Mark Haddon writes, I have to say, in the same sort of mould as Sue Townsend when she composes tales about Adrian Mole, and I simply felt that I had no choice but to purchase this bitterly funny debut novel. Not that this kind of off-beat mureder mystery is anything like your typical Adrian Mole romp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an excellent book, simply and I have to say very skilfully narrated by Mark Haddon, writing it from the viewpoint of 15 -year-old Christopher John Francis Boone
This child, or young man to be more precise, is an autistic Adrian Mole type being raised by working-class parents. They find themselves struggling, most of the time, to cope with the mathematically brilliant but socially inept Christopher. This is because his condition makes his attitude such that he quite
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Christopher gets arrested, and while incarcerated determines that he needs to find out who killed the unfortunate dog Wellington. He is encouraged in this odd quest by school social worker Siobhan, who further encourages him to write a book about it all.
Being a maths wizard, Christopher must of course give each chapter of his book - to be entitled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - his own unique heading, so he uses prime numbers. This Mark Haddon debut is, I have to say quite startlingly good. It is not just that it is original, clever, and genuinely moving, but also so well devised that I consider it to be must-read for any fan of great fiction.
Placing Christopher at the helm, as narrator is pure genius, Haddon revealing how this oddball lad relaxes by performing mental maths problems, cannot abide red and brown foodstuffs, and has a genuine aversion to being physically touched. His biggest hero is Sherlock Holmes, and in some respects, the book is an incredible voyage of discovery for him. regarding himself, his family and his