The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Book Review: A Sweet Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I felt the book, written journal-style, with a Flowers for Algernon tone, was a sweet and a quick read. It does get a bit wordy in a couple places, but it's towards the end and I felt safe skimming a couple sentences.Book Review: Mark Haddon's portrait of an autistic boy on a mission is well written, and perfectly told.
Summary: 4 Stars
Christopher Boone likes night-time walks. On one of these walks, he discovers the body of his neighbor's dog pierced by a pitchfork. The death of the animal awakens Christopher's desire to investigate and solve the dog's hideous murder.
Christopher's detective work drums up some interesting leads, not only about the dog, but also about some mysteries in Christopher's own life. In the end, Christopher will have to choose between the family he knows and his need for knowing the truth about the incident of the dog in the night-time.
Mark Haddon's portrait of an autistic boy on a mission is well written, and perfectly told. The story, composed as a first-person narrative, expertly portrays the actions and mind set of a person living with autism.
Haddon's complex storytelling may confuse some readers, but it is essential to building the foundation of Christopher's character. It helps the reader to understand the thought patterns autistic people. Haddon does a wonderful job weaving the chapters to create a compelling and surprising read.
Book Review: Fascinating attention-grabber
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a very easy read, as well as an emotional and mental thrill ride as the reader is taken into Christopher's autistic world.Book Review: Curious Incident
Summary: 4 Stars
I didn't know what to expect when I read Curious Incident. I am a special education teacher and am often skeptical when I see a main character with a disability. It is so difficult to represent a character with a disability that often times, the character is not portrayed in a realistic manner. I was especially skeptical when I read that the main character was Autistic. Being a spectrum disorder, Autism is a disability that is difficult to "stereotype". No two people with Autism are the same. They may share a few similar characteristics, but they are never the same. So, when I began reading Curious Incident, I was surprised at how realistically Christopher had been written. He had many typical characteristics of someone with Autism, but he was also different from anyone I had ever encountered. He had his own personality and he had his own stims (something of fixation for a person with Autism). Also, the way Mark Haddon wrote Christopher as a character who was very capable of managing on his own was great. Many times, characters with disabilities are dependent on other people in order to survive or live their day to day lives. Christopher, while unconventional, was more than capable of taking care of himself (and his father for that matter).
This was the first book of Haddon's that I had ever read. His writing is fluid and filled with detail. However, this story did not drag on but was quite to the point. Haddon wrote from Christopher's perspective, almost flawlessly. Haddon gave the rest of the world a very realistic peak into the world of a boy with Autism. This is a book that can be enjoyed by young readers, as well as seasoned readers.
Book Review: An interesting way to write a book
Summary: 2 Stars
The book is written from the eyes of an autistic child. I find it an innovative point of view, but it gets old quickly since he blabbers on about insignificant details. I understand this is probably how a real autistic person thinks, but maybe he could have skipped a lot of the rambling details and gave it mre of a story line.