Review of the curious incident of the dog in the night-time 12/6

            In the dead of night, Christopher Boone enters Mrs. Shear's garden and finds the mutilated corpse of Wellington the dog. There is a pitchfork sticking out of the center of the dog's body, and Christopher kneels down to hold the dog in his arms as his heart grows heavy. With a love for dogs and strong sense of justice, he seeks out the murderer, using all of his knowledge of detective work to bring this cutthroat to justice. This starts the interesting adventure of the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, a story like no other.
            The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon, is an entertaining and well written novel that provides many good reasons to pick it up and read it. The main plot of the novel is not straightforward, but well constructed enough to comprehend what is happening in the novel and be able to deduce the main plot. It is a great example of both a quest story and an English Bildungsroman. The book does a great job of providing a first-person point of view of how Christopher, who has Asperger's syndrome, sees and reacts to the world around him. I learned a great deal about people who have Asperger's syndrome, including their levels of genius in certain subjects as well as their levels of paranoia of large, unknown areas and strangers. The miniature subplots about some of Christopher's experiences have also helped me to gain a better understanding of him. Other characters in the novel, such as his mother and father, are also well developed and realistic. His father's caring attitude for Christopher but also frustration with him at times and his mother's frustration with Christopher and the sadness she has from leaving him are traits you can see in people in real life.  Haddon's attention to mathematical and environmental detail is also something to be admired.
           This novel, however, is not flawless. Haddon has a tendency to over elaborate, which causes the novel to drag on. I understand that Christopher is going through a similar problem of over elaborating, but Haddon's tendencies are just unnecessary to Christopher's development. Also, some of the chapter's in the novel are subplots that bare little importance and relevance to the novel. We do not need to know about every menial activity Christopher undergoes or every minuscule mistake Christopher makes. Note, however, that these occurrences are infrequent and do not completely hinder the overall reading experience of the novel. In conclusion, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time is a spectacular novel with great characterization and attention to detail that provides you with a new perspective on those who are mentally-challenged.