"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" By Mark Haddon
Vintage: 2003
I live in Korea and it is often hard to optain books in English. This is another book I found on the shelves in the university English library where I work and had read it when it first came out. I decided to re-read it and I am so glad I did. It stands out, in my mind, as a remarkable achievement in describing the mind of an autistic teenager. It gives the reade
r an unforgetable introduction to the world of autism since many of us do not have this background. It is believable and memorable.
It is a murder mystery and involves the death of a neighborhood dog with hints of Sherlock Holmes thrown in with the mysteries of the universe and mathmatical theories and a 15-year-old boy who is trying to understand a very strange and alien world the rest of us live in and think of as normal. One of the achievements this book does is to show the reader how strange this world can look to an autistic person.
Christopher discovers the dog, Wellington, speared through with a pitchfork. The owner of the dog sees this and calls the police. The police officer makes the mistake and thinks the autistic boy Christopher is to blame and grabs Christopher who can't stand to be touched and the boy hits the officer who then arrests the boy. This is the beginning of a series of misunderstandings.
Christopher decides to solve the murder and to write a book about it. Using cunning, his own brand of logic, the help of others and single-hearted bravery he does succeed and brings plenty of suspense and humor as well as warmth to this novel.
On more than one occasion, I wondered if the author was autistic because he discribes Christopher so well. Between the chapters, Christopher introduces the reader to his favorite things and to things he doesn't like. I did not understand the mathmatical puzzels and I don't think it is important to the book to do so.
This totally engaging novel is wonderful, easy to read and the logic would make Sherlock Holmes proud.
Vintage: 2003
I live in Korea and it is often hard to optain books in English. This is another book I found on the shelves in the university English library where I work and had read it when it first came out. I decided to re-read it and I am so glad I did. It stands out, in my mind, as a remarkable achievement in describing the mind of an autistic teenager. It gives the reade
r an unforgetable introduction to the world of autism since many of us do not have this background. It is believable and memorable.It is a murder mystery and involves the death of a neighborhood dog with hints of Sherlock Holmes thrown in with the mysteries of the universe and mathmatical theories and a 15-year-old boy who is trying to understand a very strange and alien world the rest of us live in and think of as normal. One of the achievements this book does is to show the reader how strange this world can look to an autistic person.
Christopher discovers the dog, Wellington, speared through with a pitchfork. The owner of the dog sees this and calls the police. The police officer makes the mistake and thinks the autistic boy Christopher is to blame and grabs Christopher who can't stand to be touched and the boy hits the officer who then arrests the boy. This is the beginning of a series of misunderstandings.
Christopher decides to solve the murder and to write a book about it. Using cunning, his own brand of logic, the help of others and single-hearted bravery he does succeed and brings plenty of suspense and humor as well as warmth to this novel.
On more than one occasion, I wondered if the author was autistic because he discribes Christopher so well. Between the chapters, Christopher introduces the reader to his favorite things and to things he doesn't like. I did not understand the mathmatical puzzels and I don't think it is important to the book to do so.
This totally engaging novel is wonderful, easy to read and the logic would make Sherlock Holmes proud.
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