Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.
Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.
Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth, Amazon.ca
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Curious Execution Within A Wonderful Story:
With a unique style and fresh voice Mark Haddon has created a wonderfully memorable first novel. "The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night-time" is told through the eyes of Christopher, a 15-year old autistic boy, and chronicles his search for the killer of his neighbor's dog. However, what starts as a mystery that Christopher compares to his favorite book "The Hound of The Baskervilles", turns into much more as he overcomes his fears and limitations to try and put order in a chaotic world. By... more info
Ok in parts:
I'm not much for rambling style of writing, so i started reading this book with a degree of skepticism. Despite my low expectations, the book was a let down. It was different and interesting in parts, but not great. The story is about Christopher Boone, a 15-year old autistic boy, resolved to find the murderer of his neighbor's dog...or so i thought until the first chapter. That is where the author digresses. He rambles on about red cars and yellow cars and a ton of math and charts and diagrams that... more info
Curious preaching from an otherwise interesting read:
I enjoyed reading this novel. I found it engaging right from the start. It was interesting to see things from a different perspective. I got some insight, I think, into a very different way of looking at life. Christopher would, indeed, be a handful.
My problem with this book and why I would not give it a rave review is the atheism kind of tacked-on here and there. It feels false to the character. It feels like the authour saw an opportunity to preach his view of religion and was not faithful to the... more info
Great book, but arrived damaged:
The book itself was very good and well written. However, my order arrived slightly damaged. Oh well.
