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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | GrrlScientist My review of Mark Haddon's first novel, a fascinating and humorous coming-of-age murder mystery narrated by a 15-year-old autistic boyA few days ago, I discovered a book sitting on my spouse's bookshelves that I have long wanted to read. This book, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (London: Jonathan Cape/Random House; 2004) [Amazon UK and Amazon USA], is a fascinating and humorous coming-of-age story narrated by a 15-year-old autistic boy who uses his passion for mathematics and puzzle-solving to track down the person who murdered his neighbour's poodle with a pitchfork. The author uses his narrator's revelations to provide the tone of this book, which reads like a diary. For example, the reader has barely started the book when the narrator, Christopher John Francis Boone, explains why he cannot tell a lie and doesn't understand jokes. While Christopher acknowledges that he is different from most people, he invests a tremendous amount of thought into trying to comprehend those differences, which is made plain through statements such as: "Prime numbers are what is left after you have taken all the patterns away. I think that prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your life thinking about them." [p. 15]Early in the book, we learn that Christopher's mother died two years ago, so the story primarily focuses on the growing tension between him and his father, who inexplicably forbids Christopher from trying to learn who killed Wellington, his neighbour's poodle. We also learn that Christopher is determined to prove he "is not stupid" by taking his A level maths exam and predicting he will get an A grade and go on to attend university. Christopher discusses his great admiration for Sherlock Holmes (but not Doctor Watson) and for Holmes' "power of detaching his mind at will" when concentrating. Explaining the plot devices in his favourite Sherlock Holmes book, The Hound of the Baskervilles, serves as a way for Christopher to explain the progress of his own detective work. As the story progresses, we are introduced to those who are important to Christopher; his teacher Siobhan, who is his bridge to a world that is both mystifying and terrifying; Toby, his pet rat; and his neighbours, Mrs Shears (Wellington's owner) and Mrs Alexander. It is through Christopher's dispassionate and elaborate observations of these people that the reader soon becomes aware of the complex web of human relationships that is hidden from him in plain view. Christopher is aware of his blind spot, so his observations emulate his determination to closely examine what he cannot understand. His attention to detail throughout the novel is astonishing, ranging from quietly numbering each chapter with sequential prime numbers to mentioning that one of the story's characters "smells of soap and wears brown shoes that have approximately 60 tiny circular holes in each of them." [p. 5]But despite Christopher's powers of observation, he misses a lot, too. He dutifully reports everything he sees, undeterred by his knowledge that some details are important, whilst others are trivial. I found his lack of descriptions of people's faces to be quite striking (he states that he doesn't like looking at people's faces, and that they don't interest him). Emotions are foreign concepts, so Christopher's reports of emotional outbursts are detailed but lack insight, so I was surprised to read that Christopher "felt happy" because he was "being a detective and finding things out" [p. 41]. Throughout the novel, the straightforward writing beautifully captures the underlying and growing tension between Christopher and his father and the world they inhabit, and this creates a similar tension in the reader.As Christopher's detective work continues, puzzles and diagrams are included in the book. These provide additional insight into Christopher's thought processes and how he approaches his limitations. Yet, even though the reader becomes aware of the unfolding situation long before the narrator does, it is Christopher's reasoning and ingenious methods for dealing with the challenges encountered during his quest that surprise and delight. Subtle changes in the prose deftly capture Christopher's ongoing transformation during his journey. Sometimes, the reader glimpses Christopher's seeming wonder at how easy some tasks were to accomplish after he decided to face his fears. This powerful novel gives the reader an appreciation for the tremendous struggle that Christopher is waging against the invisible impediments that hold him prisoner, his frustration with his inability to understand or to even perceive the subtleties of human behaviour, and his eventual triumph over his fears. This fascinating and amusing book is a captivating read for a commute or for a longer journey, but don't start reading it before you go to bed because you won't put it down until you've finished it! But even after you've closed this book, Christopher and his engaging story will stay with you far longer than it will take to read the book. Mark Haddon is an an English screenwriter, novelist, children's book writer and poet. He wrote the "Agent Z" book series, one of which, Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars, was made into a 1996 Children's BBC sitcom. He also wrote the screenplays for several BBC programmes. In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and in 2004, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Best First Book for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – his first novel. His second adult novel, A Spot of Bother [Amazon UK and Amazon USA], was published in September 2006. His third novel, Boom! was just published on 11 May 2010 [Amazon UK and Amazon USA]. Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife and their two young sons.Read an excerpt from this book.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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