“Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life.” // Review of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Author: Mark Haddon
Genre: contemporary
Target age group: YA
Dates read: 19/07/18 – 21/07/18
Rating: ★★★★

Review:

I had intended to read this book  before I saw the stage show earlier this month, but as usual, time got away from me. It turns out the stage show is very faithful to the book, so I knew exactly what was coming the whole time I was reading, but it was still a very enjoyable read.

Curious Incident is something of a “spokesbook” for neuro-divergence, which is a shame, as it only represents one particular experience. As far as I an understand, though, it does a great job of representing this particular experience.

The pacing of the book is speedy due to the run-on nature of the narration and even though Christopher can somtimes feel hard to connect to, I was still rooting for him as he investigated the death of Wellington and the other mysteries in his life that he unconvered.

I also think it’s hats off to Mark Haddon that even through Christopher’s very objective and perhaps disconnected view of the world, we still got enough of a sense of the people around him to really care about them as characters, too. Christopher’s neuro-divergence presents its challenges to his parents and those who meet him on a more casual basis, but it was touching to see the way many people really wanted to help him navigate the world, just as it was frustrating to see those who didn’t know and didn’t try to understand.

It’s likely that the unusual style of Curious Incident will put some readers off, but I do encourage you to give it a try. It’s a different book, but I think it is also eye-opening and interesting and worthy of attention.

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