Dave Schaafsma's Reviews > The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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Dave Schaafsma's review
bookshelves: best-books-ever, fiction-20th-century, best-ya-ever, autism, ya-autism, ya-spring-2014, eng-240-sum-14, eng-240-spr-15, ya-fall-2016
Feb 23, 2009
bookshelves: best-books-ever, fiction-20th-century, best-ya-ever, autism, ya-autism, ya-spring-2014, eng-240-sum-14, eng-240-spr-15, ya-fall-2016
Read 2 times. Last read October 24, 2017 to October 30, 2017.
Re-read for my Fall 2017 YAL class.
One of the best YA books ever, wonderful and surprising on so many levels. Very moving. As a parent of a kid with autism and another kid who is spectrum-y, it hits home for me in ways it might not for others. As with many mysteries, it features some misdirection; it appears to be about a kid with Asperger's Syndrome investigating a mystery about a dead dog in the manner of his hero (and also Aspergerish) Sherlock Holmes, but becomes an even richer and ever widening investigation of human tragedy and mystery and the complex nature of love and grief. I find it very moving, having read it several times.
My feeling this time? That almost half of the book is about the London trip when Christopher goes to see his estranged mother, and maybe that's a little too long; it makes the story into a kind of movie thriller of sorts, when the heart of the book for me is about mysteries, a dog murdered and just what that means for Christopher and his family, relationships, love, the grief and despair of dealing with a kid with special needs, that heartbreak, all stuff I have been through. I was divorced in the process of trying to deal with the anguish and despair and grief of discovering my son had autism, at the same time trying to do everything we could to try to reverse the process. So I could empathize with the parents.
One thing that is different in recent readings is that I have watched and rewatched the BBC Sherlock and the American Elementary and I have this as background for a very Sherlock-focused book (it's Christopher's favorite set of stories). I also have been reading Agatha Christie Poirot mysteries, so I have that related background. And, one course I have been teaching focuses on the relationships between psychiatry, the psychic/supernatural, horror/fantasy, spirituality, the literar vs the rational and logical, and some of that figures very much in this book. I had forgotten Christopher talks of faith and ghosts in this book with respect to logic and Reason. There's a consideration of metaphor and story for the purpose of making meaning, since this first person story is told by Christopher for a school project, a story of ever widening mysteries of life. I admit to tears in several places, earned tears from Haddon.
One of the best YA books ever, wonderful and surprising on so many levels. Very moving. As a parent of a kid with autism and another kid who is spectrum-y, it hits home for me in ways it might not for others. As with many mysteries, it features some misdirection; it appears to be about a kid with Asperger's Syndrome investigating a mystery about a dead dog in the manner of his hero (and also Aspergerish) Sherlock Holmes, but becomes an even richer and ever widening investigation of human tragedy and mystery and the complex nature of love and grief. I find it very moving, having read it several times.
My feeling this time? That almost half of the book is about the London trip when Christopher goes to see his estranged mother, and maybe that's a little too long; it makes the story into a kind of movie thriller of sorts, when the heart of the book for me is about mysteries, a dog murdered and just what that means for Christopher and his family, relationships, love, the grief and despair of dealing with a kid with special needs, that heartbreak, all stuff I have been through. I was divorced in the process of trying to deal with the anguish and despair and grief of discovering my son had autism, at the same time trying to do everything we could to try to reverse the process. So I could empathize with the parents.
One thing that is different in recent readings is that I have watched and rewatched the BBC Sherlock and the American Elementary and I have this as background for a very Sherlock-focused book (it's Christopher's favorite set of stories). I also have been reading Agatha Christie Poirot mysteries, so I have that related background. And, one course I have been teaching focuses on the relationships between psychiatry, the psychic/supernatural, horror/fantasy, spirituality, the literar vs the rational and logical, and some of that figures very much in this book. I had forgotten Christopher talks of faith and ghosts in this book with respect to logic and Reason. There's a consideration of metaphor and story for the purpose of making meaning, since this first person story is told by Christopher for a school project, a story of ever widening mysteries of life. I admit to tears in several places, earned tears from Haddon.
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Reading Progress
February 23, 2009
– Shelved
September 17, 2012
– Shelved as:
best-books-ever
September 17, 2012
– Shelved as:
fiction-20th-century
September 25, 2012
– Shelved as:
best-ya-ever
September 26, 2012
– Shelved as:
autism
December 23, 2012
– Shelved as:
ya-autism
November 18, 2013
– Shelved as:
ya-spring-2014
June 1, 2014
–
Started Reading
June 1, 2014
– Shelved as:
eng-240-sum-14
December 28, 2014
– Shelved as:
eng-240-spr-15
November 9, 2016
– Shelved as:
ya-fall-2016
November 9, 2016
–
Finished Reading
October 24, 2017
–
Started Reading
October 30, 2017
–
Finished Reading
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Sarah
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rated it 5 stars
Mar 01, 2015 07:26AM
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![Edward](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1708955667p1/53685632.jpg)
![Dave Schaafsma](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661286030p1/269235.jpg)
I hope so, too. There are more coming out, actually, but this is one of the very best.
As to Holmes and Asperger's, I don't know where I heard Doyle had Asperger's and/or depicted Holmes as having it. Could just be a Facebook "fact," but I agree, the original Holmes wasn't as Aspergerish as the Cumberbatch and also the American version, Elementary, with Lucy Liu as Watson, and Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes. Actually, they started an autism thread recently on Elementary! Holmes begins a relationship with a woman who self identifies as autistic!
![Cecily](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480285828p1/1199525.jpg)
As to the stage show, which originated at the National Theatre in London, it was filmed, so you may be able to find it online. It was a very creative and incredibly powerful production.
![Dave Schaafsma](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661286030p1/269235.jpg)
![Dave Schaafsma](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661286030p1/269235.jpg)
![Greta G](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1525435609p1/45248887.jpg)
![Dave Schaafsma](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661286030p1/269235.jpg)
![Greta G](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1525435609p1/45248887.jpg)
"Bachelor’s wives and maid’s children are well taught."
![Dave Schaafsma](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661286030p1/269235.jpg)
![Ram](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1664441944p1/2220787.jpg)
Getting a personal interpretation for the book is like shining a light on a work of art from an unexpected angle and seeing new things.
![Czarny Pies](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1400687408p1/29160274.jpg)
![Greta G](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1525435609p1/45248887.jpg)
Ha no, it's an old British English expression. I found it when I was searching for an equivalent for a Dutch expression "De beste stuurlui staan aan wal". Literal translation: "The best helmsmen stand on shore".
![Dave Schaafsma](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661286030p1/269235.jpg)
![JimZ](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1575257175p1/99765491.jpg)
You are quite welcome. In keeping with your exchanges with Greta and sayings/expressions, I came across a saying last week I think in English Pastoral by James Rebanks thatI found to be clever....I guess it's Irish: You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind