Book Review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: 2 Treasure Boxes
Publisher: Vintage (May 18, 2004), Paperback: 226 pages, ISBN-10: 1400032717, ISBN-13: 978-1400032716
The neighbor’s dog has been murdered and Christopher is determined to play “Sherlock Holmes” to find the killer. He has an unusual way of looking at the world, which both helps and hinders his investigation. Christopher, through his detecting, unravels more secrets and finds more answers than he was looking for or is capable of handling.
Mark Haddon has written several children’s books and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is his first adult novel. The story is told in a first person narrative from the point of view of Christopher Boone, a 15 year old autistic boy. Mr. Haddon worked with autistic children when he was a young man.
This is a very sad story about an autistic teenage boy who decides to solve a mystery using his special unique talents. He is highly gifted in mathematics and in solving problems, but he is unable to deal with life and does not know how to respond to people. He does not like to be touched, and if someone touches him, he will strike back using violence.
This is a standalone story, and it is told in an interesting and unique manner. The story is told in a memoir style from the point of view of an autistic boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Rather than numbering the chapters numerically, they instead are numbered in an increasing sequence of prime numbers, which is a good representation of how Christopher views life. I recommend this book as a good read.
Favourite quote:
“Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an answer to them. It’s just that scientists haven’t found the answer yet.” (Page 100)
