The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddon
No. of Pages: 272
Year of Publication: 2003
Publisher: Random House

About the Book:

The book is a first person account of an adolescent, Christopher, who is writing a mystery novel. Christopher attends a special school. His exact diagnosis has not been specified but he is shown to have some behavioural problems and trouble in social interactions and relationships. His troubles are compounded by a difficult family life.
In the book he juggles between writing the mystery novel and describing his everyday life experiences, which include his special educator mentor’s feedback to him about how a mystery novel should be written!

In designing the character of Christopher, Haddon has interestingly used special mathematical abilities as a way of coping through behavioural problems. The book is a great insight into the world of a person with a behavioural problem and his endeavours at coping and staying out of trouble.

Final Analysis:
I would have said a must read for everyone. But I think that it is best understood by people who understand special needs to some extent. You can also buy a children’s version of the book and read it with your children. It is a good read for teachers, teacher educators, parents and all those engaged in helping individuals with special needs.

Favourite Quotes: 
Many. But they are not really quotes, just insights that you can draw form the writings.

“If I try to say a joke to myself, making the word mean three different things at the same time, it is like hearing three different pieces of music at the same time which is uncomfortable and confusing and not nice like white noise. It is like three people trying to talk to you at the same time about different things. 
And that is why there are no jokes in this book.” (p. 10)

“Mother used to say that it meant Christopher was a nice name because it was a story about being kind and helpful, but I do not want my name to mean a story about being kind and helpful. I want my name to mean me.” (p. 20)