Mikaylah

the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime  mark haddon ====The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was written by Mark Haddon and published in 2003. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year award and also received the 2004 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book. The story takes place in Swindon, Whitshire. The book has sold more than 2 million copies but has received criticism for “not being entirely accurate” when illustrating the thoughts of a 15-year old boy with Autism. ====
 * ==about the book: ==

about the author:
====Mark Haddon was born September 26, 1962 in Northampton, England. He studied English at Merton College in Oxford and held many jobs, one including working with children with special needs. He lived in Boston for a period of time before moving back to England with his wife. Haddon’s first children’s book, Gilbert’s Gobstopper written in 1987 was followed by many other self-illustrated children’s books. His first adult novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is the novel he is most famous for. Though he was very proud of this works, he recieved heavy critiscm because the public was accusing him of being inaccurate. They questioned how he knew what the mind of a 15 year old autistic boy was like. He defended his book by saying that it was just the idea of the character and that no where inside the book does it say the information was truthful. He is now a highly respected author. ==== ||= ||

characters and conflict:[[image:http://cdn.greatdogsite.com/watermark/Standard%20Poodle-2%20years-Black-1187047982.jpg width="330" height="547" align="left"]]
The story follows the self-written book/diary of Chrsitopher John Francis Boone who is investigating the murder of his neighbor Mrs. Shear’s poodle. The black dog, named Wellington becomes the center of the book as the story unravels and you learn more about Christopher’s past as he talks to the many “witnesses” around his neighborhood. These friends include, Mrs. Alexander, a kind old neighbor who reveals dangerous secrets and Christopher’s two major psychologists: Mr. Jeavons and Siobhan. Siobhan is the character who assigns Christopher the tasks of writing a book in the first place. The only other MAJOR character in the book is Christopher’s father, Ed Boone. The book is very interesting because of the way that Chrisptopher narrates. His Autistic mind allows the reader to view this murder-mystery in a very indirect way. themes: -finding a steady and straightforward answer may be harder than coping with the problem. -digging in other people's business may lead to an unwelcome find. my review: Curiouser and Curiouser… //The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime// is a wonderfully insightful book about the mind of a child with Autism. This abstract way of looking at life really opens your eyes to disabled people and how their thinking affects their reactions to daily situations. The book is written in the style of a diary which makes it very personal and easy to picture in your mind. While the main character does not always come right out and say facts explicitly, he alludes to them in riddle-like ways which makes the book fun and interesting to read. The book was very well written, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a unique, one-of-a-kind read. 5 paw-prints!!

=style:= In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon uses sentence structure, a diary-like format and experimental language to illustrate the story of a young autistic boy trying to solve a neighborhood mystery. Mark Haddon uses various length sentences to supplement this book. Christopher, the main character, is writing a book himself and so the whole entire novel is in his perspective. Since he has Autism, the way that his speaks and writes is very unique. When he has a thought, he just sort of writes and doesn’t stop the sentence until the thought has been fully explained. Christopher also writes in a very long-winded fashion, making it seem as though his mind is thinking faster than he can physically put the words on paper. There are many instances of this in the book. “The word metaphor means carrying something from one place to another, and it comes from the Greek words meta (which means from one place to another) and ferein (which means to carry), and it is used when you describe something that it isn’t. This means that the word metaphor is a metaphor” (Haddon, 11). This quote thoroughly demonstrates the variation of sentence structure in the book. In a literary review, the writer states, “And as for the sentence structure: it was efficient, but not emotive, and perfectly composed. Just like him.” (Guardian.com). This statement points out the similarities between Christopher and the way that he writes in his book. Mark Haddon’s sentence structure in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime effortlessly demonstrates an author’s ability to convey a character’s emotions and thoughts through the way they speak or write. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is written in a diary like format. The main character is writing a book and this is how it is narrated. Mark Haddon uses this technique to demonstrate Christopher’s thoughts better and allow the reader a greater understanding of what goes on in his life. “I am writing a murder mystery novel…I wanted to write about something real” (Haddon, 7). This quote, directly from Christopher’s book explains the purpose of his book to the reader. Kirkus reviews said,” A teacher said that he should write something that he ‘would like to read himself’-and so he embarks on this book, a murder mystery that will reveal who killed Mrs. Shear’s dog” (Kirkus). Mark Haddon throws the reader on a fabulous journey because his stylistic elements allow the reader to read a book inside of a book. So, technically, you are not reading Mark Haddon’s book; you are reading the book that Mark Haddon’s character, Christopher Boone wrote. Mark Haddon’s stylistic choice of having the main character write the book for him is a unique decision which adds depth and perspective to the book. While reading this grand murder mystery written by Christopher Boone, ergo Mark Haddon, our narrator makes many references to math problems and famous situations. Being and autistic idiot-savant cause Christopher to have many interesting thoughts. Many of them involve complicated mat equations. In some of the chapters, there are even illustrations to demonstrate exactly what Christopher was thinking. My personal favorite aspect of the book is that the chapters increase by prime numbers. Since Christopher only likes prime numbers, his chapters follow that sequence. “Chapters in books are usually given the cardinal numbers 1, 2, 3,4,5,6 and so on. but I have decided to give my chapters prime numbers 2,3,5,7,11,13 and so on because I like prime number” (Haddon, 9). This makes the book unique and relatable to the character. “Starting the book with chapter 2 was completely logical…for him” (Guardian.com). Also, Christopher tries to explain complicated math problems to the reader. Jay Mclnerney of The New York Times said this about Christopher: “He is incapable of lying, of understanding metaphors or jokes. He’s also incapable of reading any but the most basic of human facial expressions” (Mclnerney). This shows how Christopher is different than the average narrator. Mark Haddon’s unique use of experimental style techniques when writing really helps to set Christopher apart from any other protagonist you’ve ever read about. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon uses various elements of style to help convey not only theme but a character that makes his writing unique, interesting and distinguished.