Discuss The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

[louandel]

This is the one book that everyone talks about that looks great, humorous but poignant, informative about an important illness and excellent writing to put yourself in the mind of the main character and how he sees life. Ive read so many revews of it I wonder sometimes whether I need to read it a t all and if I do I am likely to be disappointed. So I think its going to remain on my to be read shelf for sometime.

[Skydrake]

I read this book about a year ago. Let me preface my review with I really enjoyed the book and while I would recommend the book, I did have one issue that I kept revisiting while I read it.

I work in the Special Education department of a school district. I applaud authors that bring disabilities to the general public by developing characters that struggle with their own unique feelings as well as the ignorance of society. Education of disabilities is the first step in understanding and acceptance. Because the author does not have autism, narrating as an autistic individual I questioned is this really what someone with autism would think/feel? Part of me, as a non-autistic individual, felt he was spot on. Another part of me kept having that niggling feeling in the back of my mind about authenticity.

Overall it was a good, quick read.

Skydrake

[chrisc0295]

As a person with Autism I really enjoyed reading this book. I could really relate to his thoughts and feelings in a lot of different situations, he was a very kind boy yet sometimes he would go on tangents from time to time.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially for people who didn't understand Autism very much

[DATo]

It is my understanding that Mark Haddon, the author of Curious Incident, worked with autistic children for some time before becoming a writer. His past, professional experience provides a level of certification to the truth of the novel's approach to describing this illness as described in the first person narrative of the main character, Christopher Boone. But as I was reading it I was always asking myself how CLOSE he came to actually describing what a victim of autism really experiences in his view of the world. I have found the comments of those who have posted to this board who have personal experience with this illness, and whose comments have expressed their ability to relate to the main character's sometimes skewered perceptions of his world as an unassailable validation of the accuracy of Haddon's depiction. Thanks so much to those who experience to some degree the effects of this illness and have shared their personal thoughts.

With regard to my reading experience of this book I can only say that being placed in Christopher Boone's shoes and allowed to view the world from his perspective was both an illuminating and fascinating experience. By the time I had completed the book I could almost predict how Christopher would react to any situation he might find himself in. I share the thoughts of Skydrake: that books like this are important because they give us a first hand look at something we would normally be unable to comprehend, and through comprehension comes empathy.