The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of the freshest debuts in years: a comedy, a heartbreaker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read. The effect is dazzling, making for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher's mind.Īnd herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon's choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. Throughout the book, the author, Mark Haddon manages to keep the reader contemplating Christopher's actions and discovering as to why he does the things he does. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. A Journey Full of Undiscovered Incidents The novel 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime' is wonderfully written. Then, at fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.Ĭhristopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration.

Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057.

Dog in the night book