Jump into a mind of a man destined to educate the world of a sever disability- Asperger’s Syndrome. This disability skews everyday communication skills yet gives you the ability to understand the most advanced mathematical equation. The mind of an ‘Aspergian’ is complex, high functioning, and extremely difficult for outsiders to understand, yet somehow Mark Haddon has found a loophole into connecting with such a brilliant mind. Through his work with patients with autism as an early man, Haddon goes further than understanding how these men and women operate. In his award winning novel, including the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize Overall Best First Book Award, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Time, Haddon embodies a fifteen year old boy with a sever case of Aspergers. Haddon’s clear, sympathetic writing indulges his reader with a better understanding of those with mental disabilities.
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, and 23, the list goes on and on. Haddon embraces the protagonist’s, Christopher John Francis Boone, love for mathematics as every chapter is counted by the following prime number. Christopher explains how prime numbers are relative to his own life as “they are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all of your time thinking about them” (Haddon 12). With that, Haddon introduces the beginnings of Christopher’s difficult life. He is able to simply state that although Christopher may think logically, the people surrounding him may not always act in this way.
Not only does Haddon have a keen understanding towards how Christopher might think, he allows his reader’s in on this whimsical world. In between the story following Christopher through two main plots, the devastating death of Wellington, the dog next door, and the liberating journey to finding a lost loved one, Haddon adds many short chapters. Haddon grants his reader the power to find a deeper perceptive towards Christopher’s ideals and thoughts. After Christopher discovers his father had been lying to him for years, Haddon suddenly switches tone. After uncovering the shocking truth Christopher describes the “room [to be] swinging from side to side” (Haddon 113). Strange enough, the next chapter is a flashback of an old teacher of Christopher’s. With this tactic, the reader is motivated to keep reading to find out what next will happen in the plot while he or she is introduced to Christopher’s thoughts on a new, unbiased level.
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Time, Haddon entices his reader with his cool, vivid, clever voice. His ominous description of the “stars which are hundreds and thousands of light- years away from you” brings the reader into a more sympathetic, humbling light (Haddon 126). Throughout this book Haddon weaves a beautifully simple point of view in contrast to the harsh outside world. This book is written for anyone who is willing to open their hearts to a troubled, young boy and his journey to find acceptance- something we all are truly searching for.