Mark Haddon

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

a novel

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time

joana ashley

And this is why people's brains are like computers. And it's not because they are special but because they have to keep turning off for fractions of a second while the screen changes. And because there is something they can't see people think it has to be special, because people always think there is something special about what they can't see, like the dark side of the moon, or the other side of a black hole, or in the dark when they wake up at night and they're scared.

Also people think they're not computers because they have feelings and computers don't have feelings. But feelings are just having a picture on the screen in your head of what is going to happen tomorrow or next year, or what might have happened instead of what did happen, and if it is a happy picture they smile and if it is a sad picture they cry.

Jillian Roberts

He said that it was very difficult to become an astronaut. I said that I knew. You had to take lots of orders and be prepared to kill other human beings, and I couldn’t take orders.

Simon Stephens

This schools' edition of Mark Haddon's multi-award-winning novel adapted for the stage of the National Theatre by Simon Stephens is perfect for Key Stages 3 and 4. Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, but he is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But Christopher's detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that turns his world upside-down. This educational edition in Methuen Drama's Critical Scripts series has been prepared by national Drama in Secondary English experts Ruth Moore and Paul Bunyan. Building on a decade of highly effective work and publications endorsed by national organisations and supported by teachers and consultants across Britain, each book in the series: meets the requirements at KS3 and GCSE features detailed, structured schemes of work utilising drama approaches to improve literary and language analysis places pupils' understanding of the learning process at the heart of the activities will help pupils to boost English GCSE success and develop high-level skills at KS3 will save teachers considerable time devising their own resources. Simon Stephens's adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestselling, award-winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time offers a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.

The Play

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

i thought this was well written and unique. living through the eyes of this character was honestly quite stressful

nattie!

Supergute Tage oder Die sonderbare Welt des Christopher Boone

It was acceptable but totally not my thing. The maths and aggression (the knives?)was not my kind of stuff I read but I like how he explains his kind of view towards the world. 

Nina May

El Curioso Incidente Del Perro A Medianoche

Natalia Cerrillo

This was a fun read in the sense that the voice in this novel is so unique. Christopher, our protagonist and author of said mystery book, writes with algebraic metaphors and run-on sentences you have to chase to follow. He’s less flowery, more blunt. He has a near perfect memory and is a keen observer. He operates his day-to-day life based on a set list of rules for himself - good days are determined by the number of red cars he sees on the street, affection is shown by touching hands with fingers fanned out as if separated by glass. He ignores the things people say that he does not understand and keeps pushing for answers to his questions. He’s frankly self-centered and seems to give his parents a difficult time, to which he describes but doesn’t seem to understand, as he seems to get overwhelmed and overstimulated by anything more outside of his set routine and his own mind. 

I think the beauty of this book comes to the forefront when one focuses on this young boy with a whole world of challenges stacked against him and the courage and stubbornness he invokes as he embarks on his journey in spite of it all. The magic in his love for math and physics and how he understands life through this perspective is prevalent.

This was a fun read in the sense that the voice in this novel is so unique. Christopher, our protagonist and author of said mystery book, writes with algebraic metaphors and run-on sentences you have to chase to follow. He’s less flowery, more blunt. He has a near perfect memory and is a keen observer. He operates his day-to-day life based on a set list of rules for himself - good days are determined by the number of red cars he sees on the street, affection is shown by touching hands with fingers fanned out as if separated by glass. He ignores the things people say that he does not understand and keeps pushing for answers to his questions. He’s frankly self-centered and seems to give his parents a difficult time, to which he describes but doesn’t seem to understand, as he seems to get overwhelmed and overstimulated by anything more outside of his set routine and his own mind. 

I think the beauty of this book comes to the forefront when one focuses on this young boy with a whole world of challenges stacked against him and the courage and stubbornness he invokes as he embarks on his journey in spite of it all. The magic in his love for math and physics and how he understands life through this perspective is prevalent.

Patrick Book

I would not have expected a book if this nature told from this perspective to be as readable as this was. Remarkably done.

The plot was very interesting and seeing his mind wandering was too, but the ending feels so rushed.

Romy

'Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them' This is Christopher's murder mystery story. There are also no lies in this story because Christopher can't tell lies. Christopher does not like strangers or the colours yellow or brown or being touched. On the other hand, he knows all the countries in the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7507. When Christopher decides to find out who killed the neighbour's dog, his mystery story becomes more complicated than he could have ever predicted. BACKSTORY: Meet the author and learn about the background to Christopher's story.

Vintage Children's Classics

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

            I have a notebook to keep track of the books I am going to check out from the library (I get ebooks from the library, they are so much more portable!) that is insanely long.  I have to put a hold on most of them, and I read them as they come up in my queue because they disappear from my kindle as soon as the loan is up.  I also have a physical TBR shelf.  While the physical shelf doesn’t contain anywhere near as many titles, it’s still a pretty hefty number of books.  In an effort to take the pain away from having to decide what to read next, I keep them in a sort of “line,” though I do add the new Book of the Month Club titles toward the front.  It takes me longer to get through the physical TBRs because they don’t have a due date.  I believe I received this book from my dad over Christmas in 2022 (I’m not positive it came from my dad, and I haven’t yet asked him), so that gives you an idea how long it takes me to get to the books on the physical TBR.

            I feel pretty lucky that I come from a family of readers.  Both parents and most of my siblings love to read and I do believe that came from the modeling we received from our parents (collectively, there’s a variety of parents involved), and the teachers we had growing up who stressed the importance of literacy but rarely forced us to read books we really didn’t want to.  My mom loved Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald, my dad loved science fiction (and probably other things, but for whatever reason, we never talk about the books we read).  I hate all of those things (though I did enjoy The Great Gatsby).  All of my siblings managed to find vastly different books they enjoyed, again, genres I typically don’t love.  Fantasy, science fiction, pretentious nonfiction (I’m talking about you, Nathan)…I don’t find any of those particularly enjoyable (you’ll notice, however, I keep reading them, hoping to find another Andy Weir out there somewhere).  I had no idea what I was getting into when I started it, but upon finishing, it seemed a tad out of character for my dad. 

            This book was written from the point of view of a young man who is on the Autism spectrum.  He is incredibly intelligent yet socially he struggles.  The book begins with the death of his neighbor’s dog, and Christopher became determined to find the culprit.  Along the way, he discovers new truths that unravel the world his father had carefully built for him. 

            I did some digging on Mark Haddon, and discovered he is not, in fact, Autistic.  He has worked with children along the spectrum for quite some time, which gave him some insight into their worlds.  What blew my mind was how Haddon seemed to have dived into the mind of somebody who does exist on that spectrum, and while we might never know with 100% accuracy exactly how that mind works, Haddon was extremely convincing.  We, as outsiders, only have the opportunity to observe, but Haddon brought this type of thought process alive.  It was completely amazing…and that’s downplaying how well this book is written. 

            This book is less about the dog, though we do eventually find out who forked the canine to its end.  It’s more about how a young man on the spectrum navigates the world, and how the people who love him do it with a ferocity that those of us with neuro typical children might never know.  This book is eye-opening, heartbreaking, and exceptionally poignant.  I highly recommend setting some time aside to read this one. 

Kristen Claiborn

            I have a notebook to keep track of the books I am going to check out from the library (I get ebooks from the library, they are so much more portable!) that is insanely long.  I have to put a hold on most of them, and I read them as they come up in my queue because they disappear from my kindle as soon as the loan is up.  I also have a physical TBR shelf.  While the physical shelf doesn’t contain anywhere near as many titles, it’s still a pretty hefty number of books.  In an effort to take the pain away from having to decide what to read next, I keep them in a sort of “line,” though I do add the new Book of the Month Club titles toward the front.  It takes me longer to get through the physical TBRs because they don’t have a due date.  I believe I received this book from my dad over Christmas in 2022 (I’m not positive it came from my dad, and I haven’t yet asked him), so that gives you an idea how long it takes me to get to the books on the physical TBR.

            I feel pretty lucky that I come from a family of readers.  Both parents and most of my siblings love to read and I do believe that came from the modeling we received from our parents (collectively, there’s a variety of parents involved), and the teachers we had growing up who stressed the importance of literacy but rarely forced us to read books we really didn’t want to.  My mom loved Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald, my dad loved science fiction (and probably other things, but for whatever reason, we never talk about the books we read).  I hate all of those things (though I did enjoy The Great Gatsby).  All of my siblings managed to find vastly different books they enjoyed, again, genres I typically don’t love.  Fantasy, science fiction, pretentious nonfiction (I’m talking about you, Nathan)…I don’t find any of those particularly enjoyable (you’ll notice, however, I keep reading them, hoping to find another Andy Weir out there somewhere).  I had no idea what I was getting into when I started it, but upon finishing, it seemed a tad out of character for my dad. 

            This book was written from the point of view of a young man who is on the Autism spectrum.  He is incredibly intelligent yet socially he struggles.  The book begins with the death of his neighbor’s dog, and Christopher became determined to find the culprit.  Along the way, he discovers new truths that unravel the world his father had carefully built for him. 

            I did some digging on Mark Haddon, and discovered he is not, in fact, Autistic.  He has worked with children along the spectrum for quite some time, which gave him some insight into their worlds.  What blew my mind was how Haddon seemed to have dived into the mind of somebody who does exist on that spectrum, and while we might never know with 100% accuracy exactly how that mind works, Haddon was extremely convincing.  We, as outsiders, only have the opportunity to observe, but Haddon brought this type of thought process alive.  It was completely amazing…and that’s downplaying how well this book is written. 

            This book is less about the dog, though we do eventually find out who forked the canine to its end.  It’s more about how a young man on the spectrum navigates the world, and how the people who love him do it with a ferocity that those of us with neuro typical children might never know.  This book is eye-opening, heartbreaking, and exceptionally poignant.  I highly recommend setting some time aside to read this one. 

'The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.' 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 and has Asperger's, a form of autism. 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. Christopher is a brilliant creation, and Mark Haddon's depiction of his world is deeply moving, very funny and utterly convincing. The novel is being published simultaneously for adults by Jonathan Cape and for children by David Fickling, publisher of Philip Pullman. We are convinced that both audiences will recognise it as one of those very rare books that change the way you see everything.

anna

It's taken me so long to read this book because I had to read it for my English class and so I followed the class' otherwise I'd forget most of it whenever we talked about it so yeah.
But I did really like this book. I'd heard about it for years and I was pleased when I knew we'd be reading this book. I found so interesting how Christopher mind's worked, I had never read a book with a character that had Asperger Syndrome. And actually, I could relate to some of the things he does/thinks because of my social anxiety; I know it's not the same at all but I still did find that some things were the same for me.

I like that you can see how Christopher develops during the story, how he grows. That despite his condition he still has some goals and will achieve them no matter what. It's also interesting to see the parents relationship and everything. And as my teacher told us, we shouldn't judge them so harshly (especially the mother). Because she knows first hand, his son has Asperger, that most parents with childs like Christopher do not stay together; she and her husband do though.

Overall, I think it's such an easy and light read, I'd recommend it to everyone.

Sarah Sammis

I enjoyed the book and the many mathematical asides. I often had my husband reading over my shoulder because he enjoyed all the diagrams and math bits too. I'll probably have to get a copy of this book for him. I think that people who have enjoyed the Georgia Nicholson series (Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, et al) will enjoy this book too.

Having thought about what to write for this review over night I've come to the conclusion that Christopher got the short end of the stick with his parents. I don't want to say to much to give anything away but the motives of both his parents and their tempers make them no different than Christopher, except that they haven't been "diagnosed" with anything disorder.

𓆨

umm soo i'm the only "uncool" autistic in the whole world

sash.

D D D 

a charming, heart-wrenching mystery! had to skim all the math stuff because i’m stupid

Deepika Ramesh

“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.”

Read this with only one break for dinner. What a great book!! 

shadee

read this about 5 months ago and remember i finished this in less than a day because of how i was so intrigued !!!!

i still think about this book. the story was so original and the way it was told blew my mind from the start !

give it a try and read it!

atlantisli

Güzel başlayan ama sonu ile beni çok tatmin etmeyen bir kitap oldu. Karakterimiz Christopher 15 yaşında otizmli bir çocuk. Kitabı onun gözünden okuyoruz. Otizm ile ilgili daha önce hiç kitap okumadığım için tür içinde karşılaştırma yapamayacağım ancak ben faydalı buldum. Düşünme biçimlerini ve bakış açılarını yazar bence iyi yansıtmış. Bazı sahneler daha kısa kesilebilirdi ve sonu daha iyi bağlanabilirdi bence. Yine de güzel, okumaktan keyif aldığım bir kitap oldu.

Maelys

Such an emotional read : it is difficult not to sympathize with Christopher in this detective novel / bildungsroman. Although I did not really like the ending, I couldn’t put it down and I enjoyed being amused, sad, questioned and terrified all at once along with the young hero. A really interesting plunge into autism.

Gwyn Dill

A very uniquely told "mystery" novel. Well - half of the book is a mystery. It's mainly a glimpse of life as a teen with special needs (possibly with severe autism?) The book is told through his eyes and it is very interesting how he sees the world around him.

Pepper

A very thought provoking book written from the point of view of an autistic child.

New worst book I've ever read just dropped. No more neurotypical people writing neurodivergent characters challenge (impossible). The reviews say things like "compulsory reading for anyone with even a slight interest in autism spectrum disorders," and apparently this book was ranked as a top 5 happy ending. Happy ending compared to what??? Lenny being shot at the end of Of Mice and Men??? The disdain the author clearly has for autistic people despite having worked with autistic children is clearly evident throughout the book. I'd much rather read something written by someone who's actually fucking autistic. Fuck this book, and fuck this author.

Jonnie

Daymaris Arca

I’m sure it’ll probably get better. But I don’t have the patience rn
DNFing

even though i read this in school in yr7 i still think the writing would be better for a younger audience however i did enjoy the theatre version 

connie charnock 

Lamia Hajani

I really liked it until the end. I felt it tied itself up as a children's book by the end.

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time a novel

Reviews

Highlights