« January 2005 | Main | March 2005 »
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.
For me, the plot began to feel very contrived – which I think is a symptom of such a limited point of view. Not only is the first person point of view intrinsically limited, but Christopher’s Asperger’s is further limiting. By trying to tell Christopher’s story, Haddon must rely on all the other characters for Christopher’s emotional life. But these characters do not feel organic to the story – they feel like they are there only to move the plot along.
It starts with the dog dying. The entire story, finally, is about Christopher’s mother leaving the family – but in order to get to that the dog has to die, and Christopher has to decide to find out who killed the dog. Along the way he moves farther and farther out of his comfort zone in order to solve the mystery. The idea that his father would have take a pitchfork to the neighbor’s dog is wholly unbelievable to me. All I’ve seen of the father is someone who tries his very best to take care of his son, albeit with flaws. I know NOTHING other than what I know from Christopher about his father – or any of the other characters. Therefore, I have no reason to believe that he would’ve killed the dog – honestly, I don’t have any reason to believe anything. The character of Siobhan feels like she’s there only to give Christopher (and us) a moral ground. She’s constantly telling Christopher everything’s okay and that he can talk to her if he feels bad. The older neighbor only appears on the page to tell us that Christopher’s mother isn’t dead. Even the mother herself is something of a caricature – we never know, really, why she left the family. And when Christopher didn’t answer any of her letters – she didn’t think once to come out and find out why? Or even call?
I may be all wrong on this – maybe it’s the inherent nature of Asperger’s that Christopher can only tell us so much about his emotional life – and he certainly can’t tell us the emotional life of anyone else. But I still couldn’t help but feel manipulated by the plot. I never really felt a connection to any of the characters – mainly because I never really felt like I knew any of them. The most important part of story is CONFLICT. There really can’t be a story without it. And while Christopher certainly has a conflict – to find out who killed the dog – I felt like the story was never driven by motivation, and in the end, the story left me unsatisfied. There wasn’t enough on the page, for me, to make a deeper connection to the characters.
I’d love to hear what you think about this – especially if you don’t agree.
Here, too, are some more discussion questions (taken from the publisher’s reading group guide) to get us started:
1. How do you think this novel bridges the gap between literature for adults and children?
2. What do you think Haddon's illustrations add to the story and to our understanding of Christopher's character?
3. Although seemingly ill equipped as the narrator of a book, Christopher's character succeeds in eliciting a wide range of emotions in the reader. How do you think Haddon uses his protagonists voice to touch his audience in such a way?
4. Discuss the relationship between father and son in the novel. How well do you think Christopher's father copes with his son's condition?
5. The author has used his extensive knowledge of Asperger's syndrome to allow us to see the world through Christopher's eyes, how do you think the story further enhances our attachment to the character and our enjoyment of the book in general?
6. How far do you think the author has used Christopher's alienating condition to expose intricate truths about our modern lives? Do you think this was his intention in Christopher's exposure of his parent's secret?
And here are some links of interest:
Reading group guide from the Random House, the book's publisher.
An interview with Mark Haddon on Powell's.
Information on Asperger's Disorder from Yale Medical School.
I invite you all to join in!
Best,
Cara
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)