Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Plot summary

The novel begins with a scene where Christopher, both the protagonist and the narrator of the novel, finds that neighbor's dog, Wellington, has been killed. He talks about it to Siobhan who is, I suppose, his special-need teacher at school, and she encourages him to write a detective novel about it. So he starts detective work writing a book about it along the way. That book is the one I've read, but, of course, that is the framework the real author, Mark Haddon, has set out.

Christopher is not 'normal' in many ways - I presumed that he is in autistic spectrum although it is never mentioned, and that's probably why he needed a special-need teacher. He dislikes people touching him, regardless of whether it's friendly or hostile, and his parents are no exception. He doesn't understand jokes, sarcasms, and people's facial expressions. He doesn't understand why a smile sometimes could mean something other than happiness when he have been told it to be. There are colors he likes or dislikes so much that it dictates what he eats and what his day will be like entirely. He dislikes going to new places as there are too many things to process - his brain doesn't allow him to let anything slide. Because it needs to process everything, any new places are overwhelming to him. To him it doesn't make sense that people go new places to get rest.

However, his quirks and awkward demeanors are troublesome only to others - he couldn't care less. He processes and reacts to external world in his own way. He only vaguely knows that sometimes people freak out at what he says and how he behaves, without really understanding why.

Yet, his mind is logically sharp, and he has keen interests in numbers. He loves doing math and is very good at it. He likes prime numbers, in particular, so he uses them as the chapter numbers for the novel (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc.). When getting anxious or nervous, he quells his anxieties by solving hard math problems in his head, and the harder the better for that purpose. Throughout the novel, he, occasionally and out of nowhere, threw brainteasers to the readers, and challenges us solve them - for some, I cared to attempt to solve, but largely passed.

While investigating Wellington’s death, Christopher stumbles upon something completely unexpected: his mother is still alive despite his father having told him she died over a heart attack in a hospital a couple of years ago. He discovers letters from his mother addressed to him in dad's room and later finds out that his dad has lied and killed Wellington in anger.

To Christopher, this makes his father a criminal. Feared for his safety, Christopher decides to run away to London and to live with his mother - and he made sure of taking Swiss Army knife with him along Toby, his pet rat. As he has rarely gone outside his neighborhood by himself, this is a great feat to make. He takes a train, ditches a policeman, is almost run over by a train, but marches on and finally arrives at 451c Chapter Road, London NW2 5NG.

His mother, while happy to see him again, struggles dealing with the new situation and once again struggles dealing with him.

Dad comes to London to find Christopher and tries to persuade him to go back to Swindon, where his dad's house is at. But Christopher declines because he doesn't want to live with a criminal. Nevertheless, Christopher wants to go back to Swindon for taking a Level A Math exam. It has been scheduled in a few days, and he needs to go and take it. He insists his Mother that he needs to take the exam, but she refuses as she was busy with the new circumstances. For her, Christopher's request is so-Christopher - no regard for anything else but only for his interest.

But his mother eventually decides to go back to Swindon because living together with Christopher quickly becomes an issue with Roger, her new partner who is also Mrs. Shears' ex-husband. She takes Christopher to his dad's house and decides to stay there for a while. Christopher now wants to take Level A math exam because he is back in Swindon and actually makes it happen.

The story ends with Christopher receiving A in the exam, living with his mother in Swindon, gradually rebuilding trust with his father by agreeing to spend more time together, little by little.

My reflections

I felt various emotions while reading this book. Until the very end, I wasn't able to tell the genre of the novel. Is it a detective novel? Suspense? Thriller? Or a family drama? It seemed swung back and forth. Maybe, it's just one of its kind.

At first, Christopher looked adorable. His rigid thinking, robotic behaviors, and bewilderment toward the world, all looked a little like a toddler being lost, although he is mid-teen. However, I quickly realized while it might look cute, it's no joke. Christopher was emotionally severed from his family, and he couldn't care less about it, while his family did. When he "perceives" that he is facing a dangerous situation - like his "criminal" dad would approach and touch him - he was always ready to wield his Swiss Army saw knife. It didn't matter to him that his dad was the one who fed him and took care of him good.

Christopher's mother had struggled too much dealing with him. It was arduous for her to do any normal activities like shopping with him or feeding him, and she found herself break down too often. His dad, on the other hand, had seemed to find a better way to get along with him. While he also falls apart with Christopher's eccentricity occasionally, he seemed to understand Christopher better and have more patience. Having gone through and observed this for years, Christopher's mom got wondered if it's the best for all for her to leave. She decides her presence is no good for anyone and decides to leave.

Reading the book, I often wondered what I would be like if I were Christopher’s dad or mom. To me, he is someone you can give love to, but who cannot, or perhaps more precisely, does not know how to receive it. In his mind, the world is something to process logically, not something to feel emotionally. For that reason, I honestly wouldn’t know how to treat him, not only as a parent, but even as someone who knows him only peripherally in real life. Could I get along with a person like Christopher, someone who neither reacts to my emotions nor seems to care about them? I doubt it. While I couldn't fully support Christopher’s mother deciding to leave her family, I certainly couldn't blame her either. Living with someone who is completely disconnected emotionally, especially when you are supposed to give care and love no matter what, must be incredibly hard.

Not only is Christopher emotionally awkward, but he is also stubborn and, in a sense, even "arrogant." He thinks very highly of himself, believing he is superior to others in logical thinking, and he does not know how to conceal that pride - or maybe he does not know why he should hide that "fact". He is also remarkably stubborn: he always has a very strong preference in mind for almost everything and pursues his own plans and agenda with no regard to anything else. Again, I do not know how I would deal with such a person.

Among the characters in the novel, I was most interested in Siobhan. Siobhan, the special-need teacher, seemed to understand Christopher better than anyone, and thus, to be the best person to give guidance to him - Christopher did listen to her. I wished the author revealed a bit more about her background. I imagined that she might have had similar traits to Christopher's in the past, and had overcome them to the extent that she could guide others dealing with similar issues. So, in a sense, Siobhan could serve as a future path for Christopher. Or not. I don't know. Maybe it's better off for Christopher to do math-related and independent work for life.

Closing the book, I appreciated the chance to reflect on what “normal” really means. What are the implicit 'norms' we hold to qualify our family members, friends, or even humans. When you think about it, it's all relative. Yet we often lose that perspective as we are busy dealing with "normal" people because there are enough of them. But after all, aren't we all somewhere on "the spectrum"?