Book Review - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time👏

 

I know about Autism and Asperger Syndrome. I know them as information. Clinical. But 15-year Christopher, writing in first person, suffering from the infliction, brings the reality of it home. The parents’ dilemma for they are not only coping with becoming parents, taking care of a child; they are now having to take care of a child whom they cannot even begin to understand. First, to have to come to terms with the fact that your child is not normal. And then trying to learn how to deal with this situation! And sometimes we are just not up to it. No judgement. Fact. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is just such a book. Its main character, and the narrator of the book, is Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old with Autism.

'Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences and difficulties in social communication and interaction, need for predictability, sensory processing differences, focused interests, and repetitive behaviours. Five common signs of autism include difficulties with communication and language, social challenges, repetitive behaviours or movements, sensory sensitivities, and unusual interests. These can manifest in various ways, such as delayed language development, difficulty understanding social cues, repetitive hand-flapping, or intense focus on specific topics.  Autism is a spectrum, meaning individuals experience it in different ways and degrees. Not every autistic person will exhibit all of these signs, or will experience them in the same way.’

With such a lot to understand parents are at a loss. And Christopher is only a 15-year-old having to cope with all these parameters.

Told in the first person, the stark nature of the world that Christopher is navigating is brought home to us with a jolt. He has a photographic memory, understands maths and difficult calculations and science. What baffles him are other humans.  They are so unpredictable, so inconsistent. Untruthful, untrustworthy.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time brings home again and again how difficult life can be without the support of family, without honesty and trust. Christopher is thus at the mercy of the unknown, unfamiliar outside which he must navigate on his own. Indeed, all of us have to do that but we being ‘normal’ have to deal with people like us. Whereas, Christopher has to deal with people who are beyond his comprehension for they cannot understand his reality which is so uncomplicated; so frank; so straightforward.

Christopher's defining characteristic is his inability to imagine. There are no grey areas in Christopher. Things are thus or thus. Feelings don’t enter his world. In other words, he cannot empathize. Because he cannot imagine what another person is thinking, he cannot tell when a person speaks sarcastically, or determine a person's mood by his facial expression.

Written by British novelist Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was published in 2003.  Haddon considered this his first novel for adults, as his previous books were for children. Unusually, his publisher also released a separate edition for the children's market, and it was successful there.

In July 2009, Haddon wrote on his blog that "The Curious Incident is not a book about Asperger's ... if anything it's a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The protagonist, being neuro-diverse shows that. The book is not specifically about any specific disorder". Haddon said that he is not an expert on the autism spectrum or Asperger's syndrome.

That said, knowing the issues involved in Autism we understand right from the beginning, Christopher’s condition. Christopher has written the book ably guided by his mentor and teacher Siobhan. Siobhan is one person Christopher feels he can connect with.  One night Christopher finds his neighbour’s dog lying in a pool of blood, dead. His search for the killer is categorically shot down by the owner, a family friend and his father with whom he lives; his mother, he has been told, is dead. But he is curious and determined. In his search for the truth he finds his father had told him an untruth – his mother was not dead. She was in London. He also learns who has killed the dog. Christopher’s world is shattered. He cannot trust anyone. He must find his mother whose letters tell him things clearly. There is a London address and he must find it.

Difficult yes but Christopher is not daunted and is united with his mother.

 

Life throws all out of gear and all of them must re-start their journey, together. So Judy leave London and comes to live in Swindon so that Christopher can be near his father, too. In the end, the family begins a slow road to reconciliation. Ed gets a puppy, and the dog helps Christopher move towards forgiving his father and all round healing.  

 

[Sucharita]