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Summary: "EVERYTHING HAD AN ORDER AND A PLAN"
Review: From the first moment I heard the premise of this book I was intrigued. The effects of living with autism remain clouded in mystery and are often misunderstood. A CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME provides the reader a rare glimpse into the world of autism. After Christopher, a 15-year-old autistic boy, discovers the murder of a neighbor's dog he decides to solve the mystery in the fashion of Sherlock Holmes. With the guidance of a schoolteacher Christopher documents his clues and suspicions in a book. He relies heavily on logical and mathematical explanations of the events occurring around him. Although his investigation begins with the dog's death, his focus quickly widens to the mysteries involved in his own family. During his investigation Christopher highlights the numerous obstacles he faces as a result of his condition. He is extremely perceptive and sensitive of the details of objects around him. If he is unfamiliar with his surroundings he often suffers from a type of sensory overload since he is unable to filter out images, smells, and sound. Most importantly, Christopher is extremely sensitive to touch. One of the most touching aspects of this book was the manner of how others would hug him. Mark Haddon succeeds in highlighting the obscurity of autism and simultaneously providing an entertaining story of the mysterious murder of a neighbor's dog. I don't hesitate to recommend this book to others.
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Summary: Clever, fresh and entertaining
Review: This was a pleasure to read, a new perspective of narration to me and a fast read. Good Job Mr. Haddon.
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Summary: Curious indeed, very entertaining
Review: As the parent of a boy with autism I was very interested to read this fun and entertaining novel. Mark Haddon clearly understands many of the challenges and quirks of the autistic mind and expresses them from a very loving place. Though my child is quite different in many ways from the narrator of this book, I found interesting similarities and was also able to appreciate some of the frustrations and fears that his parents experienced. Nice to find a book that embraces autism both realistically and humorously.
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Summary: In a word...WOW!
Review: This stunning debut novel is the best book I've read this year. You know you are in for something different when you open the book to the first chapter, but it is numbered "2." And the next chapter is 3, then 5, then 7, and so on until it is explained that Christopher, our 15-year-old protagonist, is autistic. As some differently-abled children are, he is a savant, in his particular case with prime numbers and the ability to name every country and its capital, and he has an extremely logical mind, but he also has other issues like he can't stand to be touched, won't eat brown or yellow food, and finds comfort in curling up in a corner and groaning. When he finds his neighbor's dog has been killed, he decides to solve the mystery à la his favorite sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, and that is ostensibly what the book is about. But the reality is a beautifully written book with amazing characters and a great storyline - everything a book is supposed to have but seldom does. A truly remarkable book.
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Summary: A Glimpse Into The Mind Of An Autistic Child
Review: This story is told by 15 year old Christopher Boone who is autistic. He discovers his neighbor's dog killed with a pitchfork and decides to solve this mystery. The view of the world through the eyes of an autistic child is very enlightening and well presented by the author. About halfway through the book, the dog's murderer is revealed and one of the hooks for the story is lost, but it sets up the plot for the second half of the story. Fear is the major motivation in Christopher's life and he shows a great deal of courage in overcoming his fears. At times Christopher's ramblings were repetitive and tedious. His emotional disconnection to the people in his life was disturbing and very depressing. I was impressed with the idea for this book. It is an ambitious attempt to understand the workings of the autistic mind. However, the later stages of this story were rather dark and I was relieved to have finished it and to get my mind back to my 'normal' life.
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Summary: Refreshingly different
Review: I enjoyed this book throughly and managed to read this in one day. It is a refreshing look at autism through the mind of someone who is autistic. Each chapter is numbered by prime numbers (because the boy is fascinated with these numbers) and many of the pages contain pictures that describe word problems or they contain mathmatical problems that he explains the answers to. The language is very simple and although the language and dialogue are simple it still manages to have a few twists that you weren't expecting. I would highly recommend this book!
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Summary: Just as a matter of fact.
Review: Reading or watching a movie about an autistic person is one thing. Getting into their mind and experiencing events through their eyes is something totally different. The heart-wrenching part of this book is that you get to see the world through Christophers eyes, but you as the reader know how to react to emotions but do not see that happening. So, when events happen that you would expect the narrator to react to don't happen, you are left in an odd zone. Every reaction in Christophers' actions is calculated and serves a purpose, it isn't his nature to "fly of the handle" when something happens. He reacts in a specific way for specific reasons. At first glance it might appear that the book is fairly simplistic and far too amature to warrant the time to read it. Devoid of flowing descriptions and whimsical musings, everything in here is matter of fact
"I started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me.". It might put off some readers, again as appearing simplistic, but when you realize that this isn't a simplistic mind writing these events, you can grow to understand and feel his world. I think this is a must read for those interested in what type of world autistic individuals live in and how they function. A beautiful story and I enjoyed reading each chapter, which by the way are not numbered 1,2,3 but I'll let Christopher explain:
"Chapters in books are usually given the cardinal numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 and so on. But I have decided to give my chapters prime numbers 2,3,5,7,11,13 and so on becuase I like prime numbers.
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Summary: a very interesting window into the world of another
Review: This book is written from the viewpoint of a young teen with Asbergers. Besides being a very good mystery novel the real highlight is taking you into the world of someone who's brain works in a fundamentally different way than the "norm". This book should be required reading for anyone in public service like firefighters, police, teachers, etc. It would help them understand that some people will react differently to them and how to help work with them. Please buy this book and pass it along to friends. Understanding how to work and interact with people of all types including Autism and Asbergers is very valuable.
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Summary: one of the most original books I've read
Review: What a debut novel this is! Brilliantly written in the voice of an autistic 15 year old, it's always believable and never over the top. What starts off as a detective story becomes a chronicle of the daily life of Christopher, and an amazing journey into the mind and world of a 'Special Needs' young man. The book is peppered with puzzles, diagrams, maps, and some 'jokes' made by the 'normal' people that Christopher needs to decode and never fully understands. If you thought 'Rain Man' was cool...read this book. A truly marvelous read, and one of the freshest, more original literary works I've read from a contemporary writer. Note: If you haven't read 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' by Arthur Conan Doyle, and plan to, read that book first. This book gives away the plot and the ending.
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Summary: A different experience but definitely worth reading
Review: It's not too often a book this quirky comes out. I'm not too familiar with autism, but Mark Haddon seemed to know what he was talking about. The reader grapples with the illogical actions of 15 year old Christopher Boone; however, he proves to the reader that everything he does is entirely logical in purpose. If anything's illogical, it's the world around him and its strange expressions he doesn't understand. I found the narration following a thought pattern that seemed very close to my own, except that Christopher takes everything just a few levels too far. The book was hard to put down; I just had to know what Christopher would do with the situation that, despite any observations otherwise, would be hard for any individual to deal with. This book is marvelously written, but it wouldn't matter if it wasn't because it's such an interesting and odd perspective on life. I recommend it for young people especially; it's lovely to see how this boy deals with his problems. My Dad loved it too. This book elucidates a difficulty in life that many have to deal with.
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