Having primarily dealt in children’s books, Mark Haddon’s debut novel, which was immediately adapted into a hit Broadway play, came as a bit of a surprise. Unless, of course, you’ve read the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. One of the most interesting and provocative books of this day, Haddon writes a tale that doesn’t follow any particular genre. At times, it’s sad and emotional, exploring the mind of its young, autistic protagonist. At other times, it’s charming and brilliantly funny, using the logic-based view of the hero to make witty observations of the world.
At the start, the book presents itself as a mystery novel, about a boy’s search to find the killer of his neighbor’s dog. As the novel unfolds, however, it reveals itself as a unique coming-of-age novel about a boy with a mental condition and the challenges his parents face while raising him.
It’s hard not to love Christopher, the narrator and protagonist. He is hilariously blunt and far smarter than the average fifteen-year-old. It’s also hard not to feel a twinge of pity for this kid when you have such an honest insight into his mind. He describes things factually, but this makes it even more emotional for the reader because what he sees as normal is far from what average people face in their everyday lives. For example, because Christopher hates the color yellow, when he sees four yellow cars in a row on the way to school, that day is a Black Day. On Black Days, he doesn’t speak to anyone for the whole afternoon, instead sitting in the corner of the library, groaning, with his head pressed into the joint between two walls to calm himself down.
Christopher’s dad is also easy to sympathize with, although the reader may not face the distinctive challenges he has to overcome as a parent. It’s obvious that he tries his hardest to patiently care for his son, even when Christopher presents struggles where most kids don’t. He loves his son and asks whether Christopher understands this. To this, Christopher replies he does because “loving someone is helping them when they get in trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and Father looks after me when I get into trouble, like coming to the police station, and he looks after me by cooking meals for me, and he always tells me the truth, which means that he loves me.”
While most authors lack the experience and knowledge to write from the perspective of an autistic child, Haddon is highly qualified to write such a novel. Shortly after graduating college, he worked with autistic individuals. The experiences he gained from this gave him insight and compassion toward those with this mental condition. He warns, however, not to treat his novel like a textbook towards treating those with behavioral issues.
@ChronyArts