WrittenbyMark Haddon this is one of the most unique and intriguing books you will ever read. Narrated by 15 year old Christopher Boone it is darkly funny, emotional and a detective novel in a very unexpected way. Christopher has Asperger’s and his father has a very big secret, which sends his son on a revealing and incredibly brave journey.
I admit that I missed some of the more subtle humour as I found myself approaching the text from Christopher’s honest and black and white point of view. Like I was reading it completely from his perspective – which is just one of the genius things about this novel.
Here’s one of his thoughts on life which made me laugh:
“Eventually scientists will discover something that explains ghosts, just like they discovered electricity which explained lightning, and it might be something about peoples brains, or something about the earths magnetic field, or it might be some new force altogether. And then ghosts won’t be mysteries. They will be like electricity and rainbows and non-stick frying pans.”
It is a rare novel that makes me cry and laugh, that lets me zoom through it with ease and contains lists and illustrations from the protagonist which are entertaining and informative.
My bloke has had this on his bookshelf for years and I can’t believe I’ve only just got around to reading it, seeing as it was also recommended to me by several friends over the years. Read it. It will entertain you and give you more empathy and understanding than you’ve ever had before.
Chrissie xx
Chrissie, please add an “aspergers” tag to this post.
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I loved this book!
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It seems to be a real opinion devider this one. It’s not one of my faves but I did really like it.
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I liked his black and white view of the world, too. Really captured a different view of human nature.
There’s another book told through the eyes of a boy, not autistic, but still interesting. It’s called Room. I can’t remember the author. The boy’s viewpoint of his environment was refreshing and reminded me of The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-time, but perhaps it only reminded me of it because they were told through a young boy’s eyes. Other than that, not much in common. But I recommend it too!
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I’ll check it out – thanks! I’m really warming to very young or deliberately un-reliable narrators as I think it brings a very different perspective.
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I also find unreliable narrators can reveal a lot about human nature in their different perspectives. : )
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Exactly! Like that’s how real people behave.
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