The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
When this book was released in 2003, it collected various awards and before long became an international best-seller. The odd thing is, within the pages of the book, Haddon never mentioned that the character has Asperger’s Syndrome or autism. That information is contained in the dust jacket of the book, and is widely accepted as the explanation behind the main character’s behavior and thought patterns. Supposedly, Haddon himself gets a bit cranky when people make a big deal about it or ask him to speak on autism or complain about inaccuracies in the character’s depiction. While I get his point that labels aren’t really important, what is important is to convey the feelings Christopher has about being different, I still must point out “Sir, if you don’t want people to think you’ve written a book about a character with autism, then don’t write a book where most of the signs point to the main character having autism.” That is all.
Christopher is both upset and curious when he find his neighbor’s dog stabbed to death with a garden fork. His efforts to uncover the truth about what happened to Wellington lead to many other discoveries about himself and his own life. Written from Christopher’s perspective and often in a stream of consciousness style, this is engaging, and at the time of publication was quite original. Despite numerous other options when reading about characters with neurological differences, this remains a good read.
NB: Teachers who were hoping to use this in the classroom, please see below and carefully note the extensive use of the f-word. You may want to clear this with the powers that be at your school before you start writing lesson plans.
Due to the language primarily, I would say this should be reserved for mature teens. Most libraries have this filed as adult fiction, but I do think with a teen protagonist that it would be interesting for a ya audience.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Siobhan explains that raising an eyebrow can mean “I want to do sex with you.” Christopher mentions a jacket of his mother’s had a label on the left bosom. Christopher explains Stranger Danger as when a stranger tries to lure you into your car to have sex with him. A man wears a t-shirt that reads “Beer Helping ugly people have sex for over 2,000 years.” Mrs. Shears is divorced but sometimes stays over at Christopher’s house. A parent of Christopher’s had an affair. Sex is mentioned in that context. In talking about The Hound of the Baskervilles Christopher talks about how some of the characters run away to do sex. He finds a porn magazine in his father’s room. A paper has an article titled “Call Girl Shame” and shows a picture of a girl in a bra.
Profanity – “fuck” repeated multiple times, “fucking,” “holy fucking shit” “Christ’s sake,” “shit,” “shitting,” “crap,” “bugger,” “hell,” “bloody,” “for God’s sake,” “spazzer,” “spaz,” “crip,” “mong,” “Jesus Christ,” “arsehole,” “bollocks,” “cunt,” “Jumping Jack Christ” “bastard,” “damn,”
Death, Violence and Gore – The opening of the book contains a detailed description of a dead dog, as well as speculation about its cause of death. Christopher hits a policeman. All possible weapons are removed from his person at the police station. Christopher points out that if the universe explodes people will be burned to death. Christopher names the people in his family who are dead. His mother was taken to the hospital with a heart problem and died two weeks later of a heart attack. A neighbor died of an aneurysm. There’s a detailed description of death and decomposition. There’s also a description of cremation. Christopher once hit someone hard enough to knock her unconscious. He also carries a Swiss army knife which he says is sharp enough to saw off someone’s fingers. Christopher says that if people try to hurt him he can kill them and it will be self-defense. The plot of Hound of the Baskervilles is recounted, and with it all of the death and violence that is in that book: death, throats being torn out. Sometimes his mother hit him. His mother hit his father. When his father grabs him, he doesn’t like it and hits his father hard. His father ends up bleeding and with a ripped shirt. Christopher explains that some people believe in ghosts. Christopher’s favorite dream (and day dream) involves nearly the entire world dying. His pet rat dies.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Christopher says his father sometimes drives after drinking. Christopher does not talk to the next door neighbors because his father says they take drugs. Christopher believes people inject drugs behind the public toilets in the park. His mother smoked.
Frightening or Intense Things – There is a brief mention of a grandmother with senile dementia. Christopher was a difficult child and his mother would say things like “I am seriously considering putting you in a home,” or “You are going to drive me to an early grave.” Christopher’s father asks him “how stupid are you?” There are several other places where his parents say pretty unconscionable things to him. A major plot point of the book is the calculated deception of a child by one of his parents. I’d be happy to explain more (spoiler to your heart’s delight) if you contact me, but don’t want to ruin it for other readers.
Other Considerations: Christopher does not believe in heaven.
