The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

People are a mystery to Christopher, but he wants to be a detective. Christopher describes himself as “a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties.” His obsession with the truth leads him to investigate the death of a neighbourhood dog, but because of his Asperger’s, people’s behaviour and emotions can be just as confusing as the mystery he sets out to solve. 

Some readers have said this is book negatively depicts autism, but I think a lot of Christopher’s traits are admirable (he loves the truth and he is seriously determined), and I loved being inside his head and seeing things the way he does. Of course, autism is a spectrum, so I didn’t take from this that his experience represents every autistic person.

Since it’s written from Christopher’s perspective, you get a sense of how overstimulating and overwhelming unfamiliar places are to him, and it gives some insight into how some autistic people might try to decode behaviour. Plus, it’s really funny, down to the black and white way Christopher sees the world. 

“I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”

This book is for exploring #autism #aspergers #neurodivergence