THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

Haddon, Mark

ISBN 10: 0099450259 / ISBN 13: 9780099450252

Published by Vintage Books/Random House, New York, NY, 2004

About this Item

BRAND NEW Copy w/trace edge wear to softcover. Winner of the Whitebread Book of the Year Award. Impressive murder/mystery, set in England, narrated by 15 year old, young detective Christopher Boone. Christopher has Asperger's Syndrome; he has a keen grasp of mathematical reasoning but little understanding of what makes human beings behavior the way they do. For him, lists, descerning repetitive patterns and the underlying truth are paramount, additionally, the colors yellow and brown are disturbing, and he dislikes being touched. Having never ventured beyond the end of the road, his physical world is confined. The murder victim is a neighbor's dog. Solving of the crime propels Christopher into an alien world, and allows the reader a glimpse of the autistic mind. Seller Inventory # 018411

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE ...

Publisher: Vintage Books/Random House, New York, NY

Publication Date: 2004

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: None as Issued

Edition: First Edition, 22nd Printing

About this title

Synopsis:

Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year. 'Outstanding...a stunningly good read' Observer. 'Mark Haddon's portrayal of an emotionally dissociated mind is a superb achievement...Wise and bleakly funny' Ian McEwan. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

Review:

Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.

Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth, Amazon.ca