The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Today Show Book Club #13)

Rating:
Summary: VERY new and different
Review: Lately there seems to be a rash of books either dealing with dog themes or autism or some tangent thereof. THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD (the paperback version) comes to mind with its "dog" theme and proverbial precocious child who has either Asperger's syndrome or some aspect of Autism. At least that one's now out in paperback so you don't have to cart the hardcover around. And now we have THE CURIOUS INCIDENT, again with dog and autism. But CURIOUS INCIDENT is a wonderful story about a young man, Christopher, who happens to be autistic and his adventures of solving the mystery of a neighbor's murdered dog, writing this story, and living life. It is a brutally honest view of his family and "friends" and how he sees them. Christopher shows no emotion, cannot stand to be touched, and sees the world from a very logical stand point. It is interesting reading how he reasons through everyday events. It is funny and sad at the same time. Christopher is pure and innocent...and it is amazing looking at the world through his eyes (or words). Haddon did a magnificent job writing this story. I can't wait for his next story. He is a wonderful...wonderful author.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: Curious Incident is an expertly written book. I was hooked to this book the moment I started reading it. Within three hours, I was at the end of the last page. It was so touching. Told through the eyes of a boy who suffers from autism, the book captured our failings as humans, the strength of faith, the innocence of childhood, the things we take for granted in our lives, the hopes we cling to, the dreams we want to realize and the love we aspire for in our lives.

Intriguing as it may sound; I was fascinating by the unusual chapter numbering, the use of diagrams, statistics and the use of a first person narrator. It was clever and achieved its desired result of stirring curiosity and eventually keeping the reader hooked. It is a very creative style of writing. In fact, it is a unique reading experience.

By trying to get into the mind of the boy in his narration, I could easily understand his parents who had to deal with his problems constantly. I recommend this novel as a good, enjoyable read and a unique diversion from the other styles of writings that are in the market.

Also recommended: THE USURPER by Janvier Tisi, SENSE AND NONSENSIBILITY, DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE

Rating:
Summary: I was floored by this book and did not want it to end.
Review: I rarely write a review for books that already have hundreds of reviews, but I wanted to express how this book is so incredibly moving. This was the rare book that I did not want to finish. It is one of the most innovative stories. Imagine writing a book from the perspective of an autistic teenage boy.

The author is experienced with developmentally disabled children, according to his bio. I guess that many of his anecdotes are taken from real life experiences with youths of this type. I do not work with this population, but there is little in this story that does not appear realistic.

The author artfully uses secondary characters to further explain the boy's choice of action and his thought process. I would, though, have preferred if the father's character could have been better explained as to why he made the decisions that so deeply affected his son, Christopher.

Also I found it very accurate for an autistic child, that while one can be engrossed in his story, the reader is unlikely to fully understand this child since Christopher is never able to truly understand the other people he encounters. One can enjoy the autistic-protagonist of this story, but one can never expect the protagonist to ever accept the other person other than from his restricted perspective.

I would strongly support this book for high school age students and adults. I would recommend it for even younger audiences, but for the occasional severe language of several characters in this book. I will certainly look for this author's future novels, which will hopefully soon come.


Rating:
Summary: what an awesome read
Review: compassionate,compelling,funny,heart breaking and heart warming,once you begin reading you will come to feel as if you have experienced an experience like no other in a book or life!

Rating:
Summary: Rising to a unique challenge
Review: In this book Mark Haddon sets himself the challenge of narrating a book from the point of view of an autistic boy, a perspective most of us have no experience with. This could have turned into a preachy book, but luckily it is well balanced. As readers we struggle with a narrator who doesn't react to things the way would and who does things we don't want him to, but whom we grow to respect and like by the end of the book. Most of the characters in the book are remarkably real, making both good and bad choices. The plot is somewhat contrived, as the author pushes his narrator to do things that a real boy with autism might not be able to do, but the book stands out for its ambition, unique narrative style, and reasonable length.


Rating:
Summary: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Review: The most wonderful book i have read in years. Once i started i did not put the book down until i'd finished it.

Rating:
Summary: A Curiously Clever Book
Review: Mark Haddon has written a rather clever novel from the point of view of a 15-year old autistic child - Christopher Haddon. If we take as a given that this is an accurate portrayal of the way an autistic person's mind works, it explains and lends empathy to those with autism. We can see how Christopher's actions, to him, seem entirely logical and normal, whereas to those he interacts with they seem bizarre and abnormal (excepting his father and teachers).

The story unfolds as Christopher discovers the neighbor's dog, Wellington, murdered. A garden rake has impaled the poor creature and Christopher decides he will investigate the murder. His investigation is used as a tool to show his interactions with neighbors, strangers, his father, and his teacher, from his point of view as he keeps a journal of his activities. The cleverness of the novel is that it also allows us to see how others react to him, which is illuminating. We see Christopher from both points of view.

The story is also a tragedy in that as Christopher unravels his mystery - he discovers things about his family that bring the world crashing down on him. To avoid spoiling the story I will not go into details on this, other than say the novel also shows how difficult dealing with Christopher has been on those closest to him.

The one frightening thing about the novel is that Christopher is amoral - not in the sense of being evil - but he thinks in a very logical fashion and has no sense of right and wrong or the consequences of his actions. It's just the way he's wired, so to speak.

The novel, written in the form of journal, is also full of other tidbits about the way Christopher thinks. For example he's a genius in math and there are a number of mathematical puzzles sprinkled throughout.

Overall, this was very quick read and a very interesting piece of writing. A keeper, as they say. A book I would read more than once, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Haddon, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.


Rating:
Summary: What a waste of paper
Review: Crap. Crap. Megacrap. I can't believe so many people enjoyed this crappy book. Maybe I should have read it in third grade. I have never wasted more time on a stupider book in my life. Please don't buy this book.