The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a book different to any I have ever read. It is so unique because it is written in the eyes of a teenage boy, Christopher. But Christopher isn’t an ordinary boy – he suffers from a form of autism called Asperger Syndrome which makes his telling of the story exciting, funny and sometimes weird. Just like his habit of fasting and not talking to anyone if he sees 5 yellow cars in a row on the way to school. Christopher lives with his father who cares for him and attends to all his needs. As Christopher doesn’t really understand people (jokes, emotions) his best friend is a nice, caring teacher who gives him advice whenever needed.
The plot of this story begins when Christopher finds his neighbour’s dog dead on his neighbour’s lawn. He feels he needs to investigate, so he starts asking everyone in his street if they had seen anything suspicious. He finds some clues, which unexpectedly lead him to a much bigger mystery involving his broken family.
This book is in the teenage fiction/humour genre, but I think that it would be a great read for anyone over the age of 11. I would give this book a rating of 7.5 out of 10, because occasionally the story goes a bit off track.
Mark Haddon has created a classic and it is not to be missed.
Review by Tom
July 16th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Firstly, if it was, as you said, a classic, wouldn’t it be above 7/10. Secondly, you said that it went off track. I have read the book, and believe that it very rarely it went off track. And when it did, it was effective, as it added to the characterisation portrayed by Christopher.