The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Okay, so I've gotten a little behind on my book club blogging (surprise surprise). We read this book for our August meeting, and were looking for something a little shorter and lighter than some of the fare we've previously read. I had read this book before, and suggested it thinking that it would fit the bill perfectly.

Well, as it turns out, not everyone felt that way about it. Some complained that it was hard to get in to because the action didn't move fast enough (a point I can agree with a little bit). Others complained that the "twists" were predictable (while admittedly I didn't catch them, I can see how figuring them out in advance would make the book less interesting). Overall, the consensus was just "meh" on this book.

Why then, you may ask, did I recommend it in the first place? What was it that made me think it was a worthwhile read? In short: the narrator. The book is told from the perspective of an autistic boy, which was just fascinating to me. It was so interesting to see the world from his point of view, to see how phrases we take for granted (like raining cats and dogs) can lead to a world of confusion for someone who lives in a literal world, to see how math and numbers and patterns could be so important in someone's life. Maybe it was the math geek in me that got me drawn in to the numbers and patterns in the book; maybe it was the literary nerd who enjoyed thinking about idiomatic expressions in their literal sense; heck, maybe it was just my appreciation for seeing the world through someone else's eyes that caused me to read the book in a matter of days. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed it. And I standby my recommendation of it (although I felt really bad that it was not well-received by everyone in my book club).

I guess I can't necessarily recommend that everyone read this book, because apparently it isn't for everyone. That being said, I do think that anyone who works with or knows someone who is autistic (or really even just any sort of special needs child) should definitely read this book. Granted, I don't have a lot of experience with autistic children myself so I can't speak to the authenticity of this book, but based on the author's credentials it seems pretty believable that the book is a fair representation of how the mind of an autistic child would work. Which to me makes it well worth the read.