The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddon

Hmm. I am trying to decide exactly how I feel about this book. On the one hand, it was excellent -- a bit funny, a bit heartstring-tuggy, written in a first person voice that was consistent and fascinating. On the other hand ... something. It was just a hair or two -- melancholy, maybe? Overly aware of making us relate to the autistic main character? Hmm.
Christopher Boone, the book's narrator, is a fifteen year old autistic boy who sets out to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor's dog. In the process of trying to unravel the mystery, he inadvertently uncovers a few other items of interest about his parents, his neighbors, and himself. His voice in the book is really interesting to read, as it gives insight into the thought process behind Chris' many quirks (he doesn't like the color yellow, for instance, and will not eat any yellow food), and takes us through a very emotional story from the perspective of a person who cannot really understand or access others' emotions. Chris' dry and matter-of-fact retelling of his parents' attempts to deal with his needs while struggling to maintain their marriage makes the events described all the more poignant. The author makes excellent use of his narrator -- Chris' voice throughout the book is believable and relatable, and reveals a great deal of information without seeming expository.
In spite of all this, however, I found myself with kind of an After School Special aftertaste when I finished this book. The author is not noticeably preachy -- there is no blatant "Let's all learn about autism through this character and thus better ourselves" moment -- and yet I ended up feeling a touch preached to, anyway. The narrator is fascinating, and easy to relate to on many levels, but there is a little undercurrent of the author standing out there somewhere, hoping that you arrive at a better understanding of autism and those affected by it through the power of his writing. And this awakens some bratty little slice of me that wants to sullenly cross my arms, roll my eyes, and not listen, because I don't need improving, dammit! The more mature part of me, though, liked this book a lot, and if the author sneaks in a subliminal empathy-increasing message or two, there are worse things to put out there into the world.

p.s. I found an interesting interview on Powell's.com with the author, Mark Haddon, and it is worth checking out. If you are interested, here is the link.