Rating: 
Summary: Lives Up to the Rave Reviews
Review: You may have read (in the rave New York Times review(s) and elsewhere) that "Curious Incident" is a (fictional) first-person account of the life of Christopher Boone, an autistic teenager. He's a math whiz who can't stand to be touched, who groans and screams when approached by anybody except close family, who carries red food coloring with him so he won't have to eat anything yellow or brown. A neighbor's dog is brutally killed with a garden fork; Christopher's journals describe his attempt to solve the crime. (True to his disorder, he uses only prime numbers to number the chapters, with occasional departures from his investigation to describe interesting math problems). His investigation leads him deep into his own family's sad secrets.But CI is definitely neither a 'disease-of-the-month' type of novel, nor a detective whodunit. You may struggle at first to figure out who the 'bad guy' is, as you might with a 'real' detective novel, only to realize that there aren't any-Christopher's autism seems to bring everyone to the end of his/her rope. On the other hand, the view of autism is not 'four-handkerchief' tragic, either. Christopher, despite his problems, grows and changes. He proves to be a capable detective; he overcomes tremendous fears to solve the mystery; he even becomes the first student in the history of his school to pass his A-levels. It is really is more of a coming-of-age family drama, it just happens to be told by the autistic member of the family. It's a fast read, told with a surprisingly light-hearted, even humorous touch, and the plot carries several entertaining surprises. Readers, please don't turn aside this book because you think it might be 'heavy' or sad. Go ahead and take it on vacation. It's sure to be one of the best books of the summer! --This text refers to the Hardcover edition
Rating: 
Summary: Voracious and bodacious
Review: In the same way that Truman Capote inspired the main character ins Jackson McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood," Sherlock inspires the main one in "The Curious Incident." Christopher is a fifteen-year-old, mildly autistic boy who lives with his father in Swindon, a small town about a hundred miles outside London. His mother has passed away several years ago of cancer, so it's just Christopher and his father. During the days, Christopher attends a "special needs" school, where lessons include not only the three R's, but also tips on dealing with strangers and decoding facial expressions (Christopher can recognize happy and sad faces, but more complicated faces give him trouble). For a project, Christopher's teacher tells him to write a book about himself. Adding his own individual touches along the way (a math prodigy, the boy numbers his chapters not 1, 2, 3, but as prime numbers in ascending order), and peppering the text with illustrative tables and drawings, Christopher embarks on a detective story about Mrs. Shears's dog, stabbed to death in her yard with a garden fork. So Chris decides to solve the case a la Mr. Holmes. The result is a fascinating look inside the mind of autism. This is a finely created book, worthy of the attention of any book club. Would also recommend Life of Pi, Middlesex, and The Bark of the Dogwood for anyone interested in off-the-beaten path type stories.
Rating:
Summary: Christopher's world
Review: I do not know a thing about autism--so maybe this has something to do with why I was drawn into Christopher's tale. I found this character to be very interesting as he explained to me, the reader, how his mind works and why it works the way it does. I credit the author, Mark Haddon, for sticking to the challange of conveying such a story. There's much skill in the craftmanship and I find it to be a very intelligent read. I don't understand how another person here said they read--which caught my eye because I did as well--'Simon Lazarus' and found that to be more "worthy" and that 'A Curious incident..'is "drivel" or gimmicky. I see nothing of the sort here. Both of these works are distinct in their own right, and both are smart and quite readable. So for this reader: 'Simon Lazarus' and Christopher's story here are both entertaining and fascinating reads in their own distinct way. That's what literature is all about. Appreciate them both.
Rating:
Summary: A peek into an unusual mind
Review: When you read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", you get a glimpse into the thought processes of an autistic savant. Written in the form of a journal by the teenaged Christopher Boone, this innovative story ostensibly takes us through the boy's efforts to find the killer of his neighbor's dog. But what we really experience is a bittersweet journey of self-discovery for a boy who finds the world a most confusing and illogical place. Haddon, who has worked with autistic children, does a wonderful job of explaining how Christopher perceives his environment and tries to cope with its perplexities. Examples abound of the contrasts between Christopher's literal, logical thought processes and the more typical imaginative and emotional ones. A powerful illustration of intuition versus logic is presented in a deceptively simple "Let's Make a Deal" probability problem that had me struggling for an entire day before accepting and understanding the answer. Don't let the thought of an unemotionally narrated story with math problems in it put you off, however. This book is a delight in every way. We still witness the emotional impact of events on the people around Christopher. Although we feel frustrated over his inability to read others, we cheer him on as he manages to get by in the world in spite of his disability. There are humorous touches throughout the book to prevent it from becoming too maudlin. What more can I say? Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Top-Notch
Review: Our book club picks just about any and every genre of novel, so it shouldn't have come as a big shock when we took on CURIOUS INCIDENT. After all, we had just finished Seabold's THE LOVELY BONES and McCrae's THE CHILDREN'S CORNER, so this one was the "logical" next in line. Looking back through the reviews of it, I noticed that the only people who disliked this remarkable book were the ones who did not fully understand the conceptual genius. The boy who tells the story is Autistic; this is the reason for the 'elementary writing style.' People diagnosed with Autism disorder cannot write like Charles Dickens or our favorite modern authors. This book, however, is amazingly accurate and comprehensive in terms of closeness to behavior of an Autistic boy. This is an excellent book but only for those who actually understand it.
Rating:
Summary: VERY new and different
Review: Lately there seems to be a rash of books either dealing with dog themes or autism or some tangent thereof. THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD (the paperback version) comes to mind with its "dog" theme and proverbial precocious child who has either Asperger's syndrome or some aspect of Autism. At least that one's now out in paperback so you don't have to cart the hardcover around. And now we have THE CURIOUS INCIDENT, again with dog and autism. But CURIOUS INCIDENT is a wonderful story about a young man, Christopher, who happens to be autistic and his adventures of solving the mystery of a neighbor's murdered dog, writing this story, and living life. It is a brutally honest view of his family and "friends" and how he sees them. Christopher shows no emotion, cannot stand to be touched, and sees the world from a very logical stand point. It is interesting reading how he reasons through everyday events. It is funny and sad at the same time. Christopher is pure and innocent...and it is amazing looking at the world through his eyes (or words). Haddon did a magnificent job writing this story. I can't wait for his next story. He is a wonderful...wonderful author.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: Curious Incident is an expertly written book. I was hooked to this book the moment I started reading it. Within three hours, I was at the end of the last page. It was so touching. Told through the eyes of a boy who suffers from autism, the book captured our failings as humans, the strength of faith, the innocence of childhood, the things we take for granted in our lives, the hopes we cling to, the dreams we want to realize and the love we aspire for in our lives.
Intriguing as it may sound; I was fascinating by the unusual chapter numbering, the use of diagrams, statistics and the use of a first person narrator. It was clever and achieved its desired result of stirring curiosity and eventually keeping the reader hooked. It is a very creative style of writing. In fact, it is a unique reading experience.
By trying to get into the mind of the boy in his narration, I could easily understand his parents who had to deal with his problems constantly. I recommend this novel as a good, enjoyable read and a unique diversion from the other styles of writings that are in the market.
Also recommended: THE USURPER by Janvier Tisi, SENSE AND NONSENSIBILITY, DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
Rating:
Summary: I was floored by this book and did not want it to end.
Review: I rarely write a review for books that already have hundreds of reviews, but I wanted to express how this book is so incredibly moving. This was the rare book that I did not want to finish. It is one of the most innovative stories. Imagine writing a book from the perspective of an autistic teenage boy.
The author is experienced with developmentally disabled children, according to his bio. I guess that many of his anecdotes are taken from real life experiences with youths of this type. I do not work with this population, but there is little in this story that does not appear realistic.
The author artfully uses secondary characters to further explain the boy's choice of action and his thought process. I would, though, have preferred if the father's character could have been better explained as to why he made the decisions that so deeply affected his son, Christopher.
Also I found it very accurate for an autistic child, that while one can be engrossed in his story, the reader is unlikely to fully understand this child since Christopher is never able to truly understand the other people he encounters. One can enjoy the autistic-protagonist of this story, but one can never expect the protagonist to ever accept the other person other than from his restricted perspective.
I would strongly support this book for high school age students and adults. I would recommend it for even younger audiences, but for the occasional severe language of several characters in this book. I will certainly look for this author's future novels, which will hopefully soon come.
Rating:
Summary: what an awesome read
Review: compassionate,compelling,funny,heart breaking and heart warming,once you begin reading you will come to feel as if you have experienced an experience like no other in a book or life!
Rating: 
Summary: Rising to a unique challenge
Review: In this book Mark Haddon sets himself the challenge of narrating a book from the point of view of an autistic boy, a perspective most of us have no experience with. This could have turned into a preachy book, but luckily it is well balanced. As readers we struggle with a narrator who doesn't react to things the way would and who does things we don't want him to, but whom we grow to respect and like by the end of the book. Most of the characters in the book are remarkably real, making both good and bad choices. The plot is somewhat contrived, as the author pushes his narrator to do things that a real boy with autism might not be able to do, but the book stands out for its ambition, unique narrative style, and reasonable length.
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