The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Front cover of first edition
(quote from Ian McEwan) |
|
| Author | Mark Haddon |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Mystery novel |
| Publisher |
Jonathan Cape (UK) Doubleday (US) Anchor Canada (Canada) |
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Publication date
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May 2003 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 226 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 59267481 |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title quotes the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story "Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.
The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Christopher's condition is not stated, the book's blurb refers to Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome. In July 2009, Haddon wrote on his blog that "Curious Incident is not a book about Asperger's....if anything it's a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The book is not specifically about any specific disorder," and that he, Haddon, is not an expert on autism spectrum disorder or Asperger syndrome.
The book is dedicated to Sos Eltis, Haddon's wife, with thanks to Kathryn Heyman, Clare Alexander, Kate Shaw and Dave Cohen.
The book uses prime numbers to number the chapters, rather than the conventional successive numbers.
Christopher, a fifteen-year-old boy with an autism spectrum condition, lives with his father, who has told him that his mother, Judy, died two years ago. The boy discovers the dead body of the neighbour's dog, Wellington, speared by a garden fork. Mrs Shears, the dog's owner, calls the police, and Christopher comes under suspicion. When a policeman touches him, he hits the policeman, and is arrested, then released with a police caution. He decides to investigate the dog's death, despite his father's orders to stay out of other people's business. He is severely limited by his fears and difficulties when interpreting the world around him. Throughout his adventures, Christopher records his experiences in a book, which he calls a "murder mystery novel". During his investigation, Christopher meets people whom he has never before encountered, even though they live on the same street, including the elderly Mrs Alexander, who informs Christopher that his mother had an affair with Mr Shears and had been with him for a long time.
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