I like this book very much and here are 11 curious facts about it:

★ The chapters are numbered, but not like 1, 2, 3, 4, … but by using the prime numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, … and there are 51 chapters in this book, which is also a prime number.

★ The page numbers appear on the bottom center of each page in little circles and they look like this: ① ② ③ . . .

★ The page numbers run from 1 to 268 in the regular chapters and from 269 to 271 in the appendix. The appendix has 4 pages. Conclusion: The last page number, 272, is missing. Therefore the last page number you can actually see in this book is 271, which is a prime number.

★ The first chapter – the one with the number 2 – starts on page ①, so the book’s title, dedication, front matter etc are not numbered like in almost any other book.

★ If you make a table of all the chapter numbers next to the number of the page on which the chapters start you will see that there are pairs in which the page number is also a prime number. I counted 11 of those pairs, which is also a prime number:


★ There are three chapters (199, 229, 233) for which the chapter number is smaller than the page number. For the rest the chapter number is greater than the page number. The largest difference between chapter number and page number is 35 (chapter 149 which starts on page 114) and the graph of all the numbers looks like this:


★ If you like to see a proof of why you can never move a tile beyond the fourth horizontal line in the game of Conway’s Soldiers (pages 181-183 in the book) you can read about it on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway&...

★ I don’t like the timetable at the beginning of chapter 193 (on page 192) very much because it says that Christopher cleans his teeth at 7:20 a.m. and has his breakfast afterwards at 7:40 a.m. and that he also doesn’t clean his teeth at all before going to bed at 9:30 p.m.!

★ I tried to solve the two quadratic equations from page 201:
0 = 437x² + 103x + 11
0 = 79x² + 43x + 2089
I found that they don’t have real solutions. There are complex ones, of course, but I don’t think those actually count here. I wish the author had picked some other equations, like this one:
0 = 10x² + 220x - 4080

★ The narrator’s first name Christopher and last name Boone have 11 and 5 letters respectively, both of which are prime numbers.

★ I read this book for the second time now and I finished it the first time 3137 days ago and that is also a prime number.

n  n
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

A mostly lighthearted novel told from the perspective of Christopher Boone, a teenage boy with autism. The story begins with Christopher carrying out his investigation into the murder of his neighbor's dog. However, a huge discovery along the way causes for Christopher to investigate something more scandalous. Christopher is then determined to track down somebody who he is more interested in meeting.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' offers a big insight into the mind of someone with autism. The story is told by a quirky narrative which details random facts, stories and opinions from Christopher, and how he best explains the reasons for his odd habits and behavior. This novel demonstrates some good introspection by the protagonist, and features his great attempts to improve his social skills and his understanding of other people.

Four out of five stars.

(Book 19 from 1001 books) - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon

The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioral difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire.

Although Christopher's condition is not stated, the book's blurb refers to Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome.

Christopher John Francis Boone is a 15-year-old boy who has behavioral problems and lives with his father, Ed. He explains in his narration that his mother, Judy, died two years ago.

Then one day, the boy discovers the dead body of the neighbour's dog, Wellington, speared by a garden fork.

Mrs. Shears, the dog's owner, calls the police, and Christopher comes under suspicion. He is arrested, then released with a police caution.

He decides to investigate the dog's death. Throughout his adventures, Christopher records his experiences in a book. During his investigation, Christopher meets the elderly Mrs.

Alexander, who informs Christopher that his mother had an affair with Mr. Shears.

Ed discovers the book and confiscates it. While searching for the confiscated book, Christopher discovers letters from his mother dated after her supposed death.

He is so shocked that he is unable to move. Ed realizes that Christopher has read the letters.

He confesses that he had lied about Judy's death; he also admits that he had killed Wellington, after an argument with Mrs. Shears. Christopher decides to run away and live with his mother. ...

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «ماجرای عجیب سگی در شب»؛ «حادثه مرموز برای سگ در شب هنگام»؛ «حادثه ای عجیب برای سگی در شب»؛ نویسنده: مارک هادون؛ انتشاراتیها: (افق، هرمس، کاروان) ادبیات، داستان كريستوفر، نوجوان مبتلا به اوتيسم؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه ژانویه سال 2006میلادی

عنوان: ماجرای عجیب سگی در شب؛ نویسنده: مارک هادون؛ مترجم: شیلا ساسانی نیا؛ تهران، افق، 1384، در 343ص، مصور، شابک9643692035؛ چاپ دوم 1385؛ چاپ چهارم 1388؛ شابک 9789643692032؛ چاپ هفتم 1392؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا سده 21م

عنوان: حادثه مرموز برای سگ در شب هنگام؛ نویسنده: مارک هادون؛ مترجم ترانه شیمی؛ تهران، هرمس، 1390، در 266 ص، شابک 9789643637545؛

عنوان: حادثه ای عجیب برای سگی در شب؛ نویسنده: مارک هادون؛ مترجم: گیتا گرکانی؛ تهران، کاروان، 1384، در 272ص، شابک 9648497222؛ چاپ دوم 1385؛

نقل از متن: (سگه، نه میدوید، و نه خواب بود، مرده بود.)؛ پایان نقل

نام داستان، برگرفته از یکی از داستان‌های «شرلوک هلمز» اثر «سر آرتور کانن دویل» است؛ رخدادهای داستان در «انگلستان» می‌گذرد، داستان شرح سفر پرماجرایی از «سوئیندون» به «لندن» است؛ داستان از زبان «کریستوفر بون» که پسری مبتلا به «اوتیسم» است، روایت و بیان می‌شود، و از همین روست که لحن ویژه و بیمانندی دارد؛ «کریستوفر» چون اوتیسم دارد، از درک رویدادهای عادی زندگی، ناتوان است، اما هوش بسیار ویژه ای دارد، و دنیا را دیگرگونه می‌بیند؛ ماجرا با کشته شدن سگی در همسایگی آن‌ها آغاز می‌شود، و «کریستوفر» کوشش دارد تا قاتل سگ را با روشهای ویژه ی خویش پیدا کند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 25/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 23/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

5★
“He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were stacking up in my head like loaves in the factory where Uncle Terry works. The factory is a bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And sometimes a slicer is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. I sometimes think of my mind as a machine, but not always as a bread-slicing machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it.”

I read this when it first came out because I saw it in the library and probably noticed the award nominations – there were a lot! But I knew nothing about the story, and when I read it, I could see the similarities with some of the kids I’d volunteered with in schools.

There is no mention of autism or Asperger’s or any sort of disorder. But we do discover later that he attends a special school and there is a woman who coaches him in life skills. Christopher tells his own story, how he finds a dog murdered in the yard across the street and how he plans to solve the mystery. He picks the dog up (he likes dogs) and as he does, the owner comes out of the house.

He looks like he’s holding the smoking gun! The police are called and take him to jail, which he doesn’t mind at all. He’s watched lots of TV mysteries and he likes small, simple places, so even though he doesn’t like strange places and new experiences, this is almost familiar. Dad finally shows up.

“I stepped outside. Father was standing m the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up mv left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug. but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me.”

Now we really start to see how Christopher directs all of the action around himself. The police had trouble with him, but it’s obvious that Father has worked out how to keep his boy calm . . . well, at least most of the time. Then the policeman lets Christopher out and takes him and Father to an interview room, where Christopher gives us a blow-by-blow account.

“He was an inspector. I could tell because he wasn’t wearing a uniform. He also had a very hairy nose. It looked as if there were two very small mice hiding in his nostrils.

He said, ‘I have spoken to your father and he says that you didn’t mean to hit the policeman.’

I didn’t say anything because this wasn’t a question.

He said, ‘Did you mean to hit the policeman?’

I said, ‘Yes.’

He squeezed his face and said, ‘But you didn’t mean to hurt the policeman?’

I thought about this and said, ‘No. I didn’t mean to hurt the policeman. I just wanted him to stop touching me.’

Then he said, ‘You know that it is wrong to hit a policeman, don’t you?

I said, ‘I do.’

He was quiet for a few seconds, then he asked, ‘Did you kill the dog, Christopher?’

I said, ‘I didn’t kill the dog.’

He said, ‘Do you know that it is wrong to lie to a policeman and that you can get into a very great deal of trouble if you do?’

I said, ‘Yes.’

He said, ‘So, do you know who killed the dog?’

I said, ‘No.’

He said, ‘Are you telling the truth?’

I said, ‘Yes. I always tell the truth.’

And he said, ‘Right. I am going to give you a caution.’

I asked, ‘Is that going to be on a piece of paper like a certificate I can keep?’

He replied, ‘No, a caution means that we are going to keep a record of what you did, that you hit a policeman but that it was an accident and that you didn’t mean to hurt the policeman.’

I said, ‘But it wasn’t an accident.’

And Father said, ‘Christopher, please.’

The policeman closed his mouth and breathed out loudly through his nose and said, ‘If you get into any more trouble we will take out this record and see that you have been given a caution and we will take things much more seriously. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

I said that I understood.”

The word that kept coming to mind for me was ‘exasperating’. He would be so hard to live with, but his father tries his best, occasionally blowing his top but not nearly as often as I bet most of us would. He's the kid who will keep saying “but you PROMISED!” and we will have to admit we follishly did.

We must keep bearing in mind that this is all told from Christopher’s point of view. He’s not a child. His age is “15 years and 3 months and 3 days”, but his unfiltered language, fixation on games or timetables, and tantrums are the sort of behaviours we expect more from toddlers.

He is not going to change, but in his 15 years, he has learned a lot about what is expected of him, and I enjoyed watching him use his wits and his brains to figure things out that are outside his experience. And I loved seeing him challenge himself when he was dreadfully uncomfortable.

Not a spoiler, just a personal digression:
[I remember my parents saying “Patty doesn’t lie” and “children are so literal”. I was the eldest, and mostly I didn’t lie and I did question all those ridiculous things grown-ups say to kids that aren’t meant literally. I liked words and I expected them to mean what I was told they meant. But I always loved puns and jokes and plays on words, sarcasm, irony and all of those things that are so difficult for some people with autism. And I grew up telling the same lies everybody does, but I suspect the autism and the Aspies in my family have made me sympathetic to Christopher, although nobody is as challenging as he is.]

Christopher is not going to grow out of it. His basic personality and character are pretty well-formed. He’s a whiz at mathematics and distracts himself from worry by imagining complicated problems. He’s hiding and scared, so he retreats into his mind.

“And I did some more quadratic equations like

and I made some of the coefficients large so that they were hard to solve.”

Another short personal digression:
[The best I can do is put myself to sleep by counting by 3s or 7s or something, and that’s about it. But I don’t think I’m quite as exasperating as Christopher is either.

قبل از خوندن این کتاب فکر می کردم مبتلایان به اوتیسم تنها مشکلی که دارن اینه که نمیتونن به چهره افراد نگاه کنند
ولی الان فهمیدم مشکلات این عزیزان بیشتر از این حرفاست

پ.ن:
*اسپویل
.
.
چه مادری بدی داشت بنده خدا ، من هنوز از دستش عصبانی ام

پ.ن2: اگه شخصیت اصلی داستان رو به جای پسر، پدر در نظر بگیریم با ی کتاب به شدت غمگین کننده روبرو ایم

من أرق ما يمكنك قراءته

وهي تحكي عن كريستوفر الفتى المتوحد والعاشق لأفلام شيرلوك هولمز
وعبارته الأشهر
Elementary, my dear Watson!‎

والذي يحقق بطريقته الخاصة في مقتل كلب جارهم
تيمنا بهولمز بطله الخارق وعشقه الأكبر



والرواية تسرد على لسان الفتى
لتنغمر بكليتك في عالمه الذي صنعه من الحقائق والأرقام
وكيفية رؤيته للبشر من حوله
من منظوره كمتوحد شديد الذكاء ‏

ينسيك كريس نفسك
فتندمج شيئا فشيئا بداخل هذا العالم المميز للغاية
فتضحك معه وتتسلى بطرائفه
وتحب هذا الكون الذي يعيش فيه وحده وتحترمه

وتقع في غرامه في نهاية الأمر

كاتب الرواية هو طبيب نفساني مختص في هذه الحالات
وقد استطاع في رأيي وصف ادق التفاصيل بأبسط العبارات وأكثرها تأثيرا

استمتعت بهذا الكتاب للغاية
ولم أتركه من يدي حتى أتيت عليه

DNF — pg. 180!

This book started off great, and it's a pain having to DNF it, because I really wanted to like it. But it got far too detailed, then I began to feel detached from the story and the characters, I was skim reading and felt slumpish because of it, thus I decided not to continue on with this book.

Am I autistic? Am I Christopher Boone? What is it about my OCD (self-diagnosed, boo yah!) that separates me from this fifteen-year-old kid? Fate is kind, but there is nothing more disturbing than learning that you possess so many of those qualities that categorize people as "special needs." I mean, shit. Choosing Item A over Item B because you like the color? Yep. Counting incessantly? Yep. Getting lost in London Underground? Yep. Quirky eating habits? Yep. Getting ridiculously sidetracked during storytelling? Yep. Yep, yep, yep. I've got it all. And it wasn't so bothersome at first, but as I read on, I grew to empathize with this kid so much so, that I felt like a fucking crazy person. I'm glad I'm done reading it.

Some items of note:
1. Christopher likes maths. I remember when I used to like maths. Maths are fun!
2. Christopher has a pet rat. I remember when I used to have a pet rat. Pet rats are fun!
3. I wish Siobhan was my girlfriend. Well, sorta. I mean, I don't think I'd be satisfied sexually, but still. She seems like a great gal.
4. I have decided that it is impossible for non-crazy people to ever reach peace and comforting solitude. That's why snatching it bit by bit is necessary.
5. I don't want to give birth.


Thank you, Mr. Haddon, for the quick read. Life is quite complicated, even outside London, huh?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time revolves around Christopher, an autistic teen who discovers his neighbor's dead dog one night. He is a genius in that he knows all of the prime numbers up to 7,057 and can solve logic puzzles quickly and efficiently; however, he can't stand the colors yellow or brown or the thought of different foods touching on his plate. As Chris investigates the death of the neighborhood dog, he stumbles upon something that may change his life.

I loved how Mark Haddon maintained the consistency of Christopher's voice and how he didn't sacrifice the integrity of his character to make him any more likable. There are times when I wished I could snap Chris out of his stupor, but those moments made the book more realistic. I also liked how Haddon incorporated subtle details in the story to exemplify Chris's character even more - like the prime-numbered chapters and the appendix at the end.

While the book made me think, I felt like the second half of it floundered in that it didn't have a point. It showed Chris's character and thought process, but what else? The story was okay but in terms of broader theme or proceeding beyond the baseline intellectual appeal I didn't think it was mind-blowing.

Mark Haddon deserves all of his accolades for writing a book that delves deeply into the mindset of someone who doesn't fit into society. I would recommend this fascinating read to almost everyone, even if it is arduous at times. Can't wait to discuss this one at book club - there are myriad things to talk about.

Also, for those interested in a fantastic story about a character that has a form of autism/Asperger's, I highly recommend Marcelo in the Real World. That book touched my heart and I think it'll appeal to fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice.

This is one of the editorial acquisitions I'm most proud of... I've bought rights for this novel while it was still in manuscript, before first publication and much before all the awards it received later... Also, I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Haddon twice... His a great author and very nice person and has good memory :) Unfortunately, he didn't sell well in Serbia... I changed him a publisher but with no better results...
Due to bad sales he won't be translated into Serbian, most probably :(

Ok, I get the concept. A heartwarming story told from the vantage point of an autistic boy.

Heartwarming, eh. Sure. Cerebral? You bet. For the "Literary Snob"? ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY. (Because most of those people LOVE "The Catcher in the Rye"...one of my most hated books of all time...and this book has been compared to that one. I should have known).

Look. I'm smart, I'm educated. I'm a professional woman who adores literature and loves to read. I bought this book because I was told that it was GREAT by a couple of friends. I'd also read the reviews. I'll give it a shot, ok?

Ack. It took me a full month to get through this book. This from someone who can devour a book in twelve hours (including "masterpieces" such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice....loved them all). I didn't like it. I didn't find it "lyrical" I didn't find the writing in ANY way "superior" to some of the "genre" authors I read (Nora Roberts anyone?). It left me depressed and out of sorts. And a little pissed off.

If that's what makes a "Classic" these days, please count me out. I'll stick with my "silly" genre novels ANY day of the week.

Oof...well, there's not much to say about this one, no great insights, not great storytelling, and a crapload of literary devices that come across as contrived and meager, at best. I liked the idea of this novel: autisitic kid wants to solve the mystery of a murdered dog. To me, that premise was exciting. Then, I read the book. I guess I wasn't unhappy with the book; at the same time, I can't say that I was happy. Perhaps that best way to sum up this antireview is this: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME feels like, to me, a witty writing project from an MFA program.

(RECOMMENDED w/o any real enthusiasm)