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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Audio CD)
by Mark Haddon
| Category:
Dog murder, Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 268.00
MSL price:
¥ 248.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A fast paced, funny, and poignant novel, that will make readers wonder at all the things they miss when they can't see everything. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 15 items |
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Time (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
Funny, sad and totally convincing. |
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The Economist (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
A detective story with a difference. . . . [Haddon] has given his unlikely hero a convincing voice - and the detective novel an interesting twist. |
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The Washington Post (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
"A murder mystery, a road atlas, a postmodern canvas of modern sensory overload, a coming-of-age journal and lastly a really affecting look at the grainy inconsistency of parental and romantic love and its failures. . . . In this striking first novel, Mark Haddon is both clever and observant, and the effect is vastly affecting."
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The New Yorker (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
This original and affecting novel is a triumph of empathy. |
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Financial Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
Extraordinarily moving, often blackly funny. . . . It is hard to think of anyone who would not be moved and delighted by this book.
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A reader (MSL quote), Euless, TX USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
Mark Haddon presents a completely different perspective of the world through Christopher Boone, a brilliant child coping with an undefined learning disability or mental condition. Despite that, Christopher sees and appreciate life's details that we take for granted. Haddon communicates to his reader through Christopher in subtle ways and causes the reader to reflect on life and relationships. A fascinating and easy read that impacts the reader in ways never imagined. Bravo to Haddon! |
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J. Sutherland (MSL quote), Southport, North Carolina United States
<2007-01-24 00:00>
I've never read anything quite like this. The author has to juggle many things. First of all, he created a great mystery story line. Also he had to tell it from the perspective of an autistic boy. On top of that there's all kinds of probing insights into human nature that the author can make throught the eyes of an autistic. He does all three things flawlessly. This is a really great voice and character that Haddon has given to Christopher. It's also quite a humorous book in some instances. Not laugh-out-loud, but definitely amusing.
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A kid (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a wonderful, thought-provoking work about a boy with a different view of the world. The fifteen-year-old narrator, Christopher, has limited understanding of emotions, takes what people say absolutely literally, tends to block his ears and "do groaning" when he receives too much information from his environment, worries about getting lost in time, and has never been farther than the local store unaccompanied. However, he also has incredible abilities with mathematics, patterns, and visualizations. This makes it all the more interesting when he sets out sleuthing to discover who killed Wellington, the neighbor's dog. But along the way, complicating and enhancing the originally straightforward mystery, Christopher stumbles upon larger issues surrounding his home life, and he embarks upon a mission that one would never expect him to accomplish.
Because of its matter-of-fact, conversational tone, Christopher's voice is extremely strong throughout the book, encouraging a reading more focused on the main character than on the "who-done-it." Christopher tells in simple syntax about his life, thoughts, and experiences. When he describes events, it is plainly and with little apparent emotion, as when he finds and hugs Wellington, who is "leaking blood" out of garden-fork wounds (3). Helped by his movie-like memory, he talks about people and surroundings vividly and meticulously; for example, he identifies a man by the diamond pattern on his socks, and recounts what is written on every sign he sees down a hallway. Mark Haddon introduces the reader to a new way of looking and thinking, opening a window into Christopher's mind while Christopher himself remembers a time when he didn't even realize that other people thought and felt. Ultimately, what makes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time so intriguing is the narrator, not the narrative.
Literature, like many forms of art, serves to capture life and reflect it back to us in some manner. Although the most "accurate" mirrors are strictly factual, other mirrors can be even more insightful, for they redefine life in a way that requires the reader to adjust to differences, to be open to ideas, to look at old things in new ways. This particular novel lets the reader dive into a reality as true as his own, yet one where even a field of cows is no longer just a field of cows. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is fluid and entertaining enough to be enjoyable light reading, but a deeper look really lets one see the world as reflected in Christopher's eyes.
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Darryl Melander (MSL quote), Albuquerque, NM USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
An earlier review says that this book "pales in comparison" to Flowers for Algernon. That reader obviously missed what makes this book great. With all due respect to Daniel Keyes, the messages of Algernon are in-your-face obvious, while The Curious Incident is often more subtle and layered. Everything from the run-on sentences to the nearly random digressions deepen your understanding of Christopher's character and how he sees the world.
I've got a couple of suggestions to help you enjoy this book. First, you've got to accept that the events of the book are nothing more than a context in which to watch Christopher. By the middle of the book the actual plot line has become predictable, but Christopher himself has become an absolutely enthralling character to observe. You often know what's going to happen next, but Christopher's reaction is much harder to guess.
Second, learn a little about autism before you read the book. You are much more likely to pick up on the subtleties that way. From the negative reviews I have read, it's obvious that Christopher's oddities are just plain irritating unless you have some clue as to why he is the way he is. A little background goes a long way toward developing empathy for Christopher.
There are quite a few F-bombs scattered throughout the book. If that's something you care about, consider yourself warned.
The end of the book left me feeling a little unsettled at first, but after I had some time to absorb it I thought it was the perfect ending. Several people's lives have been turned completely upside down, but Christopher honestly believes everything is back to normal and OK again. To Christopher, things have been resolved. It's only the reader who realizes how unresolved and out of balance things still are. I'm sure the author intended for us to have that unsettled feeling.
Overall I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 because it does require a particular frame of mind to enjoy.
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Jeff Horsager (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
The book is narrated in style similar to Holden Caulfield in "A Catcher in the Rye", except the narrator happens to be autistic. Christopher excels in a world of black and white but has great difficulty when dealing with any shade of grey. When he sets out to investigate the death of his neighbor's giant poodle in the spirit of his hero Sherlock Holmes (though he detests Arthur Conan Doyle), the clues lead him straight into the greyest area of all, the world of human relationships and emotion.
Beyond the novelty of consistently telling the story through such a non-standard narrator (which works very well, by the way), the choice to tell the story in this way seems to give even more poignancy to the emotional drama that plays out. Within the world of the novel you may feel that the experience has changed Christopher, which is debatable, but there is little doubt that the story will have a profound effect on the reader.
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1 2 | Total 2 pages 15 items |
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