- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385509456
- ISBN-13: 978-0385509459
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (157 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #846,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant and Captivaring,
By
This review is from: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Paperback)
As both an author and father of a child with Asperger's, I was drawn to this book to see if Haddon could truly capture the unique brilliance and absent social skills of an autistic boy. Not only does he succeed at the task, he adds a healthy dash of humor while avoiding the easy trap of pathos a lesser author might have fallen into. The book is stunning in its accuracy of how those with autism view the world and- just as important- how the world views them. It is this last viewpoint that elevates the book to more than just clever, because we see through Christopher's literal-minded eyes the duplicity of the "normal" world, the world that all assume must be superior. In a way, Haddon's book reminds me of that great short story "Gimpel the Fool" by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a story of a simple man who believes all the lies he's told. In the end, it's not those who tried to trick him, but Gimpel himself who's revealed to be the wisest one for remaining firm in his belief that goodness will prevail. So too does Christopher prevail, his detective work unveiling the truth and overcoming all the futile attempts to thwart or dismiss his meticulous investigation. I don't know if I'll ever write a book with an autistic character, but thanks to Mr. Haddon, I feel like it's already been done for me. Strongly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Artfully Autistic,
By Jacquelyn M. Martin (Akron, OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Audio Cassette)
If having autism could be demonstrated quite literally, this book is it! I have known many individuals with autism over the last 30 years and I saw many of them in the character of the narrator, Christopher. Christopher's character is the essence of the person with autism, who wants the world to be well-ordered and logical. He does mathematical equations in his head to get calm and I wish that would work for me!I loved reading Christopher's thought processes thoughout the book. Christopher decides to investigate who murdered Wellington, the neighbor's dog. His father tells him to mind his own business and not investigate. But Christopher thinks about what Sherlock Holmes would do and investigates anyway. Christopher reasons that most people who kill others usually kill someone they know and are close to. He then reasons it would not unusual to be murdered by someone in your family on Christmas Day! This book is a work of art and it provides pathos, wisdom and understanding to the curious world of people with autism in the daytime and the nighttime.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enlightening book and a terrific debut novel,
By Excession "excession" (Westfield, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Hardcover)
This is a very unusual novel mostly because of the narrator's autism. Simple to read, the novel has an interesting rhythm to it as the reader becomes more familiar with Christopher's disability. While I initially thought it would become repetitive, the story takes some turns to make it a consistently enjoyable reading experience.Christopher begins to write the book to solve the mystery of the murder of Wellington, a neighbor's dog, like his hero Sherlock Holmes. Along the way, we learn about his family situation, his view of the world, his idiosyncrasies, and his school life. He's not exactly an unreliable narrator, but the author does an excellent job of imagining the problems involved when the storyteller has autism and the story is consistent with this perspective. While not a perfect book, I would recommend this highly, especially to people who want a fresh and different reading experience. It's not at all preachy, and it deals with a little understood disability with honesty; this reader came away from the book with a new understanding of the difficulties of dealing with autism. It is well worth your time to pick this one up.
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