by Mark Haddon
This is another book I picked up on a whim from one of the charity shops near me. It looked interesting.The story is that a 15-year-old boy with asperger's syndrome named Christopher found his neighbor's dog dead. He investigates the murder, even though his father is continually telling him to stop meddling.
The book is written in the first person from Christopher's point of view, offering a fascinating view into the mind of the autistic. He is brilliantly intelligent, but has no understanding of the abstract or human emotion. He is not heartless, he just doesn't understand.
In the end,the book is less about the murderer of the dog, and is more about the lies he's been told in his own family. He learns disturbing things about his father and his mother.
According to some of the reviews I've read by people who are autistic, the author Mark Haddon got the disorder exactly right. Christopher is not uncaring or closed off from people. He just finds the "normal" world and "normal" interaction to be overwhelming. He can't filter out the details and focus on only a few things. Every detail about every situation assaults his mind.
It is hard to explain this book without giving away anything. But it is one of the most engaging and interesting books I've read in recent memory. It isn't a long book. On a quiet day it can be read in one sitting. And I nearly did that. I loved it.
