the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Title of Book : the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Author : Mark Haddon

About the Book : Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the colour yellow.

Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, fifteen-year-old Christopher is autistic and everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. He lives on pattens, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbour's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructed universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.

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This is a rather good read, I think. The author himself worked with autistic individuals, as a young man and he leads us to understand autistism better with a pretty realistic story as a background. I also quite like the "soft-touch" or "soft-element" in the book, where the author describes the struggle between Christopher's parents. Yes, Christopher's parents love him very much and yet the emotional struggle can be so real.

By the way, the book is a "Whitbread Award Winner". Don't play play eh..