Dear Reader
This summer I read many different books, all varying in subject and genre, but the one I have chosen to tell you about is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a 221-page work of fiction by Mark Haddon. Christopher Boone lives with his single father in Swindon in South East England and sets out on an adventure to solve the mystery of his neighbor's dead dog. Christopher’s journey takes a series of unexpected twists and turns as many different truths surface. Throughout the novel Christopher’s boundaries are poked and prodded at as to solve the mystery he must go door to door, interacting with each of his neighbors and people he meets, something he vigorously tries to avoid. Although never officially stated in the novel, Christopher is suggested to have a mild form of autism due to his behavior and as he mentions, a condition.
Christopher likes things in a specific way and among his many characteristics, his defining qualities are his inabilities to understand sarcasm and read facial expressions which seem to go hand in hand with his severe dislike for social interaction. Christopher has a strong desire for independence, often rebelling against his father, driven by the idea of eventually overcoming the challenges he is presented with and go off to college and be on his own. Through the story, you, the reader, will be taken on a journey through Christopher's view to see how he develops and gains this confidence all the while holding a dislike for social interaction. He is significantly tested through the story as he wanders farther from home and is forced to communicate with strangers to find his way. Christopher’s unique way of life peaked my interests, and I always found myself wanting to learn more and want to continue to follow his character. His logical and unusual way of thinking captivated me, and I enjoyed seeing it through his perspective as he often avoided complex sentences and phrases, and instead told the story in a straightforward manner.
To engage the reader, the author often quizzically uses imagery to tell the story. The devices differ profoundly from what is often seen in other works of fiction and engage the reader as Christopher tells the story in a matter of fact kind of way. Details and descriptions do not interest Christopher when he describes the people and places he encounters through the first half of the book. However when Christopher finds himself in a new place, his senses are bombarded, and there seems to be a sensory overload as he attempts to find his way in the right direction. It is hard to miss Christopher's odd way of storytelling as the story itself is told by Christopher rather than a third person perspective from the author.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is unlike any book I have read in the past and differs greatly in the way the story is told. General works of fiction often tell the story from a third person point of view and include more details and complex sentence structures, compared to this novel. That being said, I nonetheless would recommend the book to many readers, to explore the different way of thinking and to follow along on Christopher’s drastic journey. The language and book itself are easy to go along with which makes it good for readers of many age groups, however, there is violence, crime, and inappropriate language use throughout the books and would recommend this to readers of ages 14 and up who wish to follow along a different way of thinking and explore the mind of a character living with a disability.
by Nicole Stetsyuk