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The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time by Mark Haddon, reviewed by Scott W.

Mark Haddon delivers a magnificent story about a fifteen year old boy’s quest to solve the many questions surrounding his life. In The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time, we get to know a young boy who wishes to find answers and happiness. As the story progresses and Christopher goes deeper into his journey, the reader establishes a connection towards the book and a connection towards life.

Christopher John Francis Boone is an autistic child who lives with his father because he was told that his mother died when he was younger. Christopher was outside of his home just after midnight when he discovered a horrific event. He saw Wellington, a neighbor’s dog, dead with a garden fork going through its body. As the murderer left the crime scene, Christopher took on the challenge of finding out who killed Wellington. He put his clues into a book and chose to write a story about this situation. Solving this mystery was a difficult task for Christopher because his father told him to stay out of other people’s business. Even after being told what to do, Christopher continued to search for the murderer. While solving this mystery Christopher learns to take risks and he finds out about his true childhood.

This novel displays that one can accomplish their goals if they set their mind to it. Also, this novel illustrates how an autistic child thinks and sees the world. Mark Haddon includes many twists and turns in this book. The author uses a lot of commentary which makes the novel flow much better. Haddon uses descriptions and imagery to make the novel easier to comprehend.

Author Mark Haddon often goes off topic through the duration of the book. At times, he produces many irrelevant and boring facts. Sometimes after a big scene takes place the author does not continue with the event until the following chapter. The book has many events going on at once which may confuse some readers.

Overall, this book deserves five stars. The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time is a great novel and offers a different view of life from an autistic character's point of view. The never say die attitude throughout the novel displays that you can never give up. This novel will make readers appreciate life more than they have ever appreciated life before.