I read a lot. I suppose that is a rather obvious fact. And while there is nothing wrong with reading in any spare time I might have, I find that sometimes my ample literary mental inventory makes it harder and harder to find books that truly touch me in some way. I live for the moment when I’m only half way into a book and already raving about it to my friends, when I am excited to turn the page and exclaiming over plot points aloud, even in very crowded dining halls at extraordinarily inappropriate times. When I started reading Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime, I realized that I had found a book that did all these things.
This is one of those novels that has actually been on my too read list for ages. Having finally picked it up for my often talked about children’s lit course, I was immediately reminded why the book had received so much hype in the first place. The main character, Christopher Boone, is a fifteen year old with autism, living in England with his father. He tells us early on that his mother “went away” to the hospital, and died of a heart attack, leaving him with his blue-collar father who tries his hardest to understand his son’s view of the world, with limited success. It is the goal of the reader to try and understand Christopher as well, a feat that is much easier than one might think. He explains what he thinks, is incredibly direct in language and logic, and as the reader I honestly found myself thinking that what he was saying made a lot of sense. I do have a rather extensive knowledge of autism spectrum disorders, thanks to a mother’s master degree and years of teaching, and so while I read the book actively noticing the symptoms of the disease, I also was able to see Christopher as a character in his own right, not a clinical diagnosis. I believe Haddon was aware of this while writing, and wanted to present Christopher in a way that we understood he was different and could easily identify those differences, but also see within ourselves some of those same ticks. There are wonderful moments of humor in the novel, when Haddon’s sarcasm comes through other characters. Christopher also provides particularly hilarious bits, although the reader does struggle with whether or not you are laughing at him, or simply the situation. This is a novel that forces you to think, that makes you uncomfortable and yet in the end catches you up in a young man’s triumphs. There is profound sadness as well, especially reading as an adult. Never have I empathized so readily with parents, but there are moments when my heart simply broke for Christopher’s father. For fear of ruining any important plot points, I won’t discuss my appreciation and sadness surrounding Christopher’s mother, only say that her character is a bold choice by Haddon.
I struggle of find a fault with this novel, and honestly can only come up with my sadness upon finishing it. Christopher, despite his many triumphs, is still on a hard road, and it is the reader’s knowledge of this juxtaposed against Christopher’s naïve ignorance that pull at the heartstrings. But don’t let that stop you! This is a novel for adults and children, each getting something completely different out of it, but in the end simply enjoying the story of a boy who is endearingly different, and incredibly sincere.
