Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Mark Haddon
Mystery.. sorta

Christopher John Francis 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 color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

In a rare occurrence, The Curious Incident was given a lot of hype online AND in my real life- a lot of my friends and family really liked it. Personally, while I appreciated the brilliance of the novel and quite liked it, I wasn't wowed like I thought I would be.

Surprisingly, the one part of the book I thought I WOULDN'T like was the the part I liked most. The plot. At first I was like, 'A dog on your street died. Boo-hoo.' But as you read you realize that that is not, in fact, what the book was about- the incident was a peek into one of the chapters of Christopher's life. And it was quite fascinating. I did not see most of the twists and turns coming, and the drama that ensued in the aftermath- all told in Christopher's toned down way of thinking. 

The book all in all was what I would call interesting- I wasn't peeing in my pants, I wasn't laughing or crying. I was intrigued. I was professionally curious as to what would happen next. This book is like a fascinating specimen in the eyes of a literary zoologist.

By far what set The Curious Incident apart from other books was the way it was built- the chapters were in prime numbers, mathematical charts, a matter-of-fact way of describing things. For fans of Perks of Being a Wallflower. Rating: 

Love,  Esty