I really wanted to like this book. I thought the title was brilliantly quirky; I'd heard lots of good things and read many a positive review; I was completely open-minded. And I enjoyed the first half. It was the second half that really set me against this book.

I enjoyed Christopher's story and his inner monologue, his innocence and simplicity and attention to detail and linear thinking. I started to really feel for him and sympathize with his differences. From what I know of autism (and it isn't terribly much, so don't count me as an expert or anything) I thought Christopher's character was a good portrayal of an autistic child, how their minds work, what they feel and don't feel and how they react to things.

It was when shit hit the fan for Christopher and his dad and he took off on a whimsical quest to London that I lost all patience with him. Maybe this makes me a terrible person. I know that I'd never be able to work with autistic children, but I respect the people who do all the more. I understand that it's not a choice for Christopher to be unable to feel or reciprocate people's feelings, but it still drove me over the edge. He stopped being charming and innocent, especially with all of his talk of stabbing people with his Swiss Army knife. Who gives an autistic kid a knife anyway, when he's known to hit people when feeling threatened? Bad move, mom and dad.

I don't know. Maybe I was disappointed because this book was billed as a mystery and darkly comedic, and I didn't feel like it was either of those things. For a good, darkly comedic mystery about an autistic child, check out Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This one didn't quite measure up, and left me disappointed and irritated.

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)

I wanted, really really wanted, to love this book. I did everything in my power to love this book. In the end, this book sucked the life out of me and forced me to hurl itself across the room in frustration because it NEVER got GOOD. It was MISERABLE and DEPRESSING.

I thought I would love it because it is (supposedly) a detective story from the POV of an Asperger's kid. I work in special ed, and I have a place in my heart for kids with this syndrome because they are so incredibly interesting and emotional. And I am ALWAYS down for a detective story.

But really, what I ended up taking from this story was that this amazing kid wore his parents down to the point that they were wretched people making horrible, selfish decisions that made this boy's suffering even worse. They did not deserve this kid, and he did not deserve them.

And don't forget, a good story about a poodle PITCHFORKED to the ground always makes for a FANTASTIC GOOD TIME. I really should have known better.

EXCERPT: ...as I was crossing the street I had a stroke of inspiration about who might have killed Wellington. I was imagining a Chain of Reason inside my head which was like this
1. Why would you kill a dog?
a) because you hated the dog.
b) because you were mad.
c) because you wanted to make Mrs Shears upset.
2. I didn't know anyone who hated Wellington, so if it was a) it was probably a stranger.
3. I didn't know any mad people, so if it was b), it was probably also a stranger.
4. Most murders are committed by someone known to the victim. In fact, you are most likely to be murdered by a member of your own family on Christmas Day. This is a fact. Wellington was therefore most likely to have been killed by someone known to him.
5. If it was c), I only knew one person who didn't like Mrs Shears, and that was Mr Shears who knew Wellington very well indeed.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.

MY THOUGHTS: I have been wanting to read this book for some years, ever since it was a Goodreads group read one month, and I couldn't lay my hands on a copy. Last year I found a copy in a bookshop and brought it for my grandson as part of his Christmas parcel. He read it for an English assignment this year, then his mother read it and, finally, I then got to read it.

I found it fascinating to see into the mind of someone with Aspergers Syndrome. I have read other books with characters similarly affected, but for some reason it is Christopher that will remain with me. I have found myself looking at numbers differently, and I now have a fascination with prime numbers. This from a person who flunked high school mathematics quite spectacularly! I still, however, have to admit to not understanding the maths problems Conways Soldiers or the Monty Hall Problem. And I have no idea, still, what the relationship is between 7 and 865. So while this book has left me in the dark mathematically speaking, I enjoyed it. And I learned a lot.

I know it was written some time ago, but I really would like to know how Christopher gets on at University.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. What a wonderful experience to read this book. To be taken into the mind of a teenage boy with high-functioning autism is quite extraordinary. To understand how he thinks compared to those of us not autistic is mind opening and thought provoking.

This wonderful mystery is told by Christopher who sets out to solve the murder of Wellington, the neighbor's dog. This is no minor feat. Christopher has a difficult time socializing as he can't pick up on nuances or cues like other people. He doesn't like to be touched which can sometimes get him into trouble. He says what he thinks without having the skill set to understand how others will react which gets him into difficult situations. Told with humor, we get to see how the mind of someone on the spectrum is wired differently than the rest of us. Told using many mathematical references, we also see the intellectual genius of Christopher which is quite common among those with Asperger's. From a personal perspective, my 23 year old son with Asperger's often says to me, "Mom my brain doesn't think like yours". The book shows us this in the interactions he has with his parents and others around him frequently.

A fast and enjoyable book for everyone. Don't miss it.
5 out of 5 stars.

‎دوستانِ گرانقدر، «کریستوفر» راویِ داستان، نوجوانی پانزده ساله با رفتاری عجیب است که البته میتوان او را پسری باهوش درنظر گرفت.. در صورتیکه خودش براین باور است که باهوش نیست و فقط مشاهده گر خوبی است.. کریستوفر برای هرچیزِ کوچکی در ذهنش سؤال ایجاد میشود و به راحتی از هر مسئله و هر جمله ای نمیگذرد و البته دچارِ وسواسِ فکری و رفتاری است. با این وجود، کریستوفر نسبت به بسیاری از بزرگسالانی که در اطرافِ خود میبینیم، شعور و فهمِ بیشتری دارد و با این سنِ کم میداند که خدا و بهشت و جهنم و دنیایِ دیگر و تمامیِ مسائلِ دیدنی، یک دروغِ بزرگ است که در حلقِ مردم فرو کرده اند
‎داستان از جایی آغاز میشود که کریستوفر، سگِ خانمِ «شیرز» یعنی «ولینگتون» را در حالی پیدا میکند که این سگ به طرزِ بدی کشته شده و چنگکی در بدنش فرو رفته است.. صاحبِ سگ فکر میکند که کریستوفر اینکار را انجام داده و او دستگیر میشود.. ولی بعد از بازجویی او را آزاد میکنند.. حال کریستوفر قصد دارد قاتلِ سگ را پیدا کند
‎کریستوفر با پدرش زندگی میکند و پدرش به او گفته مادرش بر اثرِ بیماری قلبی مُرده است.. ولی داستان به جایی میرسد که کریستوفر متوجه میشود که مادرش زنده است و پدرش نه تنها در موردِ مادر، بلکه در موردِ کشته شدنِ سگِ خانمِ شیرز هم دروغ گفته است.. بنابراین تصمیم میگیرد تا از خانه فرار کرده و به دیدنِ مادرش برود
‎عزیزانم، بهتر است خودتان این داستان را خوانده و از سرانجامِ آگاه شوید
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‎جملاتی از این کتاب
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‎به نظرِ من بهشت وجود ندارد.. من فکر میکنم مردم به بهشت اعتقاد دارند، چون از فکرِ مُردن خوششان نمی آید و میخواهند به زندگی ادامه بدهند
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‎آدمها همیشه فکر میکنند، در موردِ آنچه نمیتوانند ببینند، چیزِ خیلی خاصی وجود دارد.. مثل نیمهٔ تاریکِ ماه یا آن طرفِ سیاه چاله
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‎امیدوارم این ریویو در جهتِ آشنایی با این کتاب، کافی و مفید بوده باشه
‎«پیروز باشید و ایرانی»

I'm at a loss to explain why this novel is so special, but special it is. Haddon operates on the Poe principle - not including any wasted words, making every character come to life with a minimum of description and fewer lines of dialogue. I fell in love with the narrator, but I am not certain why - except perhaps that he's transparently innocent and confident in his constellation of quirks, preferences and behaviors that many would characterize as off-putting and/or anti-social. It is difficult for him to move through his world. It is difficult for those who love him to parent him. Heck, it's difficult for the police to assist him, when that assistance is necessary to his well-being. But he's unforgettable and I found myself rooting for his success in every interaction he has and each event that transpires. Oh, and the dog of the title? Such a red herring. It's only there to lure you in and it serves that role well.

A tale told from the point of view of an autistic adolescent. Very interesting and creative.

Possibly the worst autism “representation” (if you can call it that) I’ve ever seen in a book, and I had to DNF for the sake of my mental health (at the cost of my grade since I had to read this for school). In an interview, our lovely author even said, AND I QUOTE “i did no research for curious incident … imagination always trumps research.” If you are even thinking of writing a novel with a main character who is marginalized in a way you are not, you need to do your fucking homework.

Christopher is so obviously a collage of every autism stereotype Mark Haddon could jam pack into one “character” and its genuinely depressing that people will read this and think his depiction is in any way realistic. If anyone would like to join me in throwing this poor excuse of a novel into a bonfire, I’m free anytime this week!

this book rocked my world, and i've been trying for weeks to understand why. here it is:

* because the plot is flawless

* because the voice is flawless

* because it's amazingly tender without being cute

* because there's a christopher boone in me, and a christopher boone in everyone i love or at least try to get along with

* because the christopher boone in me loves to see itself written about lovingly, like it's the coolest kid, if not on the block (it will never be the coolest kid on the block), at least in the annals of literature

* because the christopher boone in those i love or at least try to get along with is telling me, "be patient; please, be patient; i'm doing the best i can"

* because i understand this plea, since it's a plea i issue myself like 230 times a day

This is the story of Christopher Boone, a very likable 15 year old who suffers from Asperger Syndrome, a type of higher functioning Autism. Christopher sets out to solve a mystery; who killed Wellington, his neighbors dog, something he wants very much to do because he is accused of committing the crime. Christopher’s detective work helps him solve some other mysteries along the way, one that is much more important than who killed Wellington.

Please don't take this book to be the actual workings of an autistic mind. The author admittedly knows nothing about autism and simply wrote a work of fiction, imagining what might have been going on in the head of a character he invented. He even has expressed irritation that the word autism was used on the dust jacket by the publisher in some editions, because he is sometimes asked to give speeches on a subject of which he is totally ignorant. Enjoy this book as a work of fiction but nothing more. This book is not really about autism, even though the boy has many traits of that condition. The inner workings of his head are not what actual autistic people report the condition to be like. Please do not use this book to try to understand an autistic person in your life, or to gather any information about Asperger 's Syndrome or anything else related. Temple Grandin's books are much better for this purpose.

I wish the author would make a new edition with a disclaimer at the beginning.

I enjoyed the story, once I understood the above, but I am rating it low to try and combat the spread of misconceptions. Unfortunate, since the author didn't do this on purpose, but it is what it is.