"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." (Francis Bacon)

Saturday, January 15, 2005

The Curious Incident...

Title: the curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Author: marc haddon

The critical acclaim this book has received is more than deserved. It's been a while since I read something this simple and full of wonder, that filled me with so much emotion by the end (and I'm a sucker for emotional books, movies, and TV shows, the kind of person who cries at the drop of a hat, so to speak). To say this book is special would be to engage in understatement.

Christopher, an autistic teen, finds the body of a neighbor's dog and decides to find out who killed it. The book is a diary he keeps, and through his words, the reader gets a sense of the social disconnect that characterizes the autistic mind.

There are a lot of things I could say about this book, but most of them would give too much away, would reveal too many surprises and moments that turn expectations upside down. Christopher solves the mystery, but the path to the solution reveals more than who killed Wellington, the dog. Along the way, Christopher learns something important about himself even while at odds with a world populated by people he will never really understand.

In its simplicity, this book is simply wonderful.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:45 AM

    I really enjoyed this book as well -- the author had such a great handle on what (and how) an autistic kid actually thinks!

    -Shelley
    http://menagerie.mactyre.net

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  2. Anonymous2:06 PM

    I haven't read the book yet, but will eventually. What got my attention was the fact that it was very similar to a book written a few years back by Jonathan Lethem, entitled 'Motherless Brooklyn' about a young man with Tourette Syndrome who is trying to solve the murder of his boss/father figure. It was very well written, an amazing exploration of the mind of someone trying to survive daily with this neurological disorder.

    So I'll read 'The Curious Incident', and you read 'Motherless Brooklyn', and then we can compare!

    Cheers,
    patricia (BookLust)

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  3. I've had Motherless Brooklyn on my bookshelves for a while now and purposefully didn't pick it next because of the similarity. I just started Sickened so it'll have to wait. But I'll read it after Sickened, okay?

    Another book in this new disabled character genre or whatever is E. Moon's The Speed of Dark, also about autism, also on my shelves. I'm starting to think this year's reading will be themed for fiction and non-fic for disabled characters as I have a lot here like that to read. :)

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