Haddon, M. (2004). The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. New York: Vintage Contemporaries. ISBN 978-0-525-42155-9
Why read this book
You might have heard the word “autistic.” If you want to know what it really means, meet
Plot summary
Christopher John Francis Boone is a teenager who lives in Swindon, a town a few hours outside of London. One night he’s taking a walk in his neighborhood when he finds his neighbor’s dog lying dead in her yard. Someone has killed the dog with a garden tool, and Christopher decides to investigate.
Christopher’s powers of investigation are no ordinary powers. Christopher has an amazing mind for mathematics and for memorizing information like the names and capitals of all the countries in the world. But he has trouble understanding people’s emotions and motivations, he has very particular likes and dislikes (he dislikes anything yellow or brown, for example), and he’s not comfortable around a lot of people or in places he hasn’t been before. Christopher’s teacher Siobhan has helped him learn how to observe people’s expressions and actions so he can understand them better, and she’s helped him use his analytical abilities to control the confusion and discomfort he feels around new people and new places. Christopher needs all his natural talents and learned skills when his investigation into the dog’s death leads him to shocking new understandings about his father, with whom he lives, and his mother, who disappeared from his life a few years before.
Critical evaluation
Mark Haddon optimizes the power of first-person narration in this beautiful story that shows us what the world looks like through the eyes of a young person with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism. Christopher is a lovable character and the quintessential unreliable narrator. Although the reader only sees Christopher’s world through his eyes, the reader understands dimensions of that world that Christopher does not. We see when people are condescending, mean, or dismissive of Christopher, we see the challenges that Christopher’s parents face in raising him, and we can understand why their marriage has not survived the challenges. And we are glad much of the time that Christopher doesn’t see these things himself.
A well-developed unreliable narrator like Christopher is also a window into realities that most readers could not narrate on their own. Haddon shows us Christopher’s remarkable talents for mathematics, logic, and reasoning as well as Christopher’s difficulties in understanding non-literal elements of life. And Haddon shows us how, with a little help from his friend (Siobhan), Christopher can learn to use logic and reasoning to gain control over the chaotic world in which he lives. This both gives us hope for dealing with the increasing prevalence of autism in contemporary society as well as insights into how our own human capacities work. Who among us couldn’t use some tips about breathing deeply and thinking our way through some of life’s little crises instead of emoting our way through them?
About the author
Mark Haddon was born in 1962 in Northampton, England, and studied English literature at Oxford University and Edinburgh University (Mark Haddon, 2009). He has written poetry, children’s books, and television and radio scripts in addition to The Curious Incident, which was his first novel. He is also an illustrator and a painter. He published his second novel, A Spot of Bother, in 2006. Boom is scheduled for publication in 2010. Haddon lives in Oxford, England and maintains a blog at www.markhaddon.com (biog., n.d.).
Genre: Crossover, International, Life is hard
Curriculum ties
• The Curious Incident would be an interesting book for teaching character analysis in a high school literature class. Christopher presents himself differently than the people most students would know in their own lives, and his explicit descriptions of himself are a foil to the traits that the reader must infer from the narrative.
Book-talking ideas
• Read the first short chapter (less than one page), and ask students what they can infer about the narrator. Then read the second short chapter and ask students again what they can infer about the narrator. Explain that reading The Curious Incident will give them insights into a view of the world that they probably haven’t encountered before.
• Read Chapter 73, where Christopher mentions the difficulties that raising him have brought to his parents’ marriage. Ask students how they think they might respond if they have a child like Christopher some day.
Reading level/interest age
Haddon wrote The Curious Incident for an adult audience, but the reading level and the engaging world that it reveals make it appropriate for both younger and older teens. Four public middle school libraries and eleven public high school libraries in San Francisco include The Curious Incident in their collections. One middle school library has multiple copies, which suggests that the book has been incorporated into the curriculum.
Challenge issues
In his innocent manner, Christopher refers to sex and to his penis, but not in the same breath and not with an erotic sensibility. Parents might object that the book makes them look bad in a categorical way, but I doubt that would provoke challenges. Although the book’s centralizing of Asperger syndrome seems like a public service to me, I imagine someone could find the topic objectionable.
Responses
• Remind the challenger of the policy (in the case of the San Francisco Public Library) to present “all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”
Why I chose to read this book
LouAnne Johnson incorporates references to The Curious Incident in her young adult novel Muchacho, which piqued my interest. A friend who works in autism research recommended the book as an authentic representation of the world from the perspective of someone with Asperger syndrome.
References
Biog. (n.d.) A Spot of Matter. Retrieved December 4, 2009, from http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/aspotofbother/
Mark Haddon. (2009, December 1). Wikipedia. Retrieved December 4, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Haddon
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