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

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This is a strange book. From what its protagonist, Christopher, says about himself, it sounds like he’s somewhere on the autism scale. Once confronted with criticism about how he portrays Christopher, the author, Haddon, (from now on: The Weasel) takes the easiest possible way out:

“2) curious incident is not a book about asperger’s. it’s a novel whose central character describes himself as ‘a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties’. indeed he never uses the words ‘asperger’s’ or ‘autism’ (i slightly regret that fact that the word ‘asperger’s’ was used on the cover). if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. it’s as much a novel about us as it is about christopher.”

That’s from The Weasel’s now-defunct blog but – thanks to Wayback Machine – you can find it here: http://web.archive.org/web/2018082508…

“Asperger’s” is on the cover but it’s not what the book is about. Ooookaaayyy…

But, hey, at least to The Weasel, he has a good reason for this. From the same site:

“1) i know very little about the subject. i did no research for curious incident (other than photographing the interiors of swindon and paddington stations). […] imagination always trumps research.”
(Emphasis by me!)

“imagination always trumps research” – so, yes, The Weasel just pulled something from his arse and put it on (e)paper.

There is a lot I could say about the demerits of this book but I’ll leave it to someone who actually seems to be an expert on the subject matter:

http://disabilityinkidlit.com/2015/04…

Read that article, not this book.






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