Minimal
stressed for motivation and achievement2006-02-10
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
All those years of reading sci-fi... what a waste. I’ve just come to the conclusion I’ve been reading all the wrong books because The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time knocks the spots off everything else I’ve ever read. If you want to know why, read the rest of this post. If you’d rather find out for yourself (thereby avoiding spoilers), go to Amazon and order it... NOW! :)
[review with minor spoilers follows...]
Written from the perspective of a 15 year old kid with Asperger’s syndrome (sounds rather like autism to me), the book’s use of simplistic language and poorly structured sentences lends it a convincingly childlike quality from the get-go. Halfway through the book, I felt this kept me rather emotionally detached and I even wondered where the book was going. Then, BLAM! — a shot of raw emotion delivered in the same matter-of-fact style and it blows you away.
Although it tailed off again in the second half, the finale was shattering. The last 5 or 10 pages even brought a tear to the eye, for god’s sake! Terrific stuff. And absolutely heart-breaking. It’s this contrast between the lead character’s simplistic outlook on life and the complexities of real life emotions that makes the book as strong as it is. Little wonder it won the Whitbread Book of the Year award. I just hope I’ve not spoiled it for you. But then, I did warn you about that!
I do have a vested interest though as my eldest son (just had his eighth birthday) has Aspergers Syndrome. Myself and my wife really related with the main character and although fictional, there was a very authentic feel to the story.
: 9:51 pm
However disappointed I was by Curious Incident, it was still a lot less disappointing than The Da Vinci Code. Now there's a story in need of a decent writer to tell it properly... I actually expect it to be better as a movie than it was as a book.
It is strange how little we often know about people we work with on a daily basis!
It'll be great to see you again if you do get the chance to pop into Nonlinear. :)
: 8:47 pm : 6:22 pm<< Home
Archives
April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007
