The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon
And now for something completely different. This novel is quite interesting and is incredibly original. First of all, from the blurb on the back I was expecting a sympathetic third-person narrative about a poor autistic man who gets caught up in something way beyond his grasp. This is an entirely false description of the book and does a terrible disservice to Haddon and to his many talents as a writer. Christopher's story is told in spot-on first person narration that does as much to characterize him as any airy, lengthy passage of prose. The book is straightforward, but it is also immensely complex. The whole work does as much in static characterization as it does in moving the plot forward, but far from being a detraction, this fact is what makes this book so special.
Haddon takes on an immense challenge in trying to represent the viewpoint of an autistic teenager, but succeeds in spades. The voice of Christopher feels honest and is never condescending. He is undaunted by the comments of people around him, by the sarcasm he cannot penetrate, but in Christopher's confusion Haddon shows us our own bouts of silliness. Yes, idioms give our language a richness and bouyant air of lightness that I (for one) would not want to do without, but they are inherently rather odd when you think about them. Plenty of non-autistic people have enough trouble understanding sarcasm, too. What is most remarkable about Christopher, then, is that he is completely and totally normal. He does not think of himself as handicapped (or even as "special needs"), but actually sees his way of doing things as superior to others' methods. His supreme love of the logical makes the world make sense not only to him, but to us as well. Christopher is able to see through the tangled webs we weave and get at fundamental truths that teach us more about ourselves at times than about him.
Haddon does not condescend to his readers for one second as he deftly pulls them into Christopher's mind. His portrayal of autism is not only sympathetic but is quite easily related to. The reader never knows more than Christopher and can follow his train of thought through numerous digressions back to the main plot. Here is one book, then, where the digressions of the author absolutely enhance the text. That they are mostly unrelated to the plot, and that the plot moves alternately like molasses and a rocket, only makes the book much more interesting and real than it would be otherwise. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is as much about its protagonist as it is about its plot, and that is absolutely okay. This is not to say that the plot is contrived or boring; it has some of the classic characteristics of a mystery novel, including ambiguous clues and a story far beyond the crime at hand, and surprises the reader as much as the narrator.
This story transcends its plot and becomes a novel of triumph rather than a simple murder mystery. Remarkably, it achieves this without resorting to high pretenses or lecturing its readers. Haddon guides his readers carefully through uncharted territory and reveals a mind not so different from that which we consider "normal". Indeed, by the end of the book it is hard to consider ourselves normal, as what Christopher takes for granted has become the new metric of normalcy. Everyone should read this book, if only to become a little bit more open-minded about the world around us and the people we see fit to exclude. I learned as much about myself from this novel as I did about autism, and I like it. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a wonderful way to temporarily try on another's shoes.
Grade: A
Mark Haddon
And now for something completely different. This novel is quite interesting and is incredibly original. First of all, from the blurb on the back I was expecting a sympathetic third-person narrative about a poor autistic man who gets caught up in something way beyond his grasp. This is an entirely false description of the book and does a terrible disservice to Haddon and to his many talents as a writer. Christopher's story is told in spot-on first person narration that does as much to characterize him as any airy, lengthy passage of prose. The book is straightforward, but it is also immensely complex. The whole work does as much in static characterization as it does in moving the plot forward, but far from being a detraction, this fact is what makes this book so special.
Haddon takes on an immense challenge in trying to represent the viewpoint of an autistic teenager, but succeeds in spades. The voice of Christopher feels honest and is never condescending. He is undaunted by the comments of people around him, by the sarcasm he cannot penetrate, but in Christopher's confusion Haddon shows us our own bouts of silliness. Yes, idioms give our language a richness and bouyant air of lightness that I (for one) would not want to do without, but they are inherently rather odd when you think about them. Plenty of non-autistic people have enough trouble understanding sarcasm, too. What is most remarkable about Christopher, then, is that he is completely and totally normal. He does not think of himself as handicapped (or even as "special needs"), but actually sees his way of doing things as superior to others' methods. His supreme love of the logical makes the world make sense not only to him, but to us as well. Christopher is able to see through the tangled webs we weave and get at fundamental truths that teach us more about ourselves at times than about him.
Haddon does not condescend to his readers for one second as he deftly pulls them into Christopher's mind. His portrayal of autism is not only sympathetic but is quite easily related to. The reader never knows more than Christopher and can follow his train of thought through numerous digressions back to the main plot. Here is one book, then, where the digressions of the author absolutely enhance the text. That they are mostly unrelated to the plot, and that the plot moves alternately like molasses and a rocket, only makes the book much more interesting and real than it would be otherwise. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is as much about its protagonist as it is about its plot, and that is absolutely okay. This is not to say that the plot is contrived or boring; it has some of the classic characteristics of a mystery novel, including ambiguous clues and a story far beyond the crime at hand, and surprises the reader as much as the narrator.
This story transcends its plot and becomes a novel of triumph rather than a simple murder mystery. Remarkably, it achieves this without resorting to high pretenses or lecturing its readers. Haddon guides his readers carefully through uncharted territory and reveals a mind not so different from that which we consider "normal". Indeed, by the end of the book it is hard to consider ourselves normal, as what Christopher takes for granted has become the new metric of normalcy. Everyone should read this book, if only to become a little bit more open-minded about the world around us and the people we see fit to exclude. I learned as much about myself from this novel as I did about autism, and I like it. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a wonderful way to temporarily try on another's shoes.
Grade: A
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