Very Curious... (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: Adult Edition - Mark Haddon)

Member Name: xBorgx

Product:	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: Adult Edition - Mark Haddon
Date:	10/05/09 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A page turner, easy read.

Disadvantages: None

Christopher is fifteen and he is not quite like normal boys. No, he isn't a wizard and he isn't in any way heroic. Christopher suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, which means he does not think the way most of us do. He has a dissociated mind and he finds things such as 'touching' and people very difficult to deal with. He is also unaware of how to actually feel, this is all because of his syndrome.

I had pondered over this book for weeks before I got around to buying it. I saw it sat on the best-sellers shelf at Waterstones, growing more and more curious about it all the time. I read some of the reviews you guys have done and decided I had to read it for myself. And I was not let down.

We begin with the dead dog. Christopher is out one evening when he spots his neighbour's dog lying in the garden of her house with a gardening fork sticking out of its stomach. He investigates further and realises that it has been murdered. However, the neighbour (Mrs Shears) sees him in her garden and immediately thinks that he has killed the dog and she calls the police. A policeman arrives at the scene and scuffle follows where the PC tries to grab hold of Christopher and Christopher (due to his fear of being touched) hits the officer. He is promptly arrested and put in a cell.

His father comes to pick him up soon after and Christopher is cautioned. Back home we learn more of his family life. He lives with his father, his mother has died. Christopher lives an ordered life, and he likes things to be ordered in every way. He is also a fan of Sherlock Holmes, though, so decides to investigate the murder of the dog (Wellington). The next day he goes from house to house asking his neighbours if they saw anything suspicious or if they knew anyone who might want to harm Wellington.

Christopher goes to a special needs school and we learn more about his time there. But although he has this syndrome it does not been he is not bright, in fact he is planning to take his A Level Maths (and get an A grade in the process).

As his investigations into the murder of wellington proceed, he learns more about certain things that he may not like to have learned, and he also learns how he has been deceived...

I am not going to give anything else away, but ask you to read it yourself and enjoy it yourself. The book is just over 270 pages long, but the writing is large and there are pictures too. It took me about three days to read, but is quite something for me these days, having kids and work. But I was gripped. I liked being in Christopher's world. I felt fearful for him, and I found him funny.

The mark of any good book is whether it has made you keep the pages turn, and that is what this one did. Mark Haddon's narration is spot on and very entertaining. If I have any qualms, then it would be the narrator's tendency to go on about mathematical equations, but then perhaps just part of its charm and shows more an insight into how Maths is important to him? The ending seems to just stop, too, but other than that, it is great...

Highly recommended...
ISBN: 0 099 45025 9
Price: £6.99 (but you can get it cheaper at most supermarkets)

Published by Vintage.

Published on Ciao UK by me as Borg...

Summary: A children book for all ages.