The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

This novel by Mark Haddon won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year, and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book.

The story is written in the first-person narrative of Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Though it can be easily deduced from the content that the narrator suffers from an autistic condition, it is never stated within the story, but the summary on the book's inside cover states it to be Asperger syndrome. This is wonderfully developed and depicted through the narrator's thoughts and the events that take place in his life.

Christopher is brilliant at mathematics, has a photographic memory, and exceptional observation powers. However, he has difficulty understanding fellow human beings - he is baffled by human emotions, gestures and relationships. He is unable to comprehend facial expressions [for example when represented by emoticons] besides 'happy' and 'sad' and has difficulty in understanding metaphors and jokes. He does not tell lies, because he cannot - he cannot imagine things that are untrue or infeasible. He likes lists and facts, but cannot deal with un-quantitative statements. He loves numbers and puzzles - that is he way of calming down when he is disturbed. He loves playing with numbers so much, that he has numbered the chapters of the book in prime number sequence [2, 3, 5, 7 ...]. But interaction with other human beings, specially strangers, completely overwhelms him. He is oversensitive to more than a little amount of information, due to which he reacts violently - by screaming or groaning, when he has to deal with new people or places.

The title is taken from a remark made by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in the short story "Silver Blaze". Late one night, Christopher finds that Wellington, the dog owned by his neighbour, Mrs Shears, has been killed with a garden fork. He is extremely sad to see it, and picks up the dog. Mrs Shears sees him then, and thinking that he had killed the dog, gets him arrested. Christopher's father gets him free, but Christopher resolves, against his father's advice, to find the killer, and embarks on an investigation, like Sherlock Holmes. He believes that since the dog didn't bark, he must have been killed by someone known to him. [That the dog didn't bark, is the curious thing mentioned in the title - this is the similarity with Conan Doyle's story.] He is encouraged by his teacher at the special school he attends, to write a book about himself, and this is "The Curious Incident ...". In the course of the investigation, and the events that follow, he learns more about the world [though barely understanding it], himself and his family.

Well, so much about the book. I'll refrain from describing the story, as usual, to avoid spoiling the pleasure of those who might intend to read it. I really liked the book - I initially intended to read a few pages before going to sleep, but kept on reading late night, till I finished it. The story was good, and very well presented, with subtle humour, and an underlying irony. It gives the perception of the world and "normal" human beings, from the perspective of a person with cognitive disabilities. There are so many things we take for granted, but which are not so easily understood by someone who cannot comprehend the complexities of human nature. It also depicts how stressful it can be for the parents of a child with such disabilities, and how it can transform their lives. It makes one deeply empathise with Christopher, and still more with his father. Extremely touching, and eminently readable.