The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - JOIN THIS BOOKRING!!

by Mark Haddon | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0385509456 Global Overview for this book
Registered by aannddee of Arden Hills, Minnesota USA on 7/25/2003
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
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12 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by aannddee from Arden Hills, Minnesota USA on Friday, July 25, 2003
I am so anxious to read this book, I have purchased my own copy rather than wait for another to show up.

I cannot say how much I appreciated reading this book. I say appreciated because I feel I now have a better understanding of the mind of someone with Autism. I may now be more inclined to look at someone differently if she/he is exhibiting what I might have in the past thought to be strange behavior. I never thought of that behavior as a method of bringing calmness or order back to someone feeling as if they might be spinning in a situation they are unable to control. Not only was this book a good read, but provided me with a valuable learning experience.

I have enjoyed this book so much, that I am going to start a bookring so that others may read, enjoy and learn from it.

Journal Entry 2 by aannddee from Arden Hills, Minnesota USA on Sunday, August 17, 2003
The beginning of this bookring is set. I am intending for this bookring to remain open for a while, so if you are interested in participating, please send me a PM and I will add you to this list. The list of bookcrossers who are participating at this time is:

1. bookworm64 (Illinois)
2. angelkitty (Colorado)
3. genevalove (Kentucky)
4. seferim (Maryland)
5. nina-ivanovna (New York)
6. sstich79 (Kentucky)
7. booksnwine (Australia)
8. PrairieFireFly (Ontario, Canada)
9. janaqq (Texas)
10. First-Noel (Texas)
11. Geologygirl (North Carolina)
12. CaptainJack (Arizona)
13. Drumorgan (California) - currently has ownership.....
14. jendudley (Texas)
15. ghaweyn (Colorado)
16. Robert-Rose (Minnesota)
17. arugh48187 (Minnesota)
18. Back to me!

Journal Entry 3 by aannddee at on Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Released on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at to fellow bookcrosser in postal release, postal release USA.

This book is now on its way to bookworm64.

Journal Entry 4 by AngelKitty from Denver, Colorado USA on Sunday, October 26, 2003
Christopher John Francis Boon 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. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order, and predictability shelter him from the messy wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and untimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher's mind.

And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon's choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. The effect is dazzling, making 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 literally.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of the freshest debuts in years: a comedy, a heartbreaker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.


This is a wonderful book, although not your average book, which we know even before the narrator tells us so. On the front cover, there is the upside-down silhouette of a poodle. I can't remember how many times I opened this book upside down because of that. After that, there's the fact that the chapters are numbered by prime numbers. Gotta love this book. Definitely going on my "Books to Buy" list.

Once again, this is a book I wanted to read because I heard an interview with author Mark Haddon on NPR.

Journal Entry 5 by Genevalove from Lexington, Kentucky USA on Saturday, November 1, 2003
This just arrived today! I'll get started on it as soon as possible--of course, I'm about a third of the way through a massive book right now (Mortals by Norman Rush, 715 pages!!!), but I'll try to hurry.

Thanks aannddee, for starting this bookring!

Journal Entry 6 by Genevalove from Lexington, Kentucky USA on Wednesday, November 5, 2003
This was a remarkable book, heart-breaking and fascinating. It reminded me in some ways of the story Flowers for Algernon, because the reader sees so much that Christopher is unable to understand. It must be so painful to be the parent of an autistic child, to love them with all your heart but be unable to hold them.

Thanks very much aannddee for sharing this book--it's off to the next bookring participant as soon as I get the address!

Journal Entry 7 by Seferim from Columbia, Maryland USA on Wednesday, November 12, 2003
I really have been looking forward to this one! Thanks so much for starting it! I have one bookring ahead of it (which I am nearly through with) so I should have it done soon. Thanks!

November 16th:

Wonderful reading experience. Unlike any other book that I have ever read (probably the closest is "Flowers for Algernon" like Genevalove mentioned above) At the beginning of the book, Christopher, the fifteen year old narrator states that "This is a murder mystery", and he is going to be detective, investigating who killed his neighbor's poodle, Wellington. While he is trying to solve the mystery he uncovers many other secrets about his family. Haddon's use of pictures, charts, and graphs really help the reader understand and see through the eyes of Christopher, who has Asperger's disorder or autism (it is never clearly stated). The reader really sympathizes with Christopher's parents and all of the idiosyncracies he has: He hates the colors yellow and brown and will not eat any food that color, or wear any clothes with them; he has a fear of people touching him, and often screams when someone lightly brushes him. There are many other instances in the book where the reader sees that Christopher does love his parents, but he cannot show them because he does not know how to express emotions.

A wonderful piece of literature. Thank you so much Aannddee for passing this one around!
Mailed to Nina on Nov 21

Journal Entry 8 by nina-ivanovna from Ithaca, New York USA on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Received today - thanks all! Very excited to read this one. Looks like it will be my read this holiday weekend.

Journal Entry 9 by nina-ivanovna from Ithaca, New York USA on Monday, December 1, 2003
What a unique book! I loved reading from Christopher's point of view - the whole thing is a fascinating idea, very well executed by Haddon. At a few points along the way, I got stuck reading and rereading Christoper's explanations of science and math problems, trying to make sense of them, but that was part of the fun of the book. Highly recommended - thanks aannddee for sharing it with us!

Will be sending it on to sstich79 next.

Edit: sstich79 wants to be skipped, so its going to booksnwine in Australia.

Journal Entry 10 by booksnwine from Medowie, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, December 25, 2003
Just got this book in the post last week. With all the Christmas rush I haven't started yet, but my husband and I are heading off for a week's holiday and I'll read it while we're camping.

Journal Entry 11 by booksnwine from Medowie, New South Wales Australia on Monday, January 5, 2004
I loved this book, and read it in a couple of days over the Christmas break. It's such a unique idea and the author does a great job at portraying Christopher. I want to pick it up and read it again, but I know I have to send it on. I think I'll be trying to find my own copy just to go back to again and again. And like some of the others, the upside down dog on the cover confused me too.

Journal Entry 12 by booksnwine from Medowie, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Posted to PrairieFireFly in the second week of January.

Journal Entry 13 by PrairieFirefly from Ottawa, Ontario Canada on Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Wow, this is quite the book - I sailed through it in a day and a half. I enjoyed it, though not in the way that I tend to enjoy fiction. I felt an high degree of empathy throughout the book, which made it at times agonizing. But it was also beautiful and positively affecting.

I really did not know a whole lot about autism before reading this book and now I feel I have at least some appreciation for it. I think it was brilliant that the author chose to write this book from the perspective of a fifteen year old. It somehow made being able to imagine his world easier for me, I think, than if Christopher had been a younger child or an adult.

I finished this book about 10 minutes ago and have a feeling that I will keep thinking about it for some time. Thanks for sharing....

On to the next reader ASAP.

Journal Entry 14 by LFL_CedarPark from Austin, Texas USA on Friday, March 5, 2004
i am very happy to be able to read this book.

thanks

Journal Entry 15 by LFL_CedarPark from Austin, Texas USA on Sunday, April 11, 2004
Sorry it took me so long to get this back on the road. I really enjoyed this book. I will try another of Hadden's book in the future. Christopher is one of those characters you would just love to hang out with for a few hours. Autistic people are amazing!

Thanks for sharing this amazing book!

Journal Entry 16 by First-Noel from San Antonio, Texas USA on Sunday, May 9, 2004
Received this one last week sometime. (sorry about not journaling right away.) And I'm already done with it.

This was certainly an interesting book. My mind lately has been pretty scattered and I've found it hard to concentrate on longer novels, which makes this particular book perfect becuase of all the little asides. Just enough attention span to get through each topic, then a convenient commercial break for logic problems. :0)

Thanks for sharing. I'll get it off to the next person ASAP.

UPDATE: Mailed May 26, 2004 to Geologygirl

Journal Entry 17 by Geologygirl from Cary, North Carolina USA on Thursday, July 1, 2004
3 in 1 entry.....

Received the book in the mail, Thanks First Noel

Enjoyed the book - it was an interesting read from Christopher's perspective. Thanks for sharing -

Mailed it today to CaptainJack now in NJ.

Journal Entry 18 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Tuesday, July 6, 2004
I received this book today. There are no rings/rays ahead of it, so I should be done with it fairly quickly, so I will go ahead and PM Drumorgan for an address. Thank you for sharing aannddee!!

Journal Entry 19 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Sunday, July 11, 2004
Fabulous. I am overwhelmed by this book. The autistic young person as narrator is brilliant. Thank you sooooo much for sharing this!!!

Journal Entry 20 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Monday, July 12, 2004
Mailed to drumorgan today.

Journal Entry 21 by drumorgan from Woodland Hills, California USA on Saturday, July 17, 2004
I almost forgot about putting myself on this list for the book. But, alas, it arrived today. I am very much looking forward to reading it. I just opened to a page and read a bit about the "Monty Hall puzzle". Oh, this is going to be a puzzle/math nerds delight. I'll write more after I finish the book.

Journal Entry 22 by drumorgan from Woodland Hills, California USA on Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Very fun read. Getting ready to mail it now.

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