Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time By Mark Haddon Review by Emmanuel W. Kijem for OHL Children Educational Magazine (Lagos, Nigeria) In Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, we enter a world of murder and mystery. The storyteller and principal figure is fifteen year-old Christopher Boone who suffers from asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. Christopher lives in a purely left-brain world of strict order and absolute truth. He entertains and consoles himself by manipulating large numbers and engaging in complicated mathematical operations. He loves solving riddles, puzzles and mysteries and knows all the countries of the world including their capital cities. He is obsessive in his pursuit of order and is prone to compulsive behaviour. Colours matter to him very much; yellow and brown are bad. Touch him and he lashes out; he keeps a Swiss knife for self-defence. He has deep knowledge of the universe and the world. People confuse and frig...