Saralee says
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Doubleday) by Mark Haddon is one of the best books that I have read in years. I kept hearing people talk about this strange title and wondered whether it was a novel, a mystery, a biography, or a coming of age book. The answer is yes. It is a combination of all of the above and I highly recommend it to everyone. If this book were a baseball game, then first time novelist Haddon has hit a grand slam the first time he came to bat.
Before he became a literary giant, Haddon worked in England with adults and children who have mental and physical handicaps. He has used his real life experience to create Christopher Boone, who is sure to be one of this century’s most interesting characters. Boone is autistic which, according to MedicalNet.com is “a developmental disorder that is characterized by impaired development in communication, social interaction, and behavior.” Many autistic people are brilliant, just a little eccentric when it comes to social skills. There is even speculation that Albert Einstein may have been autistic.
The opening scene in Curious Incident is about Boone finding his neighbor’s dog: “The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.” Boone, a fan of Sherlock Holmes decides he will solve the murder and write a mystery book about how he solves the murder. As he describes his investigation, Boone explains why he does not like the color yellow, why he does not like for people to touch him, and offers insight about his family and neighbors.
Haddon’s interpretation of Boone’s thinking is funny, suspenseful and sometimes very moving. Give yourself time to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in one sitting because once you start this short book, you will not be able to put it down.
We all know someone who is just a little different, or as Boone says “most people are almost blind and they don’t see most things and there is lots of spare capacity in their heads and it is filled with things which aren’t connected and are silly.”
Larry’s language
The first half of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is absolutely enthralling as we meet Christopher Boone who is a young boy in Swendon, England. Boone knows the name and capital of every country in the world and can compute every prime number up to 7,057. He discovers his neighbor Mrs. Shears’ dog, Wellington, killed in a curious manner and sets out to solve this mystery by writing a true crime book.
Boone’s investigation is somewhat difficult because Boone does not understand emotions, does not want to be physically close to most people, and decides each morning whether his day is going to be good or bad based upon the color of the cars that he sees. Red cars equal a good day and yellow cars result in Boone not speaking to anyone.
Despite these differences, Boone detects the circumstances involved in the dog’s death by his use of logic and by his total focus on a achieving his goal. In doing so, Boone finds and, much to his regret, solves an even larger mystery.
Boone’s father cares very deeply for his son but commits several mistakes in his relationship with him, especially in light of the death of Boone’s mother. Then Boone comes apart completely when he uncovers the lies that he has been told.
The true beauty of this book lies in observing the character, thinking and inner life of Boone. In his totally focused, logical manner Boone is able to explain his life and his interests using only a few sentences. Boone observes his surroundings. He does not glance and daydream. He concentrates on the logic of the situation. Boone can easily explain anything about mathematics and science from star constellations to computers to evolution to why Sherlock Holmes’ creator, A. Conan Doyle, was foolish to believe in fairies. Even though Boone cannot figure every day matters such as how to buy a train ticket, he does know how to solve problems and reacts to a loss of trust just as anyone would.
Join us for our next Book Club discussion, which will feature Tennessee’s Radical Army—The State Guard and Its Role in Reconstruction 1867-1869 (University of Tennessee Press) by Ben H. Severance.
