Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 2003.
It doesn't happen often. In fact, it almost never happens. I've encountered a book that I cannot ever see myself finishing. Now, I do not always finish the books that I start for a number of reasons. Usually:
- I get distracted by something,
- Life in general gets busy and I have no time for reading, or
- The planets are not aligned for this sort of book and and I put it aside
Sometimes though, rarely, I run up against a book that I just can't finish and I know from the outset, I'm never going to be able to finish it. Usually there's a combination of reasons, often having to do with the writing and sometimes the story. I've read some wretchedly written books and enjoyed them because of the story. This is the first time when I've run up against a character I can't handle, but can acknowledge that the writing itself is quite good.
The premise of the book revolves around an autistic narrator named Christopher Boone. Christopher discovers his neighbor's dog murdered and then sets out to solve the mystery. The novel is written in journal form from Christopher's point of view. Herein lies the problem. I work with asperger and autistic kids. Now, I don't know how they think. Who could possible know what's going on in the mind of autistic kid? However, I can't buy what Haddon portrays. Everything I do know about these kids says, 'no way.' It's a case of my job interfering with my hobby.
Sorry, Mr. Haddon, I just can't do it.
However, for those of you out there not occupationally crippled, give it a try. The voice is well written and engaging. For as far as I got, it was also consistant. Haddon also created a very real feeling family and world around Christopher. So, good luck. Someone let me know how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment