February 2005

The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time


by Mark Haddon

March 20, 2005

Green-Eyed Grrl and DS on CIDN

My sixteen-year-old son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at age two, when we took him to a doctor to discuss his newly discovered (by us) ability to read. Soon thereafter his diagnosis was changed to “high-functioning autism,” which is by no means a standard of any sort, and at best a very relative term to describe a person with autism who is more capable of social communication and less disabled by his unusual brain structure. More than what? Less than what? These distinctions are unclear.

More recently, high-functioning autism is lumped together with Asperger’s syndrome for diagnostic purposes. The more I study the two the less I believe they differ in any substantial way. However, for many parents, a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome is more palatable than a diagnosis of autism, as for years autism has been characterized as a totally debilitating affliction (which ain’t necessarily so).

I asked my son to answer the following questions about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Here’s what an autistic teenager has to say about the book and specifically about Christopher, the (unlabeled) protagonist of the story.

Continue reading "Green-Eyed Grrl and DS on CIDN"

Posted by Laurie at 02:13 PM | Comments (12)

February 28, 2005

Book Discussion Begins!

Welcome to our discussion of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

I’ve added an RSS feed for comments, so it’s easier to follow the discussion. Also, feel free to post your own entry if you feel the need to go off on a tangent! All discussions are welcome.

I’ll start off by saying that I’m probably the only person in the world who didn’t enjoy this book. I am a writer, and I teach creative writing, so first and foremost when I read a book I read it from a writerly perspective – which means I read it for craft. Craft elements in creative writing include a story’s structure, characterization, point of view (who’s perspective the story is told from), description, voice, tone, etc. I teach my students all the time that writing a story is like cooking – it’s all about getting the right balance of ingredients. If you need a little salt, or have too much salt, the meal will not be satisfying – same goes for books.

In the case of The Curious Incident, I think the problem I had was with the point of view. Although I’m really not sure it would work any other way, by telling the story from Christopher’s first-person point of view (first person meaning I or we), the author must write as if with blinders on – we can only know what Christopher sees, feels, thinks etc. The first person point of view is also the most unreliable narrator in fiction – because we are so locked in to one, very narrow perspective – it’s often unclear whether the world we’re seeing is real or what the narrator is feeding us.

Continue reading "Book Discussion Begins!"

Posted by Knit One Read Too at 12:24 AM | Comments (42)

February 25, 2005

What an interesting book...

Hi all-

A little too excited to wait until Monday to post how I feel so far about this book... it is different from what I am used to reading. I have to admit I was put off at the beginning but the more I got to know Christopher the more I began to enjoy the book. It is a quick read and I cannot wait to talk with everyone about it.

Happy Reading...
Amanda

Posted by Amanda at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2005

Can't Wait

Our county library system in North Carolina has picked this book for the yearlong "read-along" program. I can get double duty out of this book!

Judy
www.knottyneedle.blogspot.com

Posted by Judy H. at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

Discussion begins February 28th

But in the meantime, here's an interview with the debut author, Mark Haddon.

Posted by Knit One Read Too at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)