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Summary: A unique mystery!
Review: This novel is incredible. The fact that the narrator is an autistic teenager intrigued me into giving this book a whirl. Christopher Boone is out walking in the middle of the night when he discovers that a dog on his street has been murdered with a pitchfork. Despite his father's warnings to mind his own business, Christopher is determined to solve the mystery and is equally determined to write it all down. His writings become quite a compelling serial. The novel isn't about the dog per se -- it's about Christopher and his dynamics. I confess that I don't know much about autism, but Christopher's voice is beautiful and compelling. He is quite a memorable character. Haddon's unique mystery is one that shall be passed along to all of my friends. Highly recommended...
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: This is the first review I have ever offerred for any medium. I just finished this book and cannot stop recomending it. As the parent of a 7 year old autistic girl I have often wondered "what is going on in that head of hers?". I don't pretend to have all the answers because of this book, but Mr. Haddon's ability to let us take a peek is truely astonishing. I found this book to be a quick read that was funny, heartbreaking, and wonderful. I know I will be more tolerant of my daughter's quirks and habits as a result of this book...quite an effect for a piece of writing to have. If you or anyone you know is effected by autism this is a MUST READ.
Rating: 
Summary: Close to Home
Review: I, like many of the other reviewers, am the parent of an unusual child. My son has licked doormats in department stores and is fascinated by taxidermy. At six, he still can't read social cues as well as his younger sister and will respond to stimuli inconsistently. He's not Christopher but he's not like anyone else either. So, it was with great enthusiasm that I approached this short novel and what I found was an insight into the experience of living that life. I am often so busy "managing" my son or being embarrassed or frustrated by him that I forget how weird everything seems to him. I think Mark Haddon did an incredible job of illustrating both the chaos that surrounds Chistopher as well as the chaos that Christopher perceives is around him. His behavior is merely an effort to control all the information he receives and cannot process. SO, he eats foods of a certain color and watches the patterns of passing cars in order to make his life orderly. However, he has no real engagement with the factors that make his parents lives disorderly. He does not understand ambivalence , embarrassment or spite only fear and joy. Fictional representations of autism and its attendant disorders often try to make the condition a blessing in disguise and the characters so affected become angels or messengers. What Mark Haddon reminds us is that their worlds intersect with ours in something other than sweet little circles. This novel shows the reader everything that Christopher experiences and yet is able to convey to us that Christopher can't respond to these experiences in the way all of those around him regularly do. In fact, what Haddon does is show us how bizarre we are when the tidal wave of our daily lives is stripped of the aggression, ambition and exhaustion that fuel us.
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Summary: Autism: We All Have Some Of It
Review: Haddon succeeds in his book in explaining how autism feels. Granted, his protagonist is a rather high functioning autistic, who communicates fairly effectively in words. This ability would have to be necessary in order for it to be credible that anyone who is autistic can write a book. But the things that struck me in the book were the fact that all of us have these feelings, but for one reason or another, we are able to control them, or at least control them 99.94% of the time, as opposed to someone who is autistic, with only an ability of about 0 to 60% control. This revellation was startling, and worth reading the book in and of itself. To understand what might be going on in an autistic person's head, is to allow more effective communication with the person. Haddon's elucidation of what it 'feels like' to be autistic was truly an excellent depiction.
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Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Christopher John Francis Boone cannot stand to be touched. He relates well to animals, though, like his pet rat, Toby, and his neighbor's dog, Wellington. He can calculate complicated mathematical problems in his head for fun...and uses this device when he faces something he cannot comprehend--like emotions. Christopher is autistic. When Wellington is killed with a garden fork, Christopher cannot help but find the killer. He turns to his favorite fictional character to help him "detect" the clues he'll need, even though he "doesn't like Arthur Conan Doyle." His sleuth-work gets him into all kinds of trouble, not only with the local constabulary, but his father and neighbors as well. Mark Haddon, author of this wonderful book, brilliantly makes Christopher his narrator--a boy unable to fathom emotions but telling a highly emotional tale. The voice is fresh, the story engaging, and the plot twists enough to wrench the reader's heart, no matter how cynical. I strongly recommend this novel...and if you enjoy it, also try "Motherless Brooklyn" by Jonathan Lethem.
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Summary: Quick read!
Review: This book is a murder mystery of sorts told by an autistic British teenage boy. Christopher feels he has been framed for the murder of his neighbor's dog, and after the police take him away, he decides to find out who the real murderer was. He begins to keep a diary of his conversations with his neighbors, and as he uncovers more information, he finds out some very interesting things. Everything is not as it seems. I really enjoyed this glimpse into the life of an idiot-savant gifted in math and science. The diagnosis of autism has always intrigued me, and I remember doing a project on it in my masters' psychology program. I am curious as to what part diet plays in the onset of the disease, as there is a theory that many of those diagnosed with autism actually suffer from celiac disease, and can be cured as a result of following a special no-gluten or processed food diet. Just something interesting to think about. I recommend this book to anyone looking for something outside the traditional story line. The main character was slightly reminiscent of the Adrian Mole books, but that might simply be due to the subject matter. Great book!
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Summary: Wonderfully accurate -- as an autistic, I should know! :-)
Review: As an autistic, I have a special interest in reading works that feature autistic main characters, partly to see how neurotypical people think our brains work, but partly just for the joy I feel when somebody "gets it right." Mark Haddon absolutely "got it right" in this book. From descriptions of how overwhelming the man-made world is for us on a sensory level, to frustration with a society that expects us to learn how to recognize neurotypical facial expressions based on simple drawings -- I'm really impressed, everything really does reflect how many of us experience life. Even the way he'll be talking to an adult one minute and they'll suddenly lose their temper at him, or how his mind digresses to his perseverative interests, and his belief that animals are just as good (if not better) than humans, is exactly what my life has been like. It was like reading something written by my own brain. :-) Parents and friends of autistics can also learn a great deal about how to interact with us in a way that makes us comfortable from the book. Christopher's parents are rare in their acceptance of his needs; instead of forcing him to learn to hug or maintain painful physical contact to fulfill *their* needs, they learn to communicate their love (and to let him communicate his) by gently but firmly touching one another's fingertips. He turns out to be a wonderfully well-adjusted, happy, secure boy that does far more than anybody would expect of an "autistic" as a result. There is much more than that to the book, though. The story itself is filled with innovative twists and turns that bring it far beyond the "mystery" category -- or any other genre. Every chapter, I found myself wondering eagerly what would happen next, whether Christopher was trying to figure out how to navigate the train system to London or having a meltdown in his bedroom. In addition to that, there are many points where Christopher does what I know (from being taught) is "naughty" -- usually what neurotypicals are tempted to do but naturally refrain from -- and I was quite tickled by him actually breaking the rules! I've read thousands of books in my lifetime, as reading is *my* big perseveration, and even earned my bachelor's degree from U.C. Berkeley's English department. "Curious Incident" is, in my opinion, absolutely one of the best I've experienced, and I dearly hope the author writes a sequel. :-)
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Summary: Outlandish Risk Taking ¿ And Absolutely BRILLIANT
Review: "THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME" is a book that dares to take risks. It dares to be sentimental one moment and outlandish the next. This is a risky move that will keep Oprah and the Today Show from picking up an endorsement of it, but for the sake of artistry it is pure brilliance. It is the same blase attitude of cool to be rude, calculatedly ambivalence, offensively lovable, pitifully inspirational, and all around bipolarness that makes Rikki Lee Travolta's "MY FRACTURED LIFE" the must read cult classic in the making. You'll also see the same elements in the brilliant little F-U filled masterpiece "VERNON GOD LITTLE". Buy "CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG" not because it is safe, but because we need to buy books that aren't. Oprah reads these books the same as us, she is a smart lady. She also knows here advertisers won't support her if she publicly named this as a better book than "BOY ALONE AT SEA WITH ZOO ANIMALS". But we have freedom to read the brilliant books. We don't have to purchase what advertisers think are snow white bleached products of sanitized pulp. Buy this book because it is great. Buy "MY FRACTURED LIFE" and "VERNON GOD LITTLE" because they are even better. Buy great books because they are great, not because Oprah or the Today Show says they're quaint. Unless you're looking for quaint. And in that case, go enjoy "THE BOY AND HIS SEA ZOO".
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Summary: My very favorite book (so far) of 2003
Review: Unlike some reviewers, I didn't find this book at all humorous -- instead, I found it extremely moving and the best-written book I've read all year. Christopher, the autistic main character and narrator, is such an alien figure in some ways, like someone from another planet -- but the author gets you "into his head" with amazing skill, really helping you to empathize with and understand him. The story is full of suspense, completely riveting, and the protagonist is so heroic -- this is a thrilling and rewarding read all the way to the denouement, for mystery fans and for anyone who loves the way that great fiction can transport you into a life completely unlike your own.
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Summary: Great Book for Teens and Anyone Else
Review: I put this book at the top of the list of books I recommended that we add to out curriculum for our high school. It's a great book for adults, and it's also a great adult book for teens. The autism angle doesn't seem gimmicky in this book, as it does in some other books. The protagonist is handled very well, and we don't pity him. This is really just a bildungsroman, of a very high caliber, with an unusual young man at the center of it. I wish everyone would at least give this book a try. I think it may be one of the best books I've ever read in terms of getting you to enter in to the mind of an unusual individual (or perhaps any individual, unusual or not). It's a book of great compassion, intelligently written. I recommend it to everyone.
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