The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Good Start, Tired ending, and Apparently Religion is Stupid

I don't pay attention to book reviews, and I don't much pay attention to what's on the best seller lists. This book was in the cheap bin at B&N, so I parted with a few hard-earned bucks and took it home. I never heard of it, and I never heard of the author. Yeah, yeah, I'm not in the know. Whatever. The first half of this book was so different, I couldn't put it down. I have no first-hand experience with people who have autism, so I can't vouch for its authenticity on that point. That said, seeing the world through an autistic boy's eyes was remarkable. The author did a great job of making me see the world in new and uncomfortable ways. With each chapter, I become more aware of a world beyond my American suburbia, and I don't simply mean physical settings. I've travelled a lot in my life, but I've rarely stopped to truly and earnestly consider life from a totally different point of view. This book helped, and made, me do that. Good premise notwithstanding, what turned me off was the frequent digs at religion. After a little research, I learned the author is atheist to the core. That's fine, and he can write whatever he chooses. And he should. I was disappointed, however, to see his views expressed in such a cop-out manner. The author uses this young autistic boy as a puppet to express his views on God, religion, and how absurd it all is. That's the theme of the book, and that turned me off. I've got no problem with anyone's point of view, just don't con your readers into thinking they are getting a good story about something different. Write an op-ed piece or something. Religion issues aside, the story, as some reviewers noted, wore thin about the halfway point. The whole last section felt bloated and tired. I was glad to be finished as the novelty of the book faded and left me feeling irritated and a little bored.

Inside an autistic mind

As the father of an autistic child, I completely got into this book, and finished in a couple of hours. I can relate to the protagonist completely since it is written from his point of view. The author is very skilled in showing how disparate the inside and outside world are from the perspective of an autistic mind. The book is funny, and sad at the same time. It can be ironic, and illustrative at the same time. I think everyone will enjoy this amazing literary piece.

Modern Literature Is Rubbish

This book is not original. It is not particularily moving. It is not innovative, and it is most certainly not thought-provoking. The New York Time's glowing review compares it to "The Sound and the Fury," but where Faulkner's masterpiece uses mental disability to comment on the Southern lifestyle and the human condition, Haddon's novel merely declares the typical message that "being autistic is tough, but in the end things can turn out okay." When I finished this book, I didn't have to sit and think about it; it had little more heft than a typical Mitch Albom story. In addition to its thematic mundanity, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" overuses its quirky devices, contradicts its narrative style, ruins the plot of "The Hound of the Baskerviles," and inaccurately explains the Monty Hall Problem. Literature is all but dead, and praise of books like this is dragging it even further away from redemption.

I've never read anything that even remotely resembles this novel

I have never read anything that even remotely resembles this novel, it is so unique and cleverly written from the first person perspective of a boy with some type of autism. Christopher Boone goes to a special school, doesn't understand basic figures of speech or facial expressions, but is gifted with a genius skill at math. When his neighbor's poodle is found murdered by pitchfork one morning, Chris is almost blamed for the crime and decides to find out who the real dog killer is. I flew through this book in less than 24 hours because it was just that good of a read.

insightful summer read

This book is a great little summer read with an interesting plot line. But what I liked most is that it really provided an insightful look into the world of an autistic child from their perspective.

Keyword : textbook