The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

By: Mark Haddon

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition similar to autism. He doesn't like to be touched or meet new people, he cannot make small talk, and he hates the colors brown and yellow. He is a math whiz with a very logical brain who loves solving puzzles that have definite answers.

One night, he observes that the neighbor's dog has been killed, since it is not moving and has a large garden fork stuck in its body. Christopher knows this is wrong. He has never left his street on his own before, but now he'll have to in order to find out who killed the dog. What he discovers will shake the very foundation of his perfectly ordered life.

Critically acclaimed author Mark Haddon, a two-time BAFTA winner, crafts a stunning masterpiece that is funny, honest, and incredibly moving.

©2003 Mark Haddon (P)2003 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2004

"The novel brims with touching, ironic humor. The result is an eye-opening work in a unique and compelling literary voice." (Publishers Weekly)
"Fresh and inventive." (Booklist)
"Smart, honest and wrenching....Will quickly hook you in." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Gloriously eccentric and wonderfully intelligent." (The Boston Globe)

Fabulous!

I simply loved this book! The narrator really nailed the character of Christopher. The author did a fabulous job of tapping in to the thought processes of a boy with high-functioning autism.

Everything is in place - except for the lack of pictures. I bought a copy of the book, so that I can read it again with the benefit of the illustrations. This is one time when a supplementary PDF file containing all of Christopher's pictures would have been much appreciated.

Nevertheless, this audiobook deserves all five stars of my rating.

Suprisingly enjoyable

For some reason I wasn't that excited to listen to this book but so many people told me to read it and it was so short I decided to go ahead with it. I really enjoyed it! It is a story about an autistic boy who wants to solve a mystery and it is written from his point of view. It is a good story that kept me interested to the point that I would sit in my car just to keep listening. I would recommend it for its emotional power.

Brilliant Insight into High Functioning Autism

This tale is written from the point of view of a young man with high functioning autism. Through his own eyes and inner monologues, you watch him make sense of the world around him while he problem-solves and satisfies his curiosity. It's not the type of book I'd normally pick up, but I ended up quite glad that I did.

Good book but...

This was a fascinating read but I started to wonder if the author was attempting to win a bet about how many times he could fit the f-word into the book. I'd guess he won the bet.

Great book, but please prepare 1st

What did you love best about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time?

Having a close family member with Asperger's Syndrome I was in an excellent position to understand the character. and this book brought out the situation very clearly, and put me in position to understand it on a first person level, instead of an outsider looking across (not in).

It would benefit from a brief forward so listeners without background would have a better hope of understanding early on in the book.

But aside from all that minor nit, the book is brilliant and could be used as a great teaching tool for many different purposes.

What did you like best about this story?

Try it. expand your horizons.

Absolutely wonderful!

Delightful! I have seen articles and blog posts complaining that this author failed to do his research into Aspergers/Autism. But I disagree. Not all people with Aspergers are the same, just like any other group of people. My 22 year old son has Aspergers and while he is a bit higher functioning than the protagonist of this book I found them very similar. Often I smiled or laughed to myself because I could see Owen so vividly in this boy.

I loved everything about this book. It enchanted me and I found myself fully invested in the story. I generally dislike YA books with a passion, but this one is different. It is a unique little gem of a book.

Very different point of view!

The thought processes of Christopher are quite differently mapped out from so called normal but his life and that of his parents makes anyone stop and think.

Curiously captivating.....

This was an unusual purchase for me but I must say,this book is truly entertaining!!
I just wish there was more to it at the end. This is not one I would listen to more than once either. Still I couldn't peel myself away from it's strange appeal.

A very clever and enjoyable story

I really like how he tied many science and cultural issues through the main character. The performance was very well done.

pitch perfect reading

i think many stories told from the perspective of a disabled child would be put to audio in a way that the narrator would feel compelled to speak with some sort of speech impediment...i'm really glad that Jeff Woodman didn't take this route...i was very happy with his narration, thought it perfect for the main character and I really liked the story overall…there are some very funny moments, many sad moments and not knowing someone with this affliction, I can only hope I am more enlightened by this experience.