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

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I picked this up from the library during Banned Books Week. It was very good, and I quite enjoyed the narration's unwavering commitment to the protagonist's perspective. The book would not be the same without it. Thanks to this choice, as well as the matter-of-fact way the protagonist describes all that is relevant, I found myself empathizing strongly with him. I found many of the behaviors and thought patterns he exhibited are ones that I too experience in some circumstances. I appreciated that this book gave me a window into the perspective of another person who is both very close to and distant from myself, not only learning how he navigates life's complex challenges but also how he sees the biggest and smallest parts of the world-- cars, cows, creation, time, space. This book is written at a suitable level for audiences as young as middle-grade, and beyond serving as a means of empathy, I think this book could be a very useful tool for exploring what a novel can be and learning how to analyze a fictional text that provides a limited perspective. I would very roughly guess that took me 10 hours to read this book from cover to cover. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings