While the title may be insufferably long, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon offers a glimpse inside the troubled mind of a child with Asperger’s. The novel is a quick and easy read and certainly worth picking up.

Framed as a murder-mystery in which the victim is canine and the suspects quirky suburbanites, the book reveals a first-person narrative from the mind of Christopher Boone, a 15-year old with Asperger Syndrome. Here I must say that it seemed debated whether he is merely autistic or more specifically suffering from Asperger’s, though I obviously favor the latter evaluation. Asperger’s is within the spectrum of autism but is defined more particularly by victims’ inability to effectively process the emotions of those around them; empathy is near impossible, if not void completely. It is from within this confused prison that Boone must do his sleuthing.

At times hilarious and others heartbreaking, I throughoughly enjoyed the read. I came away not so much with an appreciation of the autistic mind, but rather a deeper understanding of the “normal” or “socialized” psyche. The way in which Boone is addressed by strangers, the reactions of neighbors to his probing questions, the anger of his father–they all call to light not the functional problems of the autistic person but instead the social ineptitude and insecurities of society at large.

The Bottom Line:

Worth the read. Entertaining and amusing. Meaningful without becoming preachy. Three and three-quarter stars.

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