Christopher knows all the prime numbers up to 7,057. Although he is highly intelligent in math and knows all the countries of the world and their capitals, he is autistic. One night, he can't sleep, and decides to go for a walk. He stumbles upon Wellington, his neighbor's dog, dead with a pitchfork through it. A fan of Sherlock Holmes, Christopher decides to do some detective work, which his father disapproves of. What he uncovers is more than even a "normal" person could handle.
Mark Haddon's book, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, is one I couldn't put down. Written from Christopher's (a fifteen-year-old with autism) point-of-view, I feel as if I crawled inside his mind and lived his life for a few days. This book gave me an insight into the mind of an autistic person.
If you aren't a fan of books that are different, you might find this a difficult read. It doesn't follow the typical rules of writing because it is written from someone who is autistic. When I began reading, I wasn't sure I liked it. I felt that the book was very disorganized and jumped from place to place. I had to keep reminding myself that the 'writer' was autistic, and that was how it was going to be. I disliked this book from the beginning, but couldn't put it down. Now that I'm finished, I would read it again.
If you're looking for something different, this is the book for you, as long as you are patient and can handle variations in the 'laws' of writing. It does contain foul language, such as the 'f' word and "Jesus Christ"(several times), as it is a secular book. I would not recommend this book if such language would offend you (as I was) or if you are critical of literature.
