The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

Summary:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour’s dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

Plot:

I thought this was a very good story. The writing is simple and straightforward, easy to understand, but the story never becomes predictable. The plot is original and different and it kept me interested throughout. I also really liked the way the author ended the book, it wasn’t too happy, just realistic.

Characters:

The strange thing about this book is I didn’t really like the main character, Christopher, but I still rooted for him. He got on my nerves at times, but this only made me sympathise with his parents more and made them much more understandable. They were probably my favourite characters in this book, especially his dad. Christopher got a little annoying, but the way he narrated the story is something almost like a journal was a lot of fun to read.

Who should read this:

13+, mainly for the language, a dog is also killed (not graphic), and there are some mentions of people cheating on their spouses, but no real sexual content. If you want something that will touch your heart, has an unique story and perspective and is easy to read, this might just be the one for you. This is a pretty light read, but it has some darker themes.

My rating:

I really enjoyed this book. It’s not my absolute favourite, mainly because I didn’t like the main character all that much, but I think it’s a very good novel overall. 4/5

Quote:

“Everyone has learning difficulties, because learning to speak French or understanding relativity is difficult.”