Book Review: 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

Release Date: May 18th 2004

Publisher: Vintage

Age: Young Adult

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

Christopher is 15 years old and has Asperger, a form of autism.  He can't lie, he doesn't understand human emotions and he observers a lot. He likes dogs, so when Wellington, the neighbors's dog, is killed, and he's the principal suspect, Christopher decides to investigate as Sherlock Holmes and find the real killer.

I really wanted to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, almost all the reviews are good. So when I had a chance, I just bought it and didn't regret it. I read it super fast, even my mother read it, and we both loved it.

Christopher is not common. Because of his Asperger, he's actually very interesting. He's obsessed with number and he's trying to write a book about his adventures. He writes back and forward on his book, every chapter is about something different and he numbers them by prime numbers, but it's very cool. Since I read his first words (and his drawings) I was captivated. It was like being inside his mind, where he sometimes can't concentrate on something or sometimes he concentrates too much.

Also, I liked the mystery about who really killed the dog. I didn't have a clue (well, I'm not Sherlock Holmes), and several times I just gasped or just said out loud 'What?!'. Then I had to explain to my boyfriend what I just discovered hehe.

Really, there isn't a way to describe this book as it deserves, but if you're at least a little bit interested, read it. Christopher was an amazing character, he managed to left his fears behind and made a great journey in a world where he is constantly misunderstood; and if you have met a person with autism, you will realize he's very realistic.

Overall, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of my favorite books read this year,  I just can't get it out of my head, and I'm sure I'm going to re-read it several times in my future.

More about this book at www.markhaddon.com, Goodreads, Amazon, The Book Depository.

PS: I read the spanish edition.