Amanda's Reviews > The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by
by
![645979](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1495382717p2/645979.jpg)
Am I autistic? Am I Christopher Boone? What is it about my OCD (self-diagnosed, boo yah!) that separates me from this fifteen-year-old kid? Fate is kind, but there is nothing more disturbing than learning that you possess so many of those qualities that categorize people as "special needs." I mean, shit. Choosing Item A over Item B because you like the color? Yep. Counting incessantly? Yep. Getting lost in London Underground? Yep. Quirky eating habits? Yep. Getting ridiculously sidetracked during storytelling? Yep. Yep, yep, yep. I've got it all. And it wasn't so bothersome at first, but as I read on, I grew to empathize with this kid so much so, that I felt like a fucking crazy person. I'm glad I'm done reading it.
Some items of note:
1. Christopher likes maths. I remember when I used to like maths. Maths are fun!
2. Christopher has a pet rat. I remember when I used to have a pet rat. Pet rats are fun!
3. I wish Siobhan was my girlfriend. Well, sorta. I mean, I don't think I'd be satisfied sexually, but still. She seems like a great gal.
4. I have decided that it is impossible for non-crazy people to ever reach peace and comforting solitude. That's why snatching it bit by bit is necessary.
5. I don't want to give birth.
Thank you, Mr. Haddon, for the quick read. Life is quite complicated, even outside London, huh?
Some items of note:
1. Christopher likes maths. I remember when I used to like maths. Maths are fun!
2. Christopher has a pet rat. I remember when I used to have a pet rat. Pet rats are fun!
3. I wish Siobhan was my girlfriend. Well, sorta. I mean, I don't think I'd be satisfied sexually, but still. She seems like a great gal.
4. I have decided that it is impossible for non-crazy people to ever reach peace and comforting solitude. That's why snatching it bit by bit is necessary.
5. I don't want to give birth.
Thank you, Mr. Haddon, for the quick read. Life is quite complicated, even outside London, huh?
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Reading Progress
June 10, 2008
– Shelved
Started Reading
September 4, 2008
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 54 (54 new)
![Meen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1309493031p1/1069458.jpg)
No, RA, you can't cheat because the Other residing in your consciousness with you knows when you're intentionally increasingly your counting increments and will punish you accordingly with a day worse even than horrible!
Oh, I do that all the time, David. AND I always make a wish when it's 11:11 (am or pm) and then I blow a kiss. And if I don't blow a kiss before 11:12, it won't come true. I can't believe I just admitted that.
![RandomAnthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1470919631p1/721021.jpg)
![Amanda](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1495382717p1/645979.jpg)
I did the floor and countertops in my kitchen, and when I did, I specifically did NOT do a pattern. Otherwise, I'd just look at it over and over and over and would go into this freaky tunnel vision staring at the goddamn patterns. Ugh.
I kiss the clock at 11:11, etc, for good luck.
I don't count at the stoplight, but I have a very specific technique when I drive places--I have to merge into certain lanes at certain times, and if the lights are timed right, I MUST follow the timing perfectly so I don't ever have to stop my car.
I count my applause. And I prefer to clap in multiples of 4. I count other things, too, but mostly applause.
Sometimes I do it with multiple clocks. I have my computer clock and two cell phones and they all say different times, so I could hit 11:11 on all three!! Whoo-hoo! But I can't be looking for 11:11. It just has to happen to be 11:11. The kiss has to be aimed at the clock, like Amanda said. But I've never actually kissed the clock.
Wow, Amanda, you win. I actually used to be more like this when I was a kid. I would make my bed, leave my room, then stop in the hallway and look back, touch the wall a number of times, and then visually check the bedspread. If it didn't look just right, I would go back and fix it. And then check again, and then fix it again. Man that was time consuming.
Wow, Amanda, you win. I actually used to be more like this when I was a kid. I would make my bed, leave my room, then stop in the hallway and look back, touch the wall a number of times, and then visually check the bedspread. If it didn't look just right, I would go back and fix it. And then check again, and then fix it again. Man that was time consuming.
![RandomAnthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1470919631p1/721021.jpg)
I also consider leaving action figures (um, my kids') on the floor bad luck. They lose energy if they're on the floor.
Does anyone make little noises with their mouths and throats?
![Amanda](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1495382717p1/645979.jpg)
God, I hope not. Let me know if I do, ok?
Like what?
![RandomAnthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1470919631p1/721021.jpg)
I sort of hum under my breath sometimes. I don't even notice it. So every now and then in a meeting I'll space out and get paranoid I was doing it. But apparently I didn't. Or everyone is used to it.
![Meen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1309493031p1/1069458.jpg)
Edit: But gawd, I long for the rush of organizing them again...
![Amanda](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1495382717p1/645979.jpg)
![Meen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1309493031p1/1069458.jpg)
"Take THAT, self!"
Beware! The self doesn't like when you do that, and the self always gets revenge. Always.
What I hate is when I have to try to keep my mind occupied so that it doesn't make insane high-stakes bets... like "If the mail isn't here yet, you'll die of cancer within a month" or "If there are fewer than four quarters in the junk drawer, you'll never love again."
Beware! The self doesn't like when you do that, and the self always gets revenge. Always.
What I hate is when I have to try to keep my mind occupied so that it doesn't make insane high-stakes bets... like "If the mail isn't here yet, you'll die of cancer within a month" or "If there are fewer than four quarters in the junk drawer, you'll never love again."
P.S. We can all share a room in the nut house. I get the top bunk! I hope that no one minds that when I check the alarm clock, I have to say, "I'm checking the alarm clock" loudly so that I can hear myself loudly enough not to doubt the reality of it.
![RandomAnthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1470919631p1/721021.jpg)
![Meen](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1309493031p1/1069458.jpg)
![Félix](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1454122245p1/1144499.jpg)
![Félix](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1454122245p1/1144499.jpg)
I always record Monk on the DVR. But I never watch it until I have four episodes recorded. Then I watch all four at once. That's normal, right?
Some would say the episodes are back-to-back. I disagree. They are back-to-front. Right? I mean, if they were back-to-back, one of them would have to play backwards. Am I right?
I don't know.
![Amanda](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1495382717p1/645979.jpg)
Larry. You freak asshole! I'm gonna kick you in the balls. Because from now until the end of time, I'm gonna have to correct the goddamn TBS (etc) announcer when he (yes, he, because women NEVER get to do voiceover work) says "back to back episodes." I hate you, Larry.
![Holli](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1451876218p1/622853.jpg)
I also time everything and base decisions off how long things take such as your stoplight story up there David. I also have to follow a strict getting ready routine in the morning and I can't deviate from it at all.
![Félix](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1454122245p1/1144499.jpg)
"After discovering that the planet Lusitania (who would ever name a planet for a sunk ship) contains a deadly virus, the Starways Congress sends a fleet to destroy it. Before the fleet arrives, Valentine and her family join Ender to help save the planet. The only two known sentient non-human races are on Lusitania: the Hive Queen and the Pequininos. Meanwhile, on the planet Path, a previous experiment created a race of super intelligent humans who are slaved to a variant of OCD. These unfortunates are worshiped as Godspoken."
![Amanda](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1495382717p1/645979.jpg)
Did you read his math proof at the end? I couldn't do it. I saw all the x's and shit and gave up before I even started.
![Gus Sanchez](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1672623845p1/1047204.jpg)
Such a compelling story.
![Kim](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1641231768p1/520753.jpg)
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1235530544p1/1866026.jpg)
Oh that is an excellent movie! Well, Hugh Grant it in it so that almost goes without saying. I say almost because there was that terrible "Nine Months" and some medical thing. But otherwise...What were we talking about?
![Taxandria](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1245199468p1/2426000.jpg)
"After discovering that the planet Lusitania (who would ever name a planet for a sunk ship) contains a deadly virus, the Starways Congress sends a fleet..."
Isn't that Speaker for the Dead? Oh wait no, it's Xenocide. I remember the girl counting all the lines in the floor.
![Carly Svamvour](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1413895417p1/1480335.jpg)
Amanda . . . you said you were glad you
were 'done reading it' . . . yet you gave it
a 4!
I have to admit wanting things in a particular
order. Unless I'm 'frantic' about something,
then I don't care.
I have this book on my list here too.
![Liz](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1249122143p1/2191574.jpg)
![Nancy](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1292230382p1/3122452.jpg)
And yet, understanding the differences between anxiety disorders (OCD - uh, me) and Aspergers, reading this book and understanding is reasoning, I am considering starting a new career as The Rain Man.
![Katy](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1272182283p1/3635200.jpg)
Oh and Amanda? Being on the autistic spectrum is not the same as having "special needs" Just be careful on that, as someone who's sister has Asperger's I'm quite offended by that!
![Samantha](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1302927763p1/5274364.jpg)
![Alice](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1285199742p1/1247026.jpg)
![Sophie Williams](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
No? Well, never mind then...