Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (April 2018)

This book has won many awards for the author Mark Haddon, both for Literature and in the theatre in London and on Broadway,

Mark Haddon originally wrote and self illustrated Children’s books, which appealed to younger ages through to teens, again winning several awards. His first attempt to write for the adult audience, was this actual book, and was very surprised and shocked when his publisher suggested marketing it to both children and adults. However, he agreed providing it was the same version for everyone, with the exception of two different covers.

The author actually questioned himself when writing this story, saying “ — who on earth is going to want to read about a 15 year old kid with a disability living in Swindon?”  Well he got his answer as the book was a success with all age groups.

The story is narrated by Christopher Boone,  a 15 year old boy, gifted with an exceptional mathematical brain, but is autistic with Asperger’s Syndrome (although the author leaves this diagnosis up to the reader to decide). He has no social interaction with people, and cannot understand facial expressions, the exception being a wonderful teacher at his school, who understands and relates to his condition. He is unable to express his feelings, can’t bear physical contact and his world is logical, orderly and routine driven but conversely chaotic. The language used by the author is very expressive in the way he delivers the characters.

The book is described as a “mystery” based around the investigation of the death of a neighbour’s dog found in her garden who had been stabbed with a garden fork. Quite bizarre. However  this incident takes Christopher on a journey of self-discovery, where he has to face his fears by leaving home alone and travelling to London to find his mother, whom he had previously thought had died. What follows is a story which is emotional, heart warming, funny, yet serious and invites you into his world making you see life in a new way and which may ring chords in many situations which are personal to you.  Mark Haddon summed up the book saying he wanted it to be a novel not about disability but difference.

The characters and the story fuelled our group towards some very lively discussions. We all had strong views on the actual theme of the book and the unique style of the writing. Many of us found the whole reading experience both entertaining and thought provoking, whereas a minority could not see anything to recommend it and found it rather boring, but whatever our views it gave us the opportunity for a stimulating debate, providing both laughter and serious discussion . A very good morning we all agreed.

Margaret Cunningham

20th April 2018.