The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
An interesting read. Written from the perspective of a teenage boy with Asperger’s syndrome, Christopher Boone. Some things he does that would seem odd to other people, are simply mechanisms to block out the overwhelming sensory input that comes from background noise or open spaces; like moaning to himself, or hiding behind the shed, or tuning a radio to white noise. When you notice everything, you need to find a way to filter. Makes sense really.
When a neighbours’ dog is found dead, killed with a garden fork, Christopher takes it upon himself to find out who the killer is. He does this after, of course, being firstly accused of it himself (he’s the one who happened to find the dog) and hitting the police officer who grabbed him (who didn’t understand that he has a condition). Along the way, not only does he learn to interact with the world around him, but other home truths are also exposed to complicate the matter and confuse Christopher.
Enlightening to find out how someone with this condition could be experiencing the world that we all take for granted. Simple things that most of us ignore, the sound of trains going by for example, are impossible to close your mind to if you don’t actively block them out.
Just make sure that the broccoli and carrots aren’t touching.
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