Fourteen year-old Brenna McIntosh, a student at Great Cornard Upper School in Suffolk, wrote this review for a class competition – and we think you’ll agree she’s a worthy winner…

There is much written about autism as a clinical disorder, but very little narrative exists from through the eyes of a person with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon introduces us to this world through his character, fifteen year old Christopher Boone. Part detective story and part documentary on the autistic condition, this book blurs the boundaries of fiction and actual experience in a way which is both interesting and engaging.

From the outset we are aware of Christopher’s world of facts:

I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds on the dog and I do not think that you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died.

His description is without emotion or horror. It is just something that he has seen. From this point on, Christopher begins to embody his detective companion Sherlock Holmes through a systematic and logical approach to solving the crime. Not by choice, it is the only way he knows how. However, this is not the only trail that Christopher follows. In a twist of fate towards the end of the book he finds himself following a much more personal lead through an accidental discovery.

The strengths of this book are in the ways that Haddon lays out a narrative which draws on Christopher’s logical mind to work out the problems that he is confronted with. This is illustrated with lots of mind maps, geographical maps, and mathematical calculations that serve to portray the nature of his condition and act as clues for the reader. A further strength is the writer’s ability to keep the reader detached from the character in a way that an autistic person is detached from their surroundings. It feels like standing the other side of a window looking in to his world, even at poignant moments, such as when he decides he does not want to see his father:

And that’s why I have to go back to Swindon. Except I don’t want to see father so I have to go back to Swindon with you.

It is hard to be emotionally drawn in to his circumstances.

However the factual emphasis of the text can sometimes be somewhat overwhelming. It may serve as a necessary element of the experience of autism, but as a reader of fiction it is also very draining. For instance, the description of how Christopher sees adverts while walking around the London Underground is at first interesting, but the extent of it becomes wearing to the reader; as an example ‘essnQuinreplek4shSiasesup’ is an extract taken from a full page of similar text. While useful as an illustration I personally just skipped some of it as it lost its original intention.

Overall, though it is in reality not possible to get into the autistic consciousness, Haddon has used what is known about autism well to create his characters. Though I described the book as part detective story, it is mainly used as a vehicle to create the character Christopher and the world as seen through his eyes. As someone new to the world of autism this was an interesting book, through which I learned a lot. It also works well as a story in its own right and can be related to because it is not just a work of fantasy but is grounded in the real world. Whether you simply enjoy good fiction or feel the need to get more from your reading, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time serves both purposes equally well.

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