The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

[kilamangiro]

Has anyone here read this? It's one of the most touching books i've ever read. It's narrated by a boy suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and is written in quite a childish manner (he did this, then he did that, then he said this etc etc), but it's so effectively done. And the last paragraph made me cry.

[Cath]

Yup - and I loved it.

I've heard a few people with experience of Aspergers say it didn't mesh with their experience, but it touched a nerve with me.

My stepsister has Aspergers, and I found Mark Haddon's book gave me a valuable insight into her way of looking at the world.

[MyFirstMystery]

I read that book and enjoyed it very much, have loaned it to friends and family who say the same.

I don't know anything about the reality of the medical condition - so I can't speak for it's accuracy - but it was a terrific read.

MFM

[electric.avenue]

Read it, loved it!

Really enjoyed the mathsy stuff, and the logic problem, (the famous "Monty Hall problem").

Have lent it to so many people, I don't know exactly where my copy is at the moment!

[KTC]

Hated it.

[Maryn]

I read it aloud in the car during one of our take-the-kid-to-school trips, and I thought it was terrific, if unrealistic in terms of the experience others report.

I've found that it's a good title to recommend to people (especially teens) who claim they don't like to read, although they are able to read well when school demands it. Of the few I've asked to read the first ten pages, all have finished it and enjoyed it.

Maryn, curious what KTC found not to his liking

[Cath]

... if unrealistic in terms of the experience others report.
That's one thing about autism - it's has a very broad spectrum and varies wildly from person to person.

I too would love to know why Kevin hated it so much.

[Sheryl Nantus]

read it a few weeks ago and was astonished; since I'm not a big fan of the "popular" books...

I enjoyed it greatly - it kept my attention to the end; made me weep in parts and I'm working on forcing my hubby to read it. An excellent buy for anyone looking for something different.

jmo, of course.

[Jenan Mac]

That's one thing about autism - it's has a very broad spectrum and varies wildly from person to person.


Ayep. As the saying goes, "if you've met one person with Asperger's...you've met one person with Asperger's."

My husband bought it for me last month. It wasn't necessarily identical to my experience, but I think he nailed the overall "tone" pretty well. It was a quick-reading book, though, and I finished it too fast. Sent me straight back into the arms of epic sci fi, where a decent book will take more than two hours to finish.

[jessie318]

i just read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. i found the narrator's voice to be very authentic. i think that's what carried the novel for me.

[KellyG]

I love this book. It really gives you a great viewpoint into how different people, not just those with Aspergers, experience the world. It's kind of like we all imagine everyone sees what we see sometimes and this book gives a visually stunning interpretation of someone else's viewpoint.

[scarletpeaches]

Hated it.

Thou art a Philistine!

Consider our friendship at an end, sir!

(Unless you give me lots of chocolates, in which case I'm anybody's).

[clresu]

It was given to me, was in my vehicle on its way to the used book store. There are a lot of books to read and I normally don't spend time on too many new ones with cutesy titles. While I was waiting on someone, I opened it and started it. Yea, turned out pretty good.

[kristie911]

Loved this book. When I picked it up, I didn't have much hope for it but I was hooked from the first page.

[johnrobison]

I really liked it. The Aspergian life experience Mark describes had both similarities and differences to my own (real) Aspergian life. It's a very good piece of work, coming from someone who is not actually Aspergian.

[dreamersrequiem]

i read it a while ago, after my mum recomended it to me. i did it enjoy it, and some parts did bring me very close to crying.

[Julie Worth]

I enjoyed the book, except for the conclusion. This was supposed to be a mystery, and I hoped that the boy would solve it. Alas, he didn't; the solution was just handed to him by his father. And the intrusion of the real world was jarring, not to mention depressing.

[scarletpeaches]

I don't think it was meant to be a mystery. It was about the MC rather than anything around him. He changed by the end of the book which is what an MC is supposed to do.

[Kida Adelyne]

I've been meaning to read this book forever. I think I'll pick it up tomorow.

And yes, it's very true about autism/aspergers. Autism was the term created to lup together all the mental-dissabilities that didn't have a classification.

For people who want to read more fiction from a aspergers perspective, Wild Orchid is quite a good book.

[justpat]

I enjoyed this book, and can't imagine how hard it must have been to 'stay in character' as he wrote it. Do you think there is a such thing as a method-writer? People who have to stay in character the entire time they are writing? Hmm, sounds like an idea for a book.

When I write in the first person I try to think like the character would think, but I wouldn't go as far as calling it 'In Character'.

[NicoleMD]

I really liked being able to brag to my friends, oh, I'm on chapter 151! Seemed so impressive, especially since I'm a slow reader. The MC was endearing, and I loved the twists the book took. It's the first book I've leant to a friend in a long time and she LOST IT!!!! As in can't find it at all. I have her favorite book as hostage though, until she buys me a new one. hehehehe

Nicole

[spacekitton]

Read it. I thought it was a good short read. Very sweet and touching story.

[Danger Jane]

I really liked how this was written, and I liked that his father told him at the end and took away the mystery and the challenge of it. I liked that as the book got on it became less and less about the dog.

[rwam]

I read it and enjoyed it. I didn't particularly care for the narrator...he just seemed so called (all right, all right, so maybe it was a byproduct of his condition).

One thing that bugged me was when the MC started talking about religion it seemed more like the author preaching his agenda than it did the MC expounding/pondering the cosmos.

[Kida Adelyne]

I finally read this. Although a decent read, I found many things that bothered me. The most of which was it seemed like Haddon took every symptom/quirk know in the autism/aspergers spectrum, put them into a hat, and then pulled out a handful. And some of them contridicted each other.

One thing that bugged me was when the MC started talking about religion it seemed more like the author preaching his agenda than it did the MC expounding/pondering the cosmos.

I agree. That really irked me, too.

[polleekin]

I really enjoyed this book. I really liked seeing the parents trying to cope. And I appreciated that the doctors weren't stupid. (I've seen doctors written to be unrealisticly stupid so that the character can talk about how stupid they are and how they don't understand, etc.)

[brianrein]

I loaned this book to a friend once, but I missed it so much that I went out and bought four more copies and now whenever a friend needs something to read, I give them one to keep. That's how powerful this book has been in my life...
One thing that bugged me was when the MC started talking about religion it seemed more like the author preaching his agenda than it did the MC expounding/pondering the cosmos.But it may not be, because the narrator is quite clearly incapable of trusting anything that's not readily obvious or provable - he hates metaphors, he hates when people say one thing and mean another, and he will only stand a mystery if it can be solved. The boy represents an extreme version of the "facts-only" scientific approach, which is why he hates novels, and why he will not believe in God until God shows up in his room and says "Hey, look at me."

sorry ... but this is the kind of book that I would like to really discuss with people ... not just "yeah, I read it too." :)

[Kudra]

What a beautiful book. I zipped right through it, and enjoyed every word. I'll definitely be passing my copy on.

[scarletpeaches]

Gah! GIVE IT AWAY??? WHY???

I keep mine and read them again. :D (I don't own a copy of this book but books I like stay put so I can get my hands on them again at a moment's notice).

[Kudra]

I used to be very attached to my books. I'd hyperventilate when someone borrowed them and hadn't returned them a week later.

Now, for some reason, I love sharing. I love passing on books that I've enjoyed to people I know will appreciate them. I'm actually trying to give away my entire inventory. I don't think I'll be re-reading them. Life's too short to read the same book twice (well, there are some exceptions).

[gem1122]

I used to be very attached to my books. I'd hyperventilate when someone borrowed them and hadn't returned them a week later.

Now, for some reason, I love sharing. I love passing on books that I've enjoyed to people I know will appreciate them. I'm actually trying to give away my entire inventory. I don't think I'll be re-reading them. Life's too short to read the same book twice (well, there are some exceptions).

Same here. I have collected books for years, dreaming of one day having a big home library. Where are they? In the basement. And I don't dream of having a big library anymore. Certain books I'll never part with, but most of them, I could. As I get older, I care less about the actual copy of the book and more about the story.

And I agree that life is too short to read the same book twice, with a few exceptions.

Anyway, I enjoyed the Haddon book. I thought the narration was heartbreaking. Here's this boy who is so loved and will never truly feel it (at least not in the traditionally understood sense), because love, to him, just doesn't make sense. I don't cry reading books. This was a close one.

[scarletpeaches]

Life's never too short to read the same book twice - I've read some three or four times.

But I'm getting seriously p***ed off with lending books to people and not getting them back. So never again. I don't care who you are, don't ask because the answer's no.

[Bonnie Shimko]

I absolutely loved it. I cried at the end too.

[WriterInChains]

This is another of those books I keep hearing I'm supposed to love, but couldn't pick back up.

[JoNightshade]

I've got to agree with those who say this book is excellent. I went through school, growing up, with a boy who had a functional version of autism (ie he could make it through school with normal kids, although he freaked out... um, frequently). This book totally nailed his character, as if Haddon had been looking into the brain of my schoolmate when he wrote it. Very weird. But enlightening.

[MelodyO]

I just finished this book last night and have to say how completely impressed I was, both as a writer and a reader. I had heard how funny the book is, and even though I laughed here and there throughout, I was much more struck with the agony this family was going through trying to cope with the son's autism. Must be the mom in me. I thought Haddon showed a deep respect for the subject matter, and I believe his MC's take on God was completely in line with the character. I have to say that I loved the ending! Good endings are hard to come by in so many novels, but this one was utterly satisfying. I was bouncing around my house for the rest of the day.