John Clayton's Blog

I published this review in a local paper this month:

I don't know how to describe Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in a way that I think would make you want to read it. But since I loved it, I want you to read it.

So I'll just tell you how I decided to read it: my wife was reading it, and laughing a lot. Then one night she stayed up until 2 AM to finish it instead of coming to bed. But we were on our honeymoon at the time!

The novel is driven by a unique voice: a series of strictly-factual, overly-logical declarative statements, such as these from Chapter 2: "It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. Its eyes were closed." And later: "I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds in the dog and I do not think you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died for some other reason, like cancer for example, or a road accident."

As the title suggests, this is a mystery about the dog's death. Or at least the narrator thinks it is.

Chapter 2 is actually the first chapter of the book. The following chapters are numbered 3, 5, 7, etc., because, the narrator explains, he likes prime numbers. He's a math whiz, fifteen years old, but he's not very good at emotions.

One of the things I love about this book is that although the back cover explains that the narrator suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, the text doesn't. It just lets you come to understand that the world he lives in feels different than ours.

The other thing I love about this book is that this world is so effectively created, the narrator so likable, his challenges so real. He explains it all himself, in ways that are both hilarious and heartbreaking. As his efforts to solve the mystery take him on a journey that only he could see as terrifying, we too are terrified.

Do not read any reviews that try to tell you this novel shows great insight into the autistic mind, that it challenges our preconceptions of mental illness, or that it seeks to make us admire a weirdo groaning in the corner of a subway station. Just know this:

It’s a fun read and a quick read. It takes you to a totally different world and creates an exciting adventure there. But be careful about where and when you start reading it, because some times are better than others to fall in love with a book.

Join the discussion at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnclaytonoutreach/