a novel by mark haddon
Mark Haddon’s novel is actually written by his main character, Christopher Boone. Christopher is an autistic 15 year old boy who sets out to write a murder mystery novel after discovering his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, dead in her yard with a garden fork sticking out of him.
His neighbor, Mrs. Shears, the owner of the dog, assumes Christopher killed her dog. Christopher decides to investigate to discover the true culprit. Because of Christopher’s autism, he faces some challenges.
In the process of investigating the dog’s murder, Christopher has to step outside of his comfort zone and interview his neighbors, who are really strangers to him even though they live on the same street. Christopher records everything in his book.
Christopher’s dad finds out that Christopher is “minding other people’s business” by going around investigating and makes Christopher promise to stop. Christopher finds a way around this and continues. His dad discovers the book and, after a brief altercation, confiscates it from Christopher.
Christopher later searches for the hidden book and discovers a bunch of letters to himself from his mother, whom his dad told him had dies in the hospital of a heart attack. These letters, though, were dated after she had supposedly died. Christopher becomes sick because, not being able to lie, is traumatized that his dad would have lied to him about the death of his mother. He curls up on the bed, vomits, and groans for hours until his dad comes home to find him laying in his own vomit.
Christopher’s dad is angry but more concerned about how Christopher has been affected. He cleans his son up and confesses to lying about Christopher’s mom’s death, corroborating an earlier conversation Christopher had with his neighbor Mrs. Alexander. Christopher’s dad also confesses to killing Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s dog, out of anger, after a verbal fight with Mrs. Shears.
Christopher now cannot trust his dad and, suspecting that since his dad killed the dog, he might kill again, he “escapes” from home to go find his mother who is living in London with Mr. Shears.
After a long and brave journey made even more challenging by his autism, Christopher finally finds the home of his mother. Christopher’s mom is living with Mr. Shears and tries to keep Christopher with her, causing conflict in her relationship with Mr. Shears.
Christopher’s mom then rents a room in Swindon and eventually agrees to let Christopher’s dad see Christopher on a regular basis. Christopher, however, is afraid of his father and wants him to go to jail for killing the dog. His dad gets Christopher a dog in an effort to repair his relationship with his son. Christopher goes on to do very well in his A-maths, determined to eventually become a scientist
Christopher autistic characteristics are that he is a mathematical savant, doesn’t like talking to strangers, prefers things to be straight forward, can not lie and must tell things as they are (except for his “white lies” where he tells the truth but not the whole truth). Christopher owns a pet rat named Toby, has a photographic memory he can rewind like a TIVO. Christopher hates the colors yellow and brown but loves red, is kind of superstitious when determining whether or not he is going to have a “black day” or a very good day. Christopher would also prefer to be in space alone away from people who can be confusing in their expressions.
An excellent read, this book kept me engaged and provided a point of view that was refreshing and illuminating. The general description of Christopher and his autism is believable with respect to the autistic children I have had experience with. I would highly recommend this book to anybody as enjoyable, informative and engaging.
Mark Haddon’s novel is actually written by his main character, Christopher Boone. Christopher is an autistic 15 year old boy who sets out to write a murder mystery novel after discovering his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, dead in her yard with a garden fork sticking out of him.
His neighbor, Mrs. Shears, the owner of the dog, assumes Christopher killed her dog. Christopher decides to investigate to discover the true culprit. Because of Christopher’s autism, he faces some challenges.
In the process of investigating the dog’s murder, Christopher has to step outside of his comfort zone and interview his neighbors, who are really strangers to him even though they live on the same street. Christopher records everything in his book.
Christopher’s dad finds out that Christopher is “minding other people’s business” by going around investigating and makes Christopher promise to stop. Christopher finds a way around this and continues. His dad discovers the book and, after a brief altercation, confiscates it from Christopher.
Christopher later searches for the hidden book and discovers a bunch of letters to himself from his mother, whom his dad told him had dies in the hospital of a heart attack. These letters, though, were dated after she had supposedly died. Christopher becomes sick because, not being able to lie, is traumatized that his dad would have lied to him about the death of his mother. He curls up on the bed, vomits, and groans for hours until his dad comes home to find him laying in his own vomit.
Christopher’s dad is angry but more concerned about how Christopher has been affected. He cleans his son up and confesses to lying about Christopher’s mom’s death, corroborating an earlier conversation Christopher had with his neighbor Mrs. Alexander. Christopher’s dad also confesses to killing Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s dog, out of anger, after a verbal fight with Mrs. Shears.
Christopher now cannot trust his dad and, suspecting that since his dad killed the dog, he might kill again, he “escapes” from home to go find his mother who is living in London with Mr. Shears.
After a long and brave journey made even more challenging by his autism, Christopher finally finds the home of his mother. Christopher’s mom is living with Mr. Shears and tries to keep Christopher with her, causing conflict in her relationship with Mr. Shears.
Christopher’s mom then rents a room in Swindon and eventually agrees to let Christopher’s dad see Christopher on a regular basis. Christopher, however, is afraid of his father and wants him to go to jail for killing the dog. His dad gets Christopher a dog in an effort to repair his relationship with his son. Christopher goes on to do very well in his A-maths, determined to eventually become a scientist
Christopher autistic characteristics are that he is a mathematical savant, doesn’t like talking to strangers, prefers things to be straight forward, can not lie and must tell things as they are (except for his “white lies” where he tells the truth but not the whole truth). Christopher owns a pet rat named Toby, has a photographic memory he can rewind like a TIVO. Christopher hates the colors yellow and brown but loves red, is kind of superstitious when determining whether or not he is going to have a “black day” or a very good day. Christopher would also prefer to be in space alone away from people who can be confusing in their expressions.
An excellent read, this book kept me engaged and provided a point of view that was refreshing and illuminating. The general description of Christopher and his autism is believable with respect to the autistic children I have had experience with. I would highly recommend this book to anybody as enjoyable, informative and engaging.
