The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

by Mark Haddon

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In a word: linear

In a sentence: Christopher, a 15 year old on the autism spectrum, solves a murder mystery through his unique approach to difficult situations.

Synopsis: The murder of his neighbor's dog Wellington sets Christopher John Francis Boone on a deductive quest to bring the murderer to justice. His investigation leads him to discovering his family's troubled past and the reader to a unique understanding of the reasoning of an autistic mind.

Reactions: This is my second encounter with The Curious Incident, the first of which was the straight-play adaptation put on at The National Theatre in London with which I introduced my mother to the unparalleled theatre culture in London for the first time in March 2016. I will say that as effective as this book is, the play adaptation was spectacularly successful in illustrating the visual, linear deductive reasoning that Christopher often follows to reach conclusions through an exceptionally creative use of the set.

It is often difficult to relate to people who think differently that us. This is universally true of humans, and this is the statement which Haddon attacks in The Curious Incident. By placing the reader squarely within Christopher's mind, Haddon allows his reader insider access to all his thought processes which, while perhaps not the most common outlooks, nonetheless stem from an attentive and reasonable examination of the world. Suddenly Christopher is transformed from obstinate, hysterical, and incomprehensible, to logical, brave, and, above all, human.

Read if: you wish for insight into the thought process of a cognitively unique individual.