I'm not sure where to start.  This books was so good but so unique, I'm struggling putting my feelings about it down on virtual paper.  As I finished the book, I was reminded of the following:

“Blessed are the weird people: poets, misfits, writers. mystics, painters, troubadours. for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.”

 

- Jacob Nordby, Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to live your best life now

The book starts with a suspicious death when at 12:07am, Christopher John Francis Boone finds his neighbours dog dead on the front lawn.  Seeing this incident through Christopher's eyes, we immediately realize that he does not react to the world in the same way that most of us do.  The book is written from the point of view of a 15-year old boy who describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties".  And that understatement leads us on a wonderful journey of discovery.

While the unreliable narrator can be a trope that is hit or miss for me (A.J. Finn's "The Woman In The Window" = hit, B.A. Paris' "Behind Closed Doors" = not so much), in "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time", it was definitely a hit. Our main character does not look at life the way most of us do and Christopher processes and prioritizes information in a very unique way - often funny, frequently heartbreaking and sometimes scary.

Christopher finds the body of Wellington, his neighbours' poodle who has been killed using a garden fork, and inspired by one of his favourite literary characters, Sherlock Holmes, he sets out to avenge Wellington by solving his murder.  Christopher's teacher Siobhan, suggests he writes a book about his investigation and "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" is born.

“I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk.”

 

- Mark Haddon, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time (Vintage Books, 2003), P. 3

In trying to solve Wellington's murder, Christopher starts asking questions of his neighbours and uncovers secrets about his family that not only reveal Wellington's killer, but send his well-ordered life into chaos.

Although there is a mysterious element in this book and some long-hidden secrets are uncovered, the story feels more like a quest novel or a coming of age story than a mystery.  While there are puzzles to solve, the biggest puzzle of all is Christopher himself.  By making Christopher the narrator and "author" of his own story, the reader is able to walk in Christopher's shoes as he steps from a once organized and structured life into one filled with unknown dangers.  While Christopher may not be conquering Mordor or chasing after a serial killer, seen through his eyes, the ordinary feels like the extraordinary - a trip to London is a frantic flight from certain death and a ride on a train something from a spy novel with our hero disguised as a luggage rack and fearing discovery at every stop.

"And then the train stopped and a lady with a yellow waterproof coat came and took the big suitcase away and she said, "Have you touched this?"

 

And I said, "Yes."

 

And then she went away.

 

And then a man stood next to the shelf and said, "Come and look at this, Barry.  They've got, like, a train elf."

 

An another man came and stood next to him and said, "Well, we have both been drinking."

 

And the first man said, "Perhaps we should feed him some nuts."

 

- Mark Haddon, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time (Vintage Books, 2003), P. 167

In reading other reviews about this book, I came across some blog posts and news articles that criticized the author for his portrayal of an autistic person.  I can't comment on the representation in this book and whether it was accurate or not - I'm not autistic and I don't have anyone in my close circle of family and friends who is.

So, I did a bit more research and found a July 2009 blog post by the author that addressed the criticism.

"curious incident is not a book about asperger’s. it’s a novel whose central character describes himself as ‘a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties’. indeed he never uses the words ‘asperger’s’ or ‘autism’ (i slightly regret that fact that the word ‘asperger’s’ was used on the cover). if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. it’s as much a novel about us as it is about christopher."

 

- Mark Haddon, Mark Haddon Blog, "asperger's and autism", 2009

Do not read this book if you are looking for the definitive guide on what being autistic means.  Instead, recognize that this is a "day in the life" story of someone who likely does not see the world in exactly the same way that you do.  Please consider spending 221 pages looking at the world through Christopher's eyes.  Solve the murder, uncover the family secrets, deal with the shock and learn to shape a "new normal" in a world where none of us are truly normal.  In my opinion, you won't regret it.

I really enjoyed this book.  Christopher was just too pure for the world, and I wanted to hug him, but he would have hated that.  Christoper is an autistic boy who finds the neighbor's dog murdered.  Initially he is blamed for it because he's found at the scene of the crime cradling the dog.  Christopher is then determined to act as a detective like Sherlock Holmes and discover who killed poor Wellington the dog.

This book is told in the first person, which usually makes me cringe and stop reading; however, it was so beautifully written that I feel as though I got a chance to see the thinking process of an autistic person first hand.  It was very fascinating to see how his thought process worked; how he saw and interacted the world and the people around him.

In the middle searching for the killer, Christopher uncovers an entirely different mystery regarding his family.  His dad has been lying to him and throws his world into a tailspin.

This book is funny and engaging and gives a small bit of insight into the life of a person with autism, and being the parent of a child with autism.

This has been on my TBR for ages and I'm using it for:

Hello everyone and how's it going?! I hope you all are doing awesome and are being awesome! I'm doing awesome myself! I am here to do a review on the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. I'm excited to be doing this review because of how it's set up.

A quick blurb the story centers around a character name Christopher John Francis Boone, who happens to be Autistic. He had happened upon a dog in the neighbor's yard and which turned out to be murdered. He was accused of killing the dog, but was let go with a warning. He then decides and against his father's wishes to take it upon himself to solve the case of who killed the dog. 

 I just love this story, I love what was brought into it. How the author had handle a character with Autism was fantastic and you felt what Christopher felt. I don't personally know anyone who has Autism, but I'm subscribed to a few channels on YouTube of families who have someone with Autism. It's very educational and eye open. The book goes into how he soothes himself by stemming, which frightens people who don't understand, how smart Christopher is, how he views the world differently, how he proves people wrong by pushing himself out of his comfort zone; I like that the author included that and to face the world outside of what Christopher knows. 

My heart broke for Christopher many times while reading. I got so mad at a lot of people and really wanted to just comfort and protect Christoper. I would get annoyed at people a lot of times and mostly towards his dad. I love the journey that Christopher does and how he handles situations that is new. He did managed to get to London by himself. I felt like a proud and frighten mama for him lol!

I am so glad that I had gotten and read this amazing read. I would most likely and highly recommend this read to everyone. To get a small glimpse of how a person with Autism handles the world. This book is also apart of the PBS's 100 top American Reads and up for the number one spot. This book needs to be added to everyone's library to get get an understanding!

I hope that you all enjoy this little review on such an amazing and powerful book. I'll be back next Friday with a brand new post. Until then have an awesome day/night!

LATER DAYS!!!

This has been on my list for quite some time. I heard the protagonist was autistic and, while it was never explicitly stated, I appreciated this. Characters with autism are hard to come by, and those that are well written are even rarer. I found myself completely understanding him in many ways, even though his autism doesn't manifest in the same way as my autism.

The unconventional chapter markings were quite good. It really helped solidify the idea that the credited author did not write it, considering the main character had a special interest in math and prime numbers. It helped lift him off the page and into my living room. 

I liked that the mysteries in the book were only solved halfway through the novel. Too often mystery novels end at the resolution of the mystery, so we don't get a good picture of the fallout that often results from the revelation. Getting to see Christopher, the main character, react to these revelations was wonderful, and honestly very logical, in my opinion.

Overall, it was just what I needed after reading a heavy book in the form of Flowers for Algernon. I feel much better after reading it.