The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

by Mark Haddon | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1400032717 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Plinius of Schiedam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on 4/21/2004
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
This book is in a Controlled Release! This book is in a Controlled Release!
17 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Plinius from Schiedam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, April 21, 2004
from the back flap:
Christopher Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the colour yellow.
Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, fifteen-year-old Christopher is autistic and everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbour's dog, Wellington, is killed, and his carefully constructed universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favorite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.
...........
I'll finish this first, then make a (small) bookring:
Powerhouse
Nrrdgrrl
Olifant
Tijgetje
Readsome
Kriskras
Twinfather
Dutch-flybaby
Stephen-1702
Suzy26
croixdeguerre
Silvertje
Owlet
RonOren

A compelling and interesting story. I'm impressed by the way the author depicts Christopher; he never reverts to a 'normal' view of people's emotions and yet Christopher's world is very convincing.
I read this book with in mind my autistic brother-in-law, whose weekly visits are a real drain of our patience and energy. I think it will help to generate more patience.
..
sent to Powerhouse
..
journalentries from another bookring

Journal Entry 2 by powerhouse from Culemborg, Gelderland Netherlands on Tuesday, April 27, 2004
This cute little book has been on my wishlist since I read the title somewhere. Thank you, Plinius for ringing it for us.

Journal Entry 3 by powerhouse from Culemborg, Gelderland Netherlands on Sunday, May 9, 2004
Great little book. Heartbreaking at times. My curiosity to how such a mind works is satisfied and intensified at the same time. On to nrrdgrrl.

Journal Entry 4 by nrrdgrrl from Tunbridge Wells, Kent United Kingdom on Thursday, May 13, 2004
oooo, a cute poem on the envelope, she beamed.
look here, another one on a bookmarkish note.
read it to mr.n immediately because he was being stubborn. he melted.

Journal Entry 5 by nrrdgrrl from Tunbridge Wells, Kent United Kingdom on Thursday, May 13, 2004
a couple of ring books lodge here at the moment, but i need to finish some study books first. will read the ring books in between, but it's possible it'd be a little over the prescribed month before this book leaves for the next participant. sorry 'bout that.

Journal Entry 6 by nrrdgrrl from Tunbridge Wells, Kent United Kingdom on Thursday, May 20, 2004
one of the first things i noticed about this book was the prime numbering of the chapters. but it confused me as well, because i thought 1 was a prime too. i found it is not. curious that christopher forgets to explain. a pity too, because it breaks the spell.

it's a wonderful book though. unputdownable. christopher's world is very recognizable and not recognizable at all. it is logical as a vulcan's but he is superstitious as well. he loves dogs, but my dog has many more moods than the 4 that christopher defines. from his reasoning it would be more logical he'd prefer cats. and not something unpredictable and touchy feely like a rat.

the logic from within is clearly present. but to me, on the outside, it raises a million questions. then again, i am familiar with some unusual minds, but not with most kinds. and i am unable to solve the question in the back of the book.

the story made me think about the (lack of) order in my own life. and how useful it could be to have some more. but not too much. i wish that were a mathematical equation.

Journal Entry 7 by nrrdgrrl from Tunbridge Wells, Kent United Kingdom on Monday, May 24, 2004
despite the book being unputdownable, real life prevented me a few days from finishing it. it's the kind of book which nags at people. you really want to get back to it.
the last part is heartbreaking and, i presume, very realistic. confronting too. my newest theorette is that hsp people might be a small chip off the same block?

have received olifant's address. expect to deliver the book on thursday.
despite my irritation over revaling mistakes, the book still gets 9 stars out of 10. i intend to buy it for keeps.

Release planned for Thursday, May 27, 2004 at Controlled Release in Controlled Release, Controlled Release Controlled Releases.

in olifant's letterbox, by hand, because i have a meeting nearby. i wrapped the book for protection, think i'll leave that on. looks sort of festive.

Journal Entry 9 by Olifant from Porthmadog, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, May 28, 2004
Het boekje is binnen, het beschermende maar originele kaftje heb ik er even afgehaald om naar de echte kaft te kijken: witte letters op een oranje-rode achtergrond met een klein plaatje van een zwarte poedel, ondersteboven.

En nu ga ik het lezen! Bedankt nrrdgrrl en plinius.

Journal Entry 10 by Olifant from Porthmadog, Wales United Kingdom on Saturday, May 29, 2004
Read this book in one breath! Great little book. Want to buy it for my family, for friends, for myself. I liked the diagrams, figures, pictures and maps. I’m still thinking why the poodle on the front cover is turned up side down. Christopher’s name is a metaphor. But metaphors confuse him, because they use words for things they aren’t. Everything in his world has to be logical, it makes him feel safe. It’s interesting to see how he copes with fear or anger. And the end is heartbreaking.

Two quotes:
...I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me.

...And it means that sometimes things are so complicated that it is impossible to predict what they are going to do next, but they are only obeying really simple rules.
And it means that sometimes a whole population of frogs, or worms, or people, can die for no reason whatsoever, just because that is the way the numbers works.


Book is going to Tijgetje tomorrow, I'll put it through her letterbox.

Journal Entry 11 by tijgetje from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Thursday, June 3, 2004
Got it from Olifant this morning, thanks!
A very pretty little thing. Nice cover. Nice font. I'm very curious. However; I'll first have to finish another ring-book and 'The Da Vinci code' by Dan Brown (another one of those books that keep screaming "read me! read me!" when you put them down to get some work done...)
Hope to finish it soon.

Journal Entry 12 by tijgetje from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Thursday, June 24, 2004
I finished the book in two days. You really can not put it down and it reads like a train (I know you probably can't say that in english but who's gonna stop me? ;-)

I loved this little book. It's so gripping. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if Christopher was gonna be alright... The story is heart-breaking and tragical. It's so sad to see this boy to whom the world is such an overwhelming and scary place, and who has so little people in his life who understand him. You just want to rescue him and bring him to a safe place with someone who knows how to organise his life (like Siobhan).

You feel very close to Christopher because we (the readers) know what he feels and thinks, and we know why he does certain things. But we can also relate to the 'normal' people in Christophers life. We know why they do certain things too (which Christopher obviously understands very poorly). So we are the only persons who can communicate with both sides, but we can't help, cause we aren't in the story...

Will send to Readsome soon!

p.s. I think the poodle is upside down because that is exactly the position Wellington was in when Christopher found him.

Journal Entry 13 by Readsome from Breda, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Monday, June 28, 2004
Oh wat leuk, heb jullie al zo horen jubelen over dit boek.
Als ik het snel doorblader krijg ik echt het gevoel dat ik het lezen van dit boek met heel veel plezier ga doen!

Eerst nog even mijn andere ringboek (the lovely bones) uitlezen, maar ook dat zal niet lang duren!

Journal Entry 14 by Readsome from Breda, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Monday, July 12, 2004
Very good book! Really loved thinking in a different (and more logical) pattern. I think I will definately rememeber for quite a while.

I will send it to kriskras tomorrow!
Thanks Plinius, for sharing this book with us...

Journal Entry 15 by kriskras from Boxtel, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Friday, July 16, 2004
This book arrived today, together with a nice postcard from Breda. Thanks for sending it, Readsome!

Journal Entry 16 by kriskras from Boxtel, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Monday, July 19, 2004
What a great book this is! It's really fascinating to see how Christopher's mind works, how he notices every little detail in the world surrounding him (which must be very strenuous, I think), and how is a logical thinker and superstitious person at the same time.

Thanks for sharing, Plinius, it was a real eye opener to me. The book will travel on to Twinfather tomorrow.

Journal Entry 17 by Twinfather from Gouda, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Vandaag aangekomen en ik ga er morgen gelijk aan beginnen. Ik ben erg benieuwd!

Journal Entry 18 by Twinfather from Gouda, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, August 2, 2004
This book is a little gem.

It starts hilarious but in the end it's very grim. I haven't read something like this before. The idea of numbering the chapters in primes is very original.

Haddon created Christopher into a believable character. He shows you how difficult it is in life for Christopher but also for living with him. One of the surprising things is that on the one hand Christopher thinks and acts logical but on the other hand he's very superstitious. For example the order of cars in a specific colour says him what kind of day it will be. But when the logic doesn't work he adjusts the rule in his own advantage. Just like fundamentalist believers of any religion do. This and the fact that Christopher is antireligious makes me think that Haddon is an atheist. Or has at least some atheist ideas. Not at al a condemnation, just an observation.

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" is a very good book and one to recommend to everyone who loves reading. For me the reading experience was wonderful.

Journal Entry 19 by Twinfather at on Monday, August 2, 2004
Released on Monday, August 02, 2004 at fellow bookcrosser in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

Op weg naar Dutch-flybaby

Journal Entry 20 by dutch-flybabe from Lent (gem. Nijmegen), Gelderland Netherlands on Thursday, August 5, 2004
Gisteren viel dit boekje met kaart in enveloppe door de brievenbus. Het komt op de stapel bookring boeken, nog twee te lezen voor dit boek waarvan ik al in één begonnen ben. Bedankt Twinfather, ook voor de mooie kaart (zie scan)!

Journal Entry 21 by dutch-flybabe from Lent (gem. Nijmegen), Gelderland Netherlands on Wednesday, August 11, 2004
DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THINGS ABOUT THE STORY BEFORE YOU READ THE BOOK!

This was an unusual book which I finished yesterday. I was drawn to read more, but also put it down several times after a few minutes of reading, saw three red cars in a row driving and thought it must be exhausting to notice everything all the time. I can understand why Christopher needs to have familiar surroundings and thought it was very brave to travel all the way to London.
Thanks Plinius for making this a bookring, this book is really something else!
Will mail this book to Stephen-1702 asap.

Journal Entry 22 by dutch-flybabe from Lent (gem. Nijmegen), Gelderland Netherlands on Wednesday, August 11, 2004
I didn't want to withhold a scan of the neat wrapper around this book. I did peek under it as you can see from the scan with the previous journal entry.

Released on Friday, August 13, 2004 at Main postoffice in Ede, Netherlands, Gelderland Controlled Releases.

Mailed this book to Stephen-1702. Happy reading!

Journal Entry 24 by stephen-1702 from Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant / Brabant Flamant Belgium on Tuesday, August 17, 2004
this morning in the mail. much faster than i expected. will read it asap.

Journal Entry 25 by stephen-1702 from Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant / Brabant Flamant Belgium on Friday, August 27, 2004
wow, this was a nice book. read it in one sit, just couldn't stop. hard to explain though...

Journal Entry 26 by Suzy26 from Delft, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Received this book in the mail today. This was the first ringbook I ever registered for. It took some time, but now it is finally here!! Thanks Stephen-1702 for sending the book together with this beautiful postcard. And thanks to Plinius for ringing it.

Journal Entry 27 by Suzy26 from Delft, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Friday, September 17, 2004
What a lovely little gem of a book this is! It is fascinating indeed to read how the mind of an autistic boy works. Christopher is quite a hero to undertake the things he does, given his limitations. This story is in no way sentimental. It is interesting to see how having an autistic child is affecting the relationship of the parents. This is described in an honest, matter-of-fact way.

This book will travel on to croixdeguerre for its next stop.

Journal Entry 28 by rem_KVI-716666 on Monday, September 20, 2004
I'm looking forward to this book.....

Journal Entry 29 by rem_KVI-716666 on Thursday, September 30, 2004
I really loved this book! Because all the things everybody has mentioned allready, I have nothing more to add....

Thanks for sharing this book Plinius! And now on it's way to Silvertje.

Journal Entry 30 by silvertje from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Sunday, October 3, 2004
I received this one yesterday, thanks! I now have 3 bookrings waiting for me, ouch! They all arrived at the same time. This looks like a sweet little book to start with, so I am going to read this one first even though it arrived last :)

Journal Entry 31 by silvertje from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, October 7, 2004
I just loved this book! This is one of the best books I have read this year. I can finally imagine just a tiny little bit how autistic people must feel. Even though the book is slightly depressing it made me laugh several times as well (even though Christopher claims he cannot make any jokes). Thanks for sharing. This book will either go to meeting in Tilburg the 24th of October if I can find a postman or I will send it to owlet by mail a.s.a.p.

Journal Entry 32 by owlet from Maastricht, Limburg Netherlands on Monday, October 18, 2004
I just received this cute little book in the mail (thank you, silvertje, also for your kind and warm words!!) and will take this with me on my trip to my parents who are in Marseille at the moment, awaiting heart surgery :-(
I'm sure I'll have enough time to read it, and maybe my parents will be interested as well. I've heard so much good about this book and just recently, a fellow BCer was telling us to "read it read it, go read it, you have to read it, read it now", so I'm glad to have joined this bookring.

Journal Entry 33 by owlet from Maastricht, Limburg Netherlands on Friday, November 12, 2004
I have finished this wonderful book tonight and absolutely loved it. I don't know any autistic children personally, but this sure is a book to read if you do, if only to understand to have some patience for them. I want to buy it and make everybody read it!

One of the quotes I liked: "A lie is when you say something happened which didn't happen. But there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place. And there are an infinite number of things which didn't happen at that time and that place. And if I think about something which didn't happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn't happen. (...)"

Thank you for sharing!

Journal Entry 34 by RonOren from Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Friday, November 19, 2004
Jusr got it in the mail from Owlet. Well, actually, DJgib (my girlfriend) did ;-). And as she is just as interested, and I won't be back to claim it, she'll take it first and insert herself into the ring. I'll have to wait a little and read it then...

Journal Entry 35 by DJgib from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Monday, November 22, 2004
Started reading this on Saturday, and expect to have finished it by the time RonOren returns coming weekend. Already found a great quote:

Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.

Journal Entry 36 by DJgib from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Monday, November 29, 2004
Wow, this was really impressive. I found myself feeling so sorry for Christopher because there's so much about the world that he doesn't understand and is afraid of. I was struck by his bravery in going to London on his own.

RonOren is back by now and I've already given him the book in person. Thanks to everyone in this ring for not complaining that I broke into it:-)

Journal Entry 37 by RonOren from Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, November 29, 2004
Just got this from DJgib. Will read soonish.

Journal Entry 38 by RonOren from Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, December 2, 2004
A very impressive book! I liked the way he used the prime numbers as chapters, it shows from the very beginning how much more Christopher is at ease with numbers, or math, than with people, regular life and so. The way the book moves back and forth between the story itself and memories, mathematical problems or any other digressions is very intriguing (couldn't think of a better word...)

I'm torn between feeling compassion for Christopher, because he doesn't understand the world he's living in (or maybe he does and everyone else doesn't; that's hardly any better); or being impressed by the hoards of useless knowledge that he has.

All in all, a great read, and thanks to Plinius for sharing it!

Journal Entry 39 by RonOren from Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, December 2, 2004
It's on its way back home to Plinius.

Journal Entry 40 by Plinius from Schiedam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Saturday, December 4, 2004
the dog is home again, but not for long

Journal Entry 41 by Plinius at book ring in a RABCK, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases on Monday, December 6, 2004
Released on Monday, December 06, 2004 at about 6:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at book ring in Mailed to fellow bookcrosser, Postal Release Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

The dog has been home for a quick repair on its hurt back and now it's off with the glue still wet...

Journal Entry 42 by wingvioloncellixwing from Groningen, Groningen Netherlands on Wednesday, December 8, 2004
I received the book already a day later than Plinius repaired it; the glue was already dry, so I immediately dove into it. Very compelling story. Thank you, Plinius, for the book and the nice postcard!

Journal Entry 43 by wingvioloncellixwing from Groningen, Groningen Netherlands on Friday, December 10, 2004
This is just a great, great little book. Heartbreaking and very unusual.
As a mathematician, I understood Christopher's fascination with mathematical and logical problems, and also how mathematics is a kind of safe haven to him. (By the way, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the math in this novel is really up to date, like the Monty Hall Problem and dynamical systems, and quite well explained. This is highly unusual for novels that refer to mathematics. Mark Haddon probably really likes math almost as well as Christopher does.)

Christopher reminded me of one or two of my students who may have some autism/Asperger related problems, especially in the following quote from p. 116:
"...when I was little I didn't understand about other people having minds. And Julie said to Mother and Father that I would always find this very difficult. But I don't find this difficult now. Because I decided that it was a kind of puzzle, and if there is a puzzle there is always a way of solving it".

From a colleague I heard a nice story about his autistic student, who, like Christopher, does not understand what is going on in other people's minds when interacting with them, but is very good at solving abstract puzzles about what people know and don't know about each other, using logic.


Journal Entry 44 by wingvioloncellixwing from Groningen, Groningen Netherlands on Monday, January 3, 2005
Mrs. Violoncellix-Guitarrix: ‘The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime’ heb ik met plezier gelezen. Het eerste deel is hilarisch: vaak moest ik ontzettend lachen om Christopher, de hoofdpersoon. Gaandeweg het boek kreeg ik steeds meer te doen met de ouders van Christopher en alle andere ouders van autistische kinderen, wat een opgave! Knap vind ik hoe schrijver Haddon binnen zijn overkoepelende spanningsboog (wie heeft de buurhond vermoord?) ook talrijke kleine spanningsboogjes heeft weten te bouwen (gevonden worden in compromitterende situatie met dode hond, de huisrat van de metrorails ‘redden’, bijna geen A-levels voor wiskunde kunnen halen, etc. etc.). Grappig vond ik ook dat ik me door dit boek herinnerde dat ik als kind net als Christopher niet wilde dat de aardappelen, het vlees, de groente en eventueel de saus elkaar zouden aanraken op mijn bord. Ik ging niet zover dat ik ze niet meer opat als dat gebeurde, maar maakte net als hij een hoop stampei.

Kortom: in een adem uitgelezen en er nog wat van geleerd ook. Minpuntje: als mijn partner geen wiskundige was geweest, had ik al die lastige puzzels en opgaves helemaal niet gesnapt. Tip: lees erover heen.










Journal Entry 45 by Plinius from Schiedam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Friday, January 7, 2005
The dog is home again. Thank you all for your comments and for enjoying this story with me!

Journal Entry 46 by Plinius at Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, September 3, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (9/4/2012 UTC) at Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book has got a job in the course of English at buurthuis Alexanderpolder.



Hello finder! If you read this, you have found a travelling book.
Congratulations!

You can read this book, make a note of how you liked the book (it's free
and you can stay anonymous if you like) and release it 'in the wild' or
pass it on to someone else.

If you want to follow the book on its 'world tour' you'd better register as
a new bookcrosser. You could mention my name (Plinius) as Referring Member. I
would appreciate that very much.

There's an explanation in Dutch at http://www.bookcrossing.nl/ and there's
also a Dutch forum http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/15

Have fun reading and bookcrossing!

Plinius


Hallo boekvinder,

als je dit leest heb je een zwerfboek gevonden, gefeliciteerd!

Je kunt dit boek lezen, hopelijk is het iets dat je leuk vindt, je kunt je mening erover hier opschrijven (gratis, spamvrij, en je kunt anoniem blijven als je wilt) en het weer doorgeven of loslaten 'in het wild' voor een volgende lezer.

Als je net als ik het boek wilt volgen op zijn wereldreis kun je ook bookcrosser worden. In dat geval zou je mijn naam (Plinius) kunnen vermelden als Referring Member. Dat zou ik leuk vinden.

Nederlandse uitleg vind je op http://www.bookcrossing.nl/ en er is ook een Nederlands forum op http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/15

Veel lees- en BookCrossplezier gewenst!

Plinius

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.