Scan barcode
A review by oashackelford
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
3.0
Christopher isn't like the other kids at his school. He is interested in detecting and solving the mystery of who killed Wellington, his neighbor's dog. He is also good at Maths and Science. But Christopher struggles with the other parts of life, like what people's faces mean, and having too many people in a room all at once, with all of the noise and movement that comes with that. This book gives insight into Christopher's life, the struggles that he deals with, and the things that he does to overcome them.
I am not sure how I feel about this book. I picked it up because I thought that it was going to be a mystery, but the book isn't really about the mystery at the beginning. I do think that the book gave good insight to the struggles that someone who is neurodivergent might have, but I don't think that I get the book. I think that the point of the book is that Christopher learns that he can do anything he puts his mind to, and when the book was written I doubt that there was another book like this anywhere, but I feel like maybe we are shown this narrative too often now, and I need more nuance than what this book offers. Like I think that things have shifted from, "I can do hard things despite my differences," to "yes I have differences, but I am still a unique person who is more than my struggles." I think now we are used to hearing from a wider diversity of people and most of us have met neurodivergent people and we know what some of the struggles are, as a opposed to this being an introduction to them, and so we are more used to asking them more about their own interests and who they are as people.
I think this book does help the reader have sympathy for people who struggle communicating in a world that communicates a lot with faces and emotions, rather than just saying what we mean. I do think that especially for high schoolers who might lack sympathy, that this would be an important read.
I am not sure how I feel about this book. I picked it up because I thought that it was going to be a mystery, but the book isn't really about the mystery at the beginning. I do think that the book gave good insight to the struggles that someone who is neurodivergent might have, but I don't think that I get the book. I think that the point of the book is that Christopher learns that he can do anything he puts his mind to, and when the book was written I doubt that there was another book like this anywhere, but I feel like maybe we are shown this narrative too often now, and I need more nuance than what this book offers. Like I think that things have shifted from, "I can do hard things despite my differences," to "yes I have differences, but I am still a unique person who is more than my struggles." I think now we are used to hearing from a wider diversity of people and most of us have met neurodivergent people and we know what some of the struggles are, as a opposed to this being an introduction to them, and so we are more used to asking them more about their own interests and who they are as people.
I think this book does help the reader have sympathy for people who struggle communicating in a world that communicates a lot with faces and emotions, rather than just saying what we mean. I do think that especially for high schoolers who might lack sympathy, that this would be an important read.