#3 - The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time by Mark Haddon

On a post-read analysis, The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time instantly comes off as two things:

1) Absolutely brilliant.

2) Very spoilable.

So whilst attempting to hedge around the large parts of the novel which are much more appreciated when you stumble upon them yourself, let me begin to explain what makes this book so damn brilliant.

Firstly, is this books clean cut ability to switch audiences at will. The book is led forwards by Christopher, a fifteen year old who you might as well think was 12, due to his Asperger's Syndrome. Whilst the mental state he finds himself in allows him an almost superhuman ability at maths and science, Christopher's emotional dislocation and lack of understanding of the world beyond his road leaves him with a very simply spoken, matter-of-fact and intensely readable voice, which has the ability to both shock the audience and ignore the obvious to some comic effect. 

The other side of this voice, however, is a certain appeal to younger readers, and whilst I wouldn't give this book to my nephew due to some of the content - violence, hard issues and some words that make even my seasoned eyes flinch - the book has won numerous awards for it's depth and appeal to this notoriously tricky audience.

But what I love about the book is it's sublime mix of simplicity and absolute story telling perfection. It's easy enough for an adult reader to sit through all near-300 pages in one sitting due to it's pacy narrative and light style, but whilst this style is normally an inhibitor to other writers, Haddon uses it to great dramatic effect. Whilst Christopher may not see the obvious or understand the implications of what people are saying, the reader is put in an advantageous place without being told what is happening, leaving you on the edge of your seat waiting for Christopher to realise the horrible occurrences behind the red curtain of the novel.

A runaway train of a novel including Sherlock Holmes, a dog being killed with a fork, hard-hitting drama, A-level maths and a train-elf (That bit literally had me in tears of laughter), The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time can't come with enough praise, and a book which leaves you thinking in declarative sentences for hours afterwards. It's the perfect novel whether you're looking for a quick read or a deep thought-provoker, and I can't recommend it enough.

Pages: 268

Bottom Line: A boy with Asperger's syndrome attempts to find out who kills his neighbour's dog and instead ends up writing a Whitbread award winning novel.