The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon

Paperback, 226 pages

English language

Published May 17, 2004 by Vintage Contemporaries.

ISBN:: 978-1-4000-3271-6
OCLC Number:: 55142139
ASIN:: 1400032717

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.

This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

58 editions

faticake reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Glad I Read It

4 stars

Content warning Spoiler included

I wouldn't have picked up this book if not for our book club, but it's definitely worth reading. Although the behavior of the adults around Christopher was often upsetting, I just took into consideration the period setting and how there was probably less support for parents of autistic kids back then. I'm just glad that Christopher got a happy ending, and for the perspective this book has given me into the lives of a kid with autism and the people around him, I feel like I'm better off for having read this story.

ansate reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Unsettling

3 stars

I was surprised at how upsetting this book was - not because of the narrator’s perspective and logic, but because of how awful most of the people around him were. And of course no one is perfect, but… i hate that i still have to be grateful that his parents love him and want him. I want so much more for him.

Alicia reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Not great

2 stars

When I had recently discovered I was autistic and saw this book gaining traction I had to read it, but it is obvious the author knows jack about what it is like to autistic and I hate that so much people say “it gave me a perspective into an autistic person's life" like no, it gave you the perspective of a poorly reseached autistic character written by an allistic author. The story was also unremarkable.

KnitAFett reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This really should have been a DNF for me...

2 stars

This is not a mystery book like I was lead to believe. The murderer of the dog confesses it about halfway through the book. I really enjoyed seeing everything through Christoper's eyes and how the world relates to him. However, after the reveal, it turns into a family drama. It completely lost me at that point. Due to the way it is written, I was not able to connect to the situations or issues and it just fell flat at that point.

I gave it 2 stars because I did genuinely enjoy the first half of the book.

Josh Daymude reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A Thoughtful and Instantly Lovable Perspective

4 stars

This is a story about the weirdness of the world as understood by Christopher John Francis Boone, a boy with autism who lives with his father in a small town in the UK. Christopher and his idiosyncrasies are instantly lovable. Through the eyes of a boy who thinks of everyone as different from himself, we’re reminded just how many common threads bind us all together.

Long version: jdaymude.github.io/review/book-the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-nighttime/

Brett Hodnett reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Fabulous Book

5 stars

Great story. Really gets inside the head of this fictional autistic child. I can't believe how much I related to how he thinks.

lakelady reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Review of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A simply delightful book. It gave me a new appreciation of how some autistic people perceive the world around them.

Matthew Royal reviewed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Review of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Written from the 1st person perspective of a boy with an Asperger's-like mind, though it feels less affecting than "Flowers for Algernon," because no matter how bad things get, there's a wall between the emotions of the boy and the reader. There's a wall between the emotions of the boy and the world, and his mind compulsively grasps for explanations of what's happening around him and why people say odd things to him.

The reader has to make their own sense of his world as related by his solipsistic view of it, and so develops a kindly condescension for him. I think the value of this book, aside from being a well-structured and enjoyable story, is that it helps the reader gain some compassion for the irrationality of others who process information differently and live in their own world.