Connections
Angela Campbell Recommends...
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
By Mark Haddon

A savant is defined as someone with detailed knowledge in a specialized field, particularly science or literature. The narrator of this brilliant novel is a savant. He's also an autistic, fifteen year-old boy from England. This is a strange novel. In fact, I've never quite read anything like it. Reviewers around the world are trying to figure out how to describe it; explain why it is good, and why others should read it.

Christopher Boone, the young narrator, is a mixture of the book/movie characters Forrest Gump and John Nash (the math genius in "A Beautiful Mind"). Christopher exists in his own world. For example, he disdains the color yellow, hates being touched, and doesn't eat brown foods. On the other hand, he has the ability to do unfathomable math problems, loves red foods, and plays with dogs. He knows all the countries of the world and every prime number up to 7,057. His only disability is he does not understand other people, thus the definition of autism - self-absorption, the inability to interact socially, and prone to repetitive behavior. As one review said, "Christopher can only make sense of the chaos of stimuli by imposing arbitrary patterns ('4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day, which is a day when I don't speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks')."

The novel opens in a gruesome manner. Christopher finds his neighbor's dog murdered by a garden fork. He gets involved in this "curious incident" for two reasons. One, his teacher asked him to write a book, which turns into this murder-mystery novel. And two, after the dog is murdered, Christopher's neighbor finds him hugging the dog and calls the police. The police do not understand Christopher's "condition" and so the unfortunate cop who tries to touch him gets punched in the face. Needless to say, Christopher is sent to jail.

Sounds morbid? It isn't. Mark Haddon is a gifted writer who has worked with autistic children, which is why this novel does not fall into any stereotypical traps. It is honest. The reader doesn't really laugh at Christopher, although he is amusing. Christopher, himself, states, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them." Instead, I found myself chuckling and looking at life a little differently. The following passage about the "curious incident" best-samples Haddon's wonderful writing: "I had been hugging the dog for 4 minutes when I heard screaming...I saw Mrs. Shears running toward me from the patio...She was shouting...I do not like people shouting at me...I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes and rolled forward till I was hunched up with my forehead pressed on the grass. The grass was wet and cold. It was nice."

After this "curious incident" (which is only a couple of pages) the reader learns about Christopher as he continues looking for the dog murderer. His "Sherlock Holmes" style of investigating leads him to encounter things in this world that might be too dangerous and too hard for him to understand. Christopher's reasoning and comprehension of these situations is what makes this story thoroughly engaging, and a quick read. This is a true study of the human condition. Get your hands on a copy today!

Angela L. Campbell
Reference and Book Discussion Group Coordinator
Davenport Public Library