The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

Collapsing upon crisp sheets with a good book in hand on a breezy afternoon when the sun is too hot to bear, may be one of my favorite feelings of summer. I started reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, in the very beginning of summer, savoring the relaxation and leisure of reading on my own time. I took it with me to the pool where I would lie out in the sun and read a few chapters but mostly I just liked to sprawl out in my bed and read to my heart’s content. I read the book in about a week, reading for sometimes longer periods of time when the story was too good to put down. To be able to just lie down and flip open a book with all the time in the world is somehow greatly satisfying. Whoever thought of sitting in a chair to read has apparently never experienced the gratification of reading on a freshly made bed on a beautiful summer day.

Christopher John Francis Boone is a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome. He is extremely smart, his brain functioning solely in logical sequence. Christopher is a mathematical savant, highly observant, and he has a photographic memory. He can recite every prime number up to 7,057 and knows every country and its capital city. Despite his high intelligence, he is unable to understand human behavior such as emotion and relationships. In this sense he identifies with animals more because they are much simpler. He cannot recognize feelings or facial expressions beyond “happy” or “sad.” He is very organized and likes facts and making lists. Often when he is frightened or angry he closes his eyes, rocks back and forth, groaning, and lists off prime numbers in his head to calm himself down. He does not understand metaphors and jokes; Christopher cannot distinguish the further meaning in metaphors because they just aren’t true. He is unable to lie although often he doesn’t give the complete truth and is aware that he is telling a white lie. Christopher is afraid of anything new, especially strangers and new places because he doesn’t have a picture in his head of what lies ahead of him; it is just blank. He is overly sensitive to things he doesn’t like or situations he is uncomfortable in and will often react impulsively and violently by either hitting anyone who touches him or screaming uncontrollably.