The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

"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.

Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally."


I have heard a lot about this book and it's on my English teachers recommended list, so when I saw it at the library I thought why not. This book was interesting but I had a few problems with it.

It tells its tale through the eyes of a boy named Christopher who has autism. First, I found the diagrams and illustrations tiring. Also all the maths equations which I tried to follow but couldn't annoyed me. I understand that the story is told from the point of view of an autistic child but was it really necessary? It created confusion but gave me a headache.

The structure of the book; the chapter numbers are all primes, inclusion of maths puzzles and diagrams, and the narrative style, the attention to detail, excessive logic and avoidance of metaphor, reflect Christopher's mind-set and way of viewing life. It is peppered with snippets of maths and explanations of his condition: how it affects him, and what coping strategies he adopts. The effect is plausibly stilted and occasionally breathless, which is reminiscent of people I know who are on the autistic spectrum and tallies with my limited reading about the condition.

Christopher's apparent deviations from logic are justified with ingenious logic. For example, having favourite and hated colours reduces choice and thus stress, counteracting the effect of his inability to filter or prioritise: he notices (and remembers) every detail of everything, and can rewind it at will, whereas other people's brains are filled with imaginary stuff. He is a little like his hero Sherlock Holmes, who is quoted saying "The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance observes". Similarly, defining a good or bad day on the basis of how many red or yellow cars is no more illogical than an office-bound person's mood being dictated by the weather.

However when a book is advertised as a mystery, that's what I would like to read. It wasn't really a mystery and I found it to be a bit predictable. The answer to who killed Wellington is told to you half way through the book! After that it just becomes a typical dysfunctional family, sob book.

I did like the intimacy of fanning out the fingers and pressing the hand of another, I thought that was beautiful. I found Christopher endearing in his own quirky way and found him an interesting narrator. SPOILER: I personally disliked his mother intensely but that's just me, I don't tolerate abandonment or cheating but understood her reasoning. 

I would suggest ages 12+. Perfectly acceptable for older children who will understand the concepts. No swearing or anything like that. Wellington is stabbed by a garden fork but it is not described at all.