The world of detective fiction has been crowded for centuries now with authors who try to make sense of this crazy world. The greats often have an easy time making every tale into a bestseller, finding ways to tap into our shared psyche of a good reveal. However, there have been few stories that have quite the turns of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon, which starts with the murder of a dog and slowly comes to be an exploration of protagonist Christopher's personal life. It isn't just a story about crime, but one that Haddon seeks to make about understanding what goes on inside Christopher; an autistic in everything but actual wording. Few books convey the inner struggle of autism with as much clarity and empathetic wording than this, and it makes for one of the more entertaining crime books of the young century so far.
One thing that must be understood about the book is that it's all from the perspective of Christopher. That means that a few things become staggering from the early passages. The first chapter is "2" and he's seen holding the dog. While he says that he's doing it because that's what he does with dogs, one has to wonder if he's secretly confessing a crime, or if something more is afoot. After all, why cut out the first chapter? What eventually becomes revealed is that Christopher is using the book to explore something personal inside of him. He's expressing himself in the way that he obsesses over detail and understands the world. The reason that the book starts at "2" is that he loves prime numbers. He's also not fully able to understand human behavior and loves dogs because they don't talk and thus cannot lie to him. He doesn't get jokes and prefers to study for a big math exam that would make him smart in a special school full of "stupid" people.
He doesn't mean to be brash, but this is all part of his condition. He also claims that he has no choice but to be honest with the audience, which may or may not pit him as an unreliable narrator. However, Haddon isn't interested in twisting the text. He really loves Christopher and wants his story to be told in a way that speaks to his sensibility. That is why some passages are lengthy dissections of game show scenarios and math-based elements. He loves logic because he is a logical person. He is a bit anti-social but finds ways to talk himself into the challenges of life. In fact, the mystery is theoretically resolved halfway through. In some ways, it's only the basis for a bigger mystery in his life that involves a hidden letter and a trip to London that ends with the satisfaction that he was capable of going on such a journey.
What is arguably Haddon's best quality as a writer is how he manages to show the internal working of Christopher without sacrificing the realism around him. While the book can't but help focus on how he solves problems, he is still an autistic child working his way through a world that doesn't understand him. The story reveals conversations that amount to strangers asking Christopher if he is normal. It is an attempt to show how anxious this would make anyone, suggesting that instead of understanding Christopher their own interior monologue mocks him. In that moment Haddon has created an understanding that anyone can feel. Christopher not being able to hold a normal conversation ends up making everyone confused and angry. They can't solve Christopher even as he tries to solve everything else.
The book moves at a brisk pace and is full of elaborate diagrams that illustrate Christopher's point more clearly. While this is far from the first piece of fiction to emphasize autism, this is one that does a powerful job of making the reader deal straight-on with his behavior. They're forced to go on these seemingly meaningless tangents to understand how he reasons everyday life. For some, it will just seem like gibberish. For those who accept that it's a story of empathy, it is sometimes most powerful when dealing directly with math (it even has an appendix) or how Christopher processes the editing of his own book.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" feels like one of those novels that shouldn't work because of how winding the path is. However, Christopher's journey is one that is slight enough to reveal that this wasn't about the mystery of a dead dog, but the mystery of being different. It's an entertaining, emotional story that only gets better as Christopher gains personal confidence and discovers more about himself. In a way, his love of mystery and red herrings is the most honest thing he tells in the story, as that's what the title is. For those who can get past the simplicity of the action, it's a fairly affecting read and one that will hopefully stand the test of time in raising awareness and empathy towards protagonists on the spectrum.
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