Fiction Review
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
By Mark Haddon
Vintage Contemporaries 226 pp. c.2004
Reviewed by David Goodman
The recent passing of French film director Philippe de Broca brings to mind
how tricky the handling of mental illness in art can be. Mr. de Broca's 1966
masterpiece Le Roi de Coeur ("The King of Hearts"), along with another, more
popular 1988 film, "Rain Man", (directed by Barry Levinson) have something in
common with the new first novel of British writer Mark Haddon, "The Curious
Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time". All pieces juxtapose the conditions of
their emotionally ill protagonist with the selfish, ill-mannered behavior of the
so-called "normal" people around them. The normals don't fair well either.
In "The Curious Incident", we meet Christopher Boone, a 15 year old autistic
savant. When a neighbor's dog is murdered, Christopher decides to play
detective, and find the murderer. One can see problems with this immediately, and Mr.
Haddon handles them quite well. Christopher's condition, though not mentioned
in the book, is Asperger syndrome. He is brilliant is some specialized areas,
such at mathematics in this case, though he has difficulty relating to other
people. Even detectives need a bit of charm, and Christopher finds himself in
jail, within the first few pages. It is to Mr. Haddon's credit that his
narrative, told from Christopher's perspective, is realistic to the point of being
disturbing. Living with such people can be a challenge, and Christopher's
parents show the battle scars that come in dealing with him.
As if solving a murder mystery isn't enough angst for a 15 year old
emotionally challenged adolescent, Christopher comes from a highly dysfunctional
family. Enough said on the subject... any more might spoil the story for future
readers.
The first half of the story has Christopher casing the block he lives on (he
would not want to venture any further beyond his block... under normal
circumstances). Christopher is very well versed in detective literature, and knows
just what Sherlock Holmes would do under similar circumstances. (The title of
the book is taken from an Arthur Conan Doyle story "Silver Blaze") His father
discovers Christopher's sleuthing, and rightly forbids him to continue. This
edict is promptly ignored. Whether it is due to Christopher's condition, or just
plain stubbornness on his part, it is his persistence in finding answers that
leads him to some profound truths.
Around midway through the novel, there is a plot twist.. and you will not be
able to put the book down, once this occurs. Be warned, you may not be able to
exhale either... until you finish the book. It is in the last part of the
story that Mark Haddon demonstrates his skill as a conveyer of the emotional
lives of the mentally ill. And the comparison of Christopher's behavior with that
of the adults in the story puts much into perspective. Christopher has his own
agenda for his life, much of it realistic, which is challenged by the
difficulties of the adults around him.
This was a story that stayed with me long after the last page was turned. I
found myself trying to resolve issues that were posed by the writer; and this
is great praise for how the story was structured and how the plot was executed.
