31 Jul, 2008
Book Review | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Posted by: Clare Swindlehurst In: 3 stars| 50 book challenge| Book Blowout| Reviews| Summer Reading| Summer Reading Thing| Young Adult
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Buy a copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time from amazon.com
Rating
3 stars - an interesting insight into Asperger’s Syndrome - but the bad language lets it down
Description
Narrated by a fifteen-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions.
Why did you choose to read this book?
It’s been sitting on my book case for many months now - but a friend recommend I read it so I dusted off the cover and settled down…
The Book Review
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery narrated by 15 year old Christopher Boone. I have to admit that before reading this book I didn’t know a lot about Asperger’s Syndrome - so I had to look it up online:
Hans Asperger labeled this disorder “Autistic Psychopathy” in 1944, and the cause is still unknown. There is a possible relation to autistic disorder (autism). Some researchers believe that Asperger syndrome is simply a mild form of autism.
The child with Asperger shows below-average nonverbal communication gestures, fails to develop peer relationships, has an inability to express pleasure in other people’s happiness, and lacks the ability to reciprocate emotionally in normal social interactions. The condition appears to be more common in boys than in girls. There are likely genetic factors, but some theories suggest a prenatal infection may be to blame.
While people with Asperger syndrome are frequently socially inept, many have above-average intelligence, and they may excel in fields like computer programming and science. There is no delay in cognitive development, in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, or in curiosity about the environment. Generally, there is no language development delay.
The book is well written and gives an insight into how people with this Syndrome think and react to the wider world. The murder mystery that Christopher sets out to solve leads him to learn some scary things about his family and the way he is treated by his father. It also prompts him to take a journey from Swindon to London - something most of us would find quite simple but to Christopher is a mammoth and at times terrifying task.
I enjoyed this book and liked the way Haddon makes it sound like a book narrated by the main character right down to the illustrations. However, I did not appreciate the continuous bad language from the adult characters in the book - I can’t quite believe this was awarded the Guardian’s Children Fiction prize for that reason. I don’t have an issue with swearing - but in this case it really added nothing to the story at all and became quite offensive at times.
Have you read this book?
If you have read the Curious Incident and would like to discuss it with other readers then I’d love to see you over at the Blue Archipelago Virtual Book Club where I’ve put together some questions to get things started.
Have you reviewed this book?
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I picked it up a few weeks ago for cheap and would like to read it again–I remember really liking it but I don’t remember the bad language. I picked up his newest book at a booksale on Thursday, but I think that I’ve heard the language is a little rocky in that one as well. Not sure why people find it necessary to include it in their writing.
Mrs S
Trish
Kim L
J. Kaye
Marg