The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

You can read the Wikipedia Overview Here.

I read this book in 2 days. But had I a little more time on day 1, I would have finished it that day since I skipped most of it. I was only really interested in what happened to the dog in the night — which of course is a mystery. Which…actually…unravels only a few chapters into the story as the reader is able to put the pieces together a lost faster than the narrator. Because the narrator is a 15 yr old autistic boy. Which makes the point of view very interesting, but – in the end – tediously boring for my fast-paced, on the brink of being diagnosed Attention Deficit brain. Which is why I skipped almost every other chapter since every other chapter wasn’t about the plot but rather about what the narrator thought about things either related to – or not related at all to – the actual storyline itself. Which was supposed to be part of the storyline – but I just couldn’t get into the whole of the book.

As with all adult fiction – you have the typical issues revolving around undesirable language, rebellion, adultery, thievery, murder, anger…rage… nothing that’s not found in the Book of Chronicles though. And at least in this book there isn’t even one graphic sex scene. The Song of Solomon is more embarrassing to read through than some of these modern day novels! LOL!

But all in all, I’d have to say this was a very clever book. I mean, you have to be a very clever author to figure out how to write from the perspective of a 15yr old autistic boy – and pull it off! And I was able to relate to all the characters, so for that, I applaud Mark Haddon. He is a very good author. I’m sure this will become a classic along the lines of Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, The Trial, 1984, etc. It really is on that kind of level. I was very impressed with his capabilities as an author. I just did find myself bored to death with the tedious details in the story. But I still would highly recommend this book as a good read for adults and probably something that will be referenced in future literature.

So I say give it a go!! This is definitely a book I would want to purchase for my home library.

(I’ve started with the most recent since this book since it is the one that is most fresh in my memory, and then I’ll work my way up the list I left on the original post. )