Posts Tagged ‘curious incident of the dog in the night time’

Ah, Tuesday. It’s still a little hard to get oriented to this new week, especially after a three-day weekend.  After sorting through my “blah” moments during Valentine’s Day and taking it fairly easy on President’s Day, it was actually quite nice to get back to work.  In addition to getting back to the ‘ol 9 to 5 (and many times beyond 9 to 5) job, I decided to finally jump back on my task of reading as many books as possible.

I’m still in the midst of reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, but I did get sidetracked by a new library book - A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book.  In fact, one of the reasons I was so keen on reading it was because of the title.  I know the old adage goes: “Don’t judge a book by its cover” but I fail to see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to judge it by its name.

The basic premise is that a neighbor’s dog is killed with a garden fork.  Christopher, the narrator and main character, has decided to get to the bottom of this.

At any rate, I was pleasantly surprised.  Although there were parts that I skimmed over a little bit (the main character is autistic, and a mathematical savant) overall, I love how the story unfolds through his eyes.  The protagonist’s voice is no nonsense, factual, yet human and full of unspoken simple longing.  Although he can’t explain the reasons why the people around him act the way they do, it’s enough for the reader to understand the depth and breadth of the people that love him.  It’s not a sappy happy ending, but it’s still one that makes you feel good.

I think another reason why this book really spoke to me was because I read Born On A Blue Day last year, a rather autobiographical book by a real mathematical savant, Daniel Tammet.  Because my brother is mildly autistic (albeit not a savant) I can in some ways empathize with how the main characters feel.  It’s feels as though I have a little window into understanding what makes my brother tick, especially when it was difficult to fathom when I was growing up with him.

Definitely an easy read and highly recommended to someone who enjoys fiction or has a personal connection with autism.