I must be the last person in the universe to discover Mark Haddon's innovative story, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. So I feel I've missed the bandwagon reading this one. I'd heard about it often but never got around to reading it until recently. What an unusual book, obviously written by someone who really understands autism in young people. The first person narration by an autistic high school boy, clearly frustrated by his own attempts to make sense of the world around him (and to solve the mystery of a neighbor's murdered dog) is engaging and moving. The narration maintains a level, upbeat pace in keeping with the narrator's way of perceiving the world, even though he goes through some really difficult issues during the course of the book. He also demonstrates significant character growth, but it's realistic - there are no miracles here, just a growing ability to cope with increasingly difficult and confusing situations. The narrative in itself is a clever story, but the choice of using the young man to bring the threads of the mystery together is extremely clever. Of course the murdered dog is only the tip of the iceberg and it's a clue to a lot of issues that have been kept hidden from the young man. Eventually, he makes sense of the clues, has some adventures, and comes out a stronger person for it. The setting is in England (Swindon and London) and the details of place and character are marvelous, particularly as the reader is seeing them through the eyes of an extremely detail-oriented narrator. I'm sorry it took me this long to read the book and I highly recommend it.
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