A review by slanginthepage
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

3.0

“And when the universe has finished exploding all the stars will slow down, like a ball that has been thrown into the air, and they will come to a halt and they will all begin to fall towards the centre of the universe again. And then there will be nothing to stop us seeing all the stars in the world because they will all be moving towards us, gradually faster and faster, and we will know that the world is going to end soon because when we look up into the sky at night there will be no darkness, just the blazing light of billions and billions of stars, all falling.”

This quote in tie with the novel, has taught me even when the world finally caves in, that there is still a beauty to it. In parallel to number of scenes within the book, Chris' downfalls and pain has a level of beauty as it eventually leads up to something worthwhile. It is more vital to care what's in presence than to worry beyond and past the current as the process is very beautiful and always subjected to change.

Although a unique and personal writing style, I did struggle to keep up with Chris' thoughts. Due to this, it forces you to pay attention what he says and really does immerse you into his world of logic and reason. As a person who is also guided by so, Chris' world view resonated to some extent. I do appreciate the tad bits of facts here and there although was quite disappointed when they did not reach a further level of comparison towards himself. It is towards the end where readers have to draw the line for him.
The only dynamic character we see is Christoper and the emphasis on Rage within the characters he interacts with. This illustrates how much Chris himself is an unreliable narrator. Whatever we have read about and of the adults surrounding him, is based on his struggles with anger and emotions. Although we see Chris very open and brave of his pursuits, deep down, he does not know how to respond to the thing he truly struggles with. Empathy. Emotions. To put yourself in the shoes of an autistic/asperger narrator, it definitely opens your eyes to what human brains are capable and incapable of processing despite our similarities. His relationship with his parents does stress the power of love and pursuit which I like.
The book is more concise than I thought. There may be no strong Bildungsroman but it does teach us the consequences of lies, truths, struggles in compliance and love.