Another member on Goodreads told me to read this book - I meant to, but didn't until she got annoyed with me for taking so long and sent me a copy. It is a remarkable book - the only thing I can think that is similar to it is perhaps that short story, Flowers for Algernon.

My older sister is intellectually disabled, I grew up a science nerd and my daughter is a Sherlock Holmes nut. While I was reading it the central character seemed a strange fusion of the three of us. This book has so many resonances for me that when I get old and dotty I may even think that I wrote it. (if I thought I could get away with it I would start claiming this now...)

If you haven't read this book and have been put off because you think it's a children's book or it sounds a bit silly - don't put it off any longer. It is a beautifully written story that is moving without playing any cheap games with you as a reader.

Look, it is a delight. Read it.

Αυτο το βιβλιο το διαβασα ολόκληρο φωναχτά στα παιδια μου.
Παρ ολο που μαλλον δεν ηταν και εντελώς στην καταλληλη ηλικια ακομη για ενα εφηβικο βιβλιο, ομως τους αρεσε, και ως ενα βαθμο κατανοησαν.
Ο ενας γιος μου εχει στην ταξη του ενα παιδι με παρομοιο διαγνωσμενο αυτισμο, και μας βοηθησε πολυ να καταλαβουμε τη συμπεριφορα του (ειμαι κι εγω εκπαιδευτικος κ μου ηταν εξισου βοηθητικό κ διαφωτιστικό και χρήσιμο).
Νομιζω οτι προκειται για ενα σημαντικο βιβλιο.

Γιατι μιλαει για πραγματα για τα οποια οι ανθρωποι"δεν μιλανε" γενικά, και βοηθαει χωρις να ειναι ενα δυσκολο, επιστημονικο βιβλιο.
Και ειναι και αστειο
Και ειναι και τυπου "αστυνομικο"
Και ειναι και συγκινητικο
Και ειναι και ανθρωπινο
Και ειναι και 'ενοχλητικό'
Οπως θα οφειλε να ειναι ενα τετοιο θεμα - disturbing

Και μου αρεσει που δεν κανει καμια προσπαθεια να ειναι συγκινητικος ή να εκβιασει το συναισθημα και να ωραιοποιησει/λυρικοποιήσει και να προσπαθει να μας κανει να νιωσουμε λυπηση για οτιδηποτε μη "ταιριαστο" στην "τέλεια" κοινωνια που επιδιωκουμε να εχουμε.

Πρεπει να τελειωνουμε πια με τα ταμπου και να μιλαμε ανοιχτα για όλα.
Η άγνοια φερνει φοβο και απομονωση.

____________________
"Οι ανθρωποι πιστευουν στον Θεο γιατι ο κοσμος ειναι πολυ περιπλοκος και γιατι νομιζουν οτι ειναι πολυ απιθανο να υπαρχει τυχαια οτιδηποτε τοσο περιπλοκο οσο ενας ιπταμενος σκιουρος ή το ανθρωπινο ματι ή ενας εγκεφαλος. Ωστοσο θα οφειλαν να σκεφτουν λογικα. Κι αν σκεφτοταν λογικά θα εβλεπαν οτι μπορουν να θεσουν αυτη την ερωτηση μονο και μονο γιατι εχει ηδη συμβει και αυτοι ηδη υπαρχουν. Υπαρχουν εξαλλου δισεκατομμυρια πλανητες όπου δεν υπαρχει ζωή, αλλά πανω σ εκεινους τους πλανήτες δεν υπαρχει κανείς με μυαλό για να το προσέξει."

Hollywood has a number of unwritten rules for screenwriters, the oldest of which happens to be: Don't Kill The Dog. There's good reason for this. People, as a general rule, don't like to watch dogs die. Not the family pet or the stray or the bomb-sniffer or the police canine. Even the dogs one gets the sense need putting down, say Old Yeller or Cujo, come with an adverse emotional risk. And it's a risk you can easily perceive. (Just ask Michael Vick.) Rare is the heart that wants anything at all to do with this. Rarer still, the author who can handle the matter in a manner that delivers sufficient regard to the valiant spirit of Man's best friend. Few folks end up watching the best of those movies twice, or re-reading those particular books. Been there, done that, let's move on.

Mark Haddon opens his novel with the killing of a dog. He is, however, merciful about it. This dog is, from the very first sentence, already dead. It's one of those giant poodles, and it's stretched out on a neighbor's lawn with a big ol' garden fork sticking out of it. And because the boy who's telling the tale is an autistic fifteen-year-old, there's going to be a very pragmatic approach taken to all of this - which means we won't be cattle-prodded through the kind of emotional hoops other writers force into play just because they can. Christopher's mind is afflicted with a distinct disconnection between logic and feeling. His logic will be relaying the story. His feelings will come in through the back door - as did, for example, the throwaway fact that he was rocking the dead dog in his arms when the police arrived.

Christopher decides to investigate the death of Wellington. As this investigation proceeds, we will learn not only about Christopher's family, his school, his everyday life, but also what it's like to be in Christopher's head. And that's where Haddon's gift shines. His is a tremendous achievement in voice, in the restriction of a compartmentalized awareness, and the impact of our culture on those it simply wasn't designed for. There is not a single false note to be found. It is also a page-turner. Had the clock not hit 3 AM, I'd have finished this in one sitting. I was thoroughly compelled.

If you're looking for something to jar you out of the same-old, same-old? Look no further. This is it.

I haven’t read a fictional account this heartbreakingly realistic in a long time. Kapitoil was close, but The Curious Incident paints a more complete picture.

The book is from the viewpoint of an teen boy with Asperger's syndrome named Christopher - his mom has recently died and he discovers a dead dog in one of his neighbor’s yards. The short list: he doesn’t read people’s emotions very well (like the android “Data” from Star Trek next Generation, if you will), he hates the colors yellow and brown, excels at math, hates to be touched (enter the fist: he breaks out a pretty nasty uppercut when it happens) and often loses his memory when he gets upset. Like many teenage boys, he dreams of long periods of alone time.

Since he doesn’t care much about other people’s emotions, he goes around knocking on doors in his neighborhood to ask who killed the dog. So he has your attention right away. He’s a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, who he perceives as the master of objective details that others overlook. Except that no one wants to tell him anything about the dog except the kindly, lonely old Mrs. Alexander, who finally breaks it to the boy that his mom was cheating on his dad. Then a lot more rains down.

The dad comes across as calm, especially to a young kid, yet is passive-aggressive person who doesn’t always realize how much clarity his son needs. When he tells Christopher to “drop all this investigation nonsense”, the son considers what he finds out from Mrs. Alexander as “small talk” and not what his dad forbade - “snooping around” the neighborhood asking about a dead mutt.

In fact, the father’s passive-aggressiveness and the son’s determination and objectivity make for heartbreaking tension. The crux of the story isn’t about the dog, it’s what the dad keeps from Christopher “until he gets old enough to understand”. Even though he’s autistic, we find out that Christopher is old enough to know anything - and will go way out of his way to find the truth.

This is a book that doesn’t end neatly and nicely because life usually doesn’t turn out that way. It just sort of ends. We learn a lot about autism, it’s very defined characteristics and why it’s so difficult for ‘normal’ people to be around. There is no one in the story who treats Christopher the way he wants to be treated except a counselor at school.

This is a good story in which we learn a lot about this condition. If the story needs to stall because the narrator is stuck on telling all the facts of a particular situation, then that’s what happens. You don’t necessarily comprehend why everything is written the way it’s written, but it somehow all feels important by the end. I raced through everything regardless.

And the boy’s objectivity lends a prophetic feel to some of the things he says. He wonders why people think they’re superior to animals, for example. His thinking is that in a couple of centuries the human race might evolve to where the human beings of today end up on display in a zoo. And if we all kill each other through war or wearing out the planet, then insects could end up being the most superior creatures on earth. He has interesting theories on the constellations, the Big Bang theory, major religions, etc.

Sure, a general comparison could be made to the movie “Rainman”, except that this book gives complete attention to the afflicted character, Christopher. It breaks down one of society’s more recent creations - the mental institution, one of the big barriers between “us” and “them”. You discover there’s a ton of humanity and things to consider and learn from someone you may have previously been too nervous to be around.

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?

Here's what I liked about this book:
1. I found Christopher, with all his many quirks, to be sweet and rather endearing.
2. I thought it was a creative idea to write a book from the point of view of a boy with Asperger syndrome. This is difficult to pull off, but the author does it well.
3. I enjoyed Christopher's musings about life and the way in which he sees it.
4. I love making lists.

Here's what I didn't like about this book:
1. It wasn't really a mystery and I found some of it to be a bit predictable (I guessed who killed Wellington long before it was revealed).
2. The first half is better than the second half.
3. As much as I love making lists (see above), the list thing got the slightest bit annoying after awhile.

Overall, a poignant story about a young, brave autistic boy trying to make sense of and find his place in this very complicated world. Worth the read.

A very charming, insightful, engaging book. From the perspective of a 15-year-old boy who has a kind of high-functioning autism (which may not be autism, actually, but Asberger's?).

Some mature themes. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“For example, this morning for breakfast I had Ready Brek and some hot raspberry milk shake. But if I say that I actually had Shreddies and a mug of tea (footnote: But I wouldn’t have Shreddies and tea because they are both brown.) I start thinking about Coco Pops and lemonade and porridge and Dr Pepper and how I wasn’t eating my breakfast in Egypt and there wasn’t a rhinoceros in the room and Father wasn’t wearing a diving suit and so on and even writing this makes me feel shaky and scared, like I do when I’m standing on the top of a very tall building and there are thousands of houses and cars and people below me and my head is so full of all these things that I’m afraid that I’m going to forget to stand up straight and hang on to the rail and I’m going to fall over and be killed. This is another reason why I don’t like proper novels…” pg. 19

“I said that I wasn’t clever. I was just noticing how things were, and that wasn’t clever. That was just being observant. Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new. Like the universe expanding, or who committed a murder. Or if you see someone’s name and you give each letter a value from 1 to 26 (a = 1, b =2, etc.) and you add the numbers up in your head and you find that it makes a prime number, like Jesus Christ (151), or Scooby-Doo (113), or Sherlock Holmes (163), or Doctor Watson (167).

Mr. Jeavons asked me whether this made me feel safe, having things always in a nice order, and I said it did.
Then he asked if I didn’t like things changing. And I said I wouldn’t mind things changing if I became an astronaut, for example, which is one of the biggest changes you can imagine, apart from becoming a girl or dying.” pg. 25

t“Mrs. Alexander didn’t say anything. She walked to the little red box on a pole next to the gate to the park and she put Ivor’s poo into the box, which was a brown thing inside a red thing, which made my head feel funny so I didn’t look. Then she walked back to me.” pg. 57

t“On the fifth day, which was a Sunday, it rained very hard. I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.” pg. 103

“And when I am in a new place, because I see everything, it is like when a computer is doing too many things at the same time and the central processor unit is blocked up and there isn’t any space left to think about other things. And when I am in a new place and there are lots of people there it is even harder because people are not like cows and flowers and grass and they can talk to you and do things that you don’t expect, so you have to notice everything that is in the place, and also you have to notice things that might happen as well. And sometimes when I am in a new place and there are lots of people there it is like a computer crashing and I have to close my eyes and put my hands over my years and groan, which is like pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL and shutting down programs and turning the computer off and rebooting so that I can remember what I am doing and where I am meant to be going.” pgs. 143-144

When Christopher discovers the neighbors dog has been killed, he tries to find out who did it. Every time he tries, his father stops him. Can Christopher try to solve the mystery and find out why everyone treats him differently? Read on and find out for yourself.

This was a pretty good but sad read. I liked it all except for the parts that had math equations in it. If you like these types of reads, be sure to check this book out at your local library and wherever books are sold.

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.

3.5 ⭐️

Me gustó mucho. Siento que sabe transmitir muy bien lo que puede ser la mente de una persona neurodivergente, así como también cómo se relaciona con el mundo, con su familia y cómo los afecta a ellos también. Me encantó estar un rato en la mente de Christopher y entender cómo ve y percibe al mundo, me pareció un gran cambio de perspectiva. Siento que a pesar de no ser un libro con una trama tan interesante, deja mucho que pensar y aprender. El final me dejó

This book will get you through all kind of emotions.
At first , you will feel confused , because of the writing style , then you will start feeling odd , because of Chris's behaviours and the way he's telling his story , Until , you get it.
You get why he's behaving that way , why he's so different and why his brain functions in such a strange and a more complex way .
Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome , it's a form of Autism which can turn complicated mathematics into simple equations but also turn simple things into complicated ones.
Later on , I felt both sad and trapped : Sad , because .. i don't know .. i felt sorry for him , which i have no reason to feel so , he's such a special , clever and unique boy , and trapped , because this is not the kind of books that tells a story , this is the kind of books that drags you into the story and makes you feel as if you were there , all along.
When i hit page number 200 , I couldn't stop reading ( if you read the book , you know why ) , and i was on a roller-coaster of emotions but this time i experienced new feelings , anger and frustration .
The ending took me off guard and was nothing like i expected it to be , but this book , Christopher's story , melted my heart , and that's why i gave it big fat 5 stars

Okay, I’m gonna try and review this book now. TRY being the key word.

… How do I review this??