’ve read it. Now that I’m blogging, I hope that will change.
on February 18th, 2008 at 9:45 amI skimmed through this at the bookstore, and plan to read it, but I did notice the language. I know a lot of people are surrounded by bad language, but I somehow live in a world where I almost never hear it, so it is like getting hit by a bolt of lightning when I come across the “F” word! So I guess it just depends on your environment. It’s sounds like it is a very enlightening read though that is worth suffering through a few four letter words.
on February 28th, 2008 at 8:32 pmChain Reader – Your world must be like my world because I rarely hear bad language and cursing on the streets. When I do, I always think, oh yeah, people do talk like that, why they do I’ll never understand. I feel bad by bringing it into my home through the world of books. I guess we just can’t win them all sometimes, but I sure authors could refrain themselves at times.
I brought up the issue of too much sex in books in this post here. I guess I like cleaner literature, but it’s so hard to find out what books are clean or not until you are well into the story!
on February 29th, 2008 at 8:41 amGood book – Two Thumbs up
on March 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 pmI’m just getting caught up on links for the YA Challenge and I came across this one. I checked on Amazon and B&N and neither of them considered it YA. Do you have a different source that did? I’ll wait for your response before making any changes.
on March 13th, 2008 at 7:11 amJoy – I’ve seen it only as YA everywhere. It’s not adult and the language is too crude to be middle grade fiction. My local library had it categorized as YA fiction, which was my original source (which I use ultimately for all my categorizations). Here is the link if you’d like.
on March 13th, 2008 at 8:26 amI loved this book. It was so interesting and written so creatively. The book won the West Australian Young Readers Book award in 2005. Sounds like it’s definitely a young adult novel.
on March 16th, 2008 at 1:27 pmBooklogged – Thanks for your thoughts! Have you read Rules by Cynthia Lord?
on March 17th, 2008 at 7:38 pm‘Rules’ is one work of genius. Tried to get my boyfriend intrested, didn’t work. Brilliant book though
on March 18th, 2008 at 8:43 pmreal good book i aced my exam on it.
on March 18th, 2008 at 8:46 pmThanks Mark Haddon
LOL “Young Readers Book” award would definitely qualify it as YA! I just haven’t seen it classified as such.
I hope you didn’t take offense to my questioning, I just wanted to know.
on March 19th, 2008 at 6:25 amJoy – None taken! I always have to look up a classification before I blog about it, because sometimes I’m wrong!
on March 19th, 2008 at 7:36 pmI know what you mean, this book is EVERYWHERE! I’ll be reading it at some point, just not sure when.
on April 27th, 2008 at 5:18 amThis is one of my favorite books ever! I not only love Haddon’s writing, but as the mother of a teenage boy with Asperger’s, I loved Christopher. Asperger’s falls on the autism spectrum, but as we see with Christoper, it’s not what people would typically think of when they think of autism.
As far as the language, words are just words. What we call “bad” words are just words like any other. Authors use them because authors are in love with language (as am I, if you couldn’t tell by my need to get on a soapbox in defense of it). They want to represent a certain time, place, demographic, etc. and contemporary slang is one way to do that in a way most people will recognize instantly. Plus, people who work with words for a living are going to have respect for language as a growing, living phenomenon and have a problem categorizing certain words as offensive. It’s only when words are used to hurt others (name calling, stereotyping, hate speech) that I can understand any objection, and this is probably true of the authors you wonder about, too.
on May 10th, 2008 at 10:50 am[...] reviews of this novel: Natasha [...]
on May 10th, 2008 at 10:51 amDew – You say “As far as the language, words are just words. What we call
‘bad words’ are just words like any other.” I’d have to disagree. Not all words carry equal weight. Authors seek out that perfect word knowing that that word will be more powerful or weaker than others. Each word brings with it it’s own feelings, whether it be good or bad. The use of a certain word can change the meaning completely. There are words that inspire and uplift and there are words that degrade.
It is my belief that “bad words” have a connotation of filth and degradation. But what you say is true about classifying words as being offensive. What’s offensive to you may not be offensive to me and vice-versa. Each person has their own definition of what bad language is. For some, it can be words as simple as “stupid head” or “shut up.” For others it can be those four letter words and for others it can be words worse than those. It’s hard to say.
As far as this book, I can understand why the language (my beef is mostly with that infamous F-word) was used. Christopher lives in his own little world. He doesn’t understand people, their questions, their actions, their language, and particularly their choice of words. I’m sure that Mark Haddon made a conscience decision to use the words he did because they emphasized the difference between Christopher’s world and the “outside world.” Which is what I think you meant when you said, “they want to represent a certain time, place, demographic, etc. and contemporary slang is one way to do that in a way most people will recognize instantly.”
Even though the language in this book was deliberate doesn’t mean that I like to hear it, simply for the reason that it brings me down. I do love books and I know that there is no way to avoid foul language. Let’s face it, it’s not going anywhere. But at least I can complain about it.
on May 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pmi felt this novel was extremely interesting, the way in which haddon describes christophers journey and his insight into the illness it fascinating. a must read. thank you
on May 20th, 2008 at 2:04 amI really like your description of “bad” language. You are very good at expressing yourself and have a real way with words.
on June 3rd, 2008 at 3:52 pmJonathan – Thanks for stopping by. I did like learning more about autism and how people view the world.
Kim – Thanks for your compliments. Dewey and I actually continued our conversation via email, I need to ask if I can post the rest of the comments. Differing opinions are always interesting and invited.
on June 3rd, 2008 at 11:36 pmI’m not surprised that many people loved this book! I love it too! Christopher is a really funny character and my heart went out to the poor kid who’s just trying to find out who killed the dog.
This is and will always be one of my all-time favourite books! I strongly recommend it to everyone who just wants to have a good time with a good book. =)
on June 4th, 2008 at 3:41 amI hate to disagree with everyone who has left a comment, but I feel that I must for those who will read this website in the future and who disliked this book.
I really liked it at first, and I felt that although Christopher was not a character that I could connect with, I felt for him. I admired his courage, despite his disorder, and as the book went on, I felt drawn in more and more. However, as soon as I learned who actually killed poor Wellington, the book became a drag, and a tad boring. The style of writing that I had grown to love in other books was too much and I had the feeling, sooner than later, that I wished the book would end. I liked the characters, and felt they were incredibly well developed, but the plot of the story and how it dragged on did not appeal to me in the long run.
on September 1st, 2008 at 4:02 pmI did enjoy this book better than others I have read, and it seemed as though the more I read it, the more it hooked me in. I found it hard to read little at a time, so I essentially read it in about 3 sittings. I enjoyed the way Christopher was portrayed by Mark Haddon
on December 1st, 2008 at 4:19 pm