The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Paperback – May 18, 2004

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is a brilliant work of fiction. It tells the story of a fifteen-year-old boy named Christopher who, while walking alone in his neighborhood late one night, comes across his neighbor's dog lying on the ground with a pitchfork protruding out of its side. The dog, a standard-sized French poodle named Wellington, is dead - murdered by an unknown party. Christopher, who loves animals, decides that he is going to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington, and, while he is at it, he is going to write a book about his investigation.And that set-up should be enough for this story to proceed to some sort of satisfying conclusion, but with Christopher John Francis Boone, nothing is ever simple. Christopher is autistic, and while that condition provides some advantages for detective work - such as being highly focused and extremely logical - it also complicates his life in other ways. Christopher does not like to be touched - or to function in close proximity to other people, especially people whom he does not know, and his experience in functioning outside of his school and his home - on his own - is very limited. He can also be uncomfortably direct in his statements and questions."The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is, in effect, one book with two authors. It is in reality a novel written by Mark Haddon, a talented young author, children's author, and screenwriter who at one time worked with autistic youth. But Haddon's novel is also a representation of the book that Christopher is writing about the case of the murdered dog. The entire book is written in the first-person with Christopher as the narrator.One of the things that interests Christopher Boone is math. While he is being educated in a special school for children with an assortment of handicaps - and learning to function in the world - Christopher is also absorbed with learning about nature and math. One aspect of his devotion to math is an intense interest in prime numbers. Christopher knows every prime number up to 7,057, and because of this fascination with primes, he numbers the chapters in his book by ascending prime numbers. The first chapter is 2, the second is 3, the third is 5, and so on. He also halts the narrative at various places to discuss certain math problems, and the appendix is a four-page discussion and resolution of a math problem that appeared in his A Level Math Examination.In addition to the steady flow of math references, Christopher uses his own drawings to illustrate objects, concepts, and patterns in his book.During the course of writing his book, Christopher does discover who killed Wellington, and he also unearths some family secrets that set his life in turmoil. Christopher becomes more independent as he struggles to solve the murder mystery. At one point he has to figure out how to get himself on a train and make his way to London, and then once in the big city, he has to manage to get to a particular address - all of which he eventually does.Christopher John Francis Boone is perhaps the most engaging narrator to grace the pages of a book about troubled youth since Holden Caulfield. Christopher sets a goal and achieves it, and along the way he gets a more secure handle on his life and gives the world a clearer view of what it is like to function with autism."The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is a compelling narrative that delivers on multiple levels. And while there is no standard symptomology for autism. Christopher's responses and behaviors will be recognizable to many who have had first hand experience with individuals on the autism spectrum.Mark Haddon's - and Christopher Boone's - book is a remarkable achievement, a stark and logical look at the world through the perspective of an individual with autism. It's a rare chance for many of us to see the world as we have never seen it before - and to be better people for the taking the opportunity.Yes, reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" can make you a better person - if you are up for the experience!

Christopher John Francis Boone is a fifteen year old boy who lives with his father, loves animals, and doesn't understand human emotions-including his own. With help he has learned what makes him feel :) good, like orange crush and licorice laces, and Toby his rat and starring up at the stars at night. And he knows what makes him feel :( bad, like new places, people, too much information, or anyone touching him. But he doesn't understand a lot of the faces that Siobhan from school shows him or Mr. Jeavons the school psychiatrist asks him about. Christopher is different from a lot of other teenage boys and he goes to a special kind of school with other special students. He doesn't like to be compared to them because he thinks a lot of them are stupid, but he's not allowed to use that word or call them that according to what his mother used to say or Siobhan at school, he's supposed to say they have learning difficulties or that they have special needs (but that's stupid too because everyone has learning difficulties). But it is his book so he can write what he wants in it. He's keeping this book for his investigation. He's investigating like Sherlock Holmes and he is investigating a murder. There was a murder on his street of Wellington the big poodle at Mrs. Shears house, which is right down the street from his house and Mrs. Shears is a friend of their's and so was Wellington because Christopher likes dogs. The Police and Siobhan says that killing a dog isn't the same thing as killing a human and they don't investigate or search as hard for things like that because it isn't a human, but Christopher liked Wellington and he thinks dogs are just a good as humans, in fact he likes them more.This is a book written from the first-person point of view of a fifteen year old boy with autism and a very good understanding of facts and numbers (maths). He focuses and relies on the here and now, the real things of this world, and math problems. He doesn't like idioms, similes, metaphors, slang, or imagination. Facts are much more preferred, thank you. The book starts on the night that he finds Wellington skewered with a garden fork on Mrs. Shears front lawn, an event that he is later blamed and questioned about. He determines that he has to find out who murdered Wellington and the life that he thought he knew and was comfortable with swiftly begins to unravel. For a boy who doesn't understand human emotions a lot of events puzzle him and he has a hard time coping and understanding why some people do and choose the things that they do, it's not logical, even if it is human.Mark Haddon does a remarkable job at capturing the mindset and ideas of an individual with autism and expressing it in a way readers can relate to. This book illustrates how some mindsets can be different. Where some individuals focus on feelings, others enjoy literature, and still others are focused on numbers and facts, things that are measurable and recordable, like Christopher. Sometimes different mindsets make certain things easy for individuals to understand while other topics and ideas are alien and something that makes ones' head spin. This is a tale of murder, mystery, a hidden past, and an unsure future of a boy who likes to deal in absolutes and certainties. But all it takes is one variable in the equation to change for the outcome be to a different world entirely.Overall this book is really well-written and an interesting read. Highly recommended for those working with individuals with autism or other neo-neurological learning disabilities. Also a good read for those looking for different perspectives or books that make you question the writer/reporters point of view.