The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

[Khilari]

by Mark Haddon

for any of you that read books, this one is awesome!

i haven't been reading books much lately, but my friend lent me this one.

It's about a 15yr old boy with Asperger's Syndrome (a mild form of autism) and a short time in his life. It's written like it's an autobiography, but the author isn't a sufferer of Asperger's.

It's so cool, the chapters are all numbered with prime numbers (2,3,5,7,11 etc) cos the main character (Christopher) like those nos...

and the way it is written really great and makes you think how an autistic person (might) think(s).

from a medical point of view, it's pretty accurate although one can never be sure...


read it! here's an excerpt (it's actually the whole chapter):


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Chapter 13 (page 10)

This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them. Here is a joke, as an example. It is one of Father's.

His face was drawn but the curtains were real

I know why this is meant to be funny. I asked. It is because drawn has three meanings, they are 1) drawn with a pencil, 2) exhausted, and 3) pulled across a window, and meaning 1 refers to both the face and the curtains, meaning 2 refers only to the face, and meaning 3 refers only to the curtains.
If I try to say the joke to myself, making the word mean the three different things at the same time, it is like hearing three different pieces of music at the same time which is uncomfortable and confusing and not nice like white noise. It is like three people trying to talk to you at the same time about different things.
And that is why there are no jokes in this book.

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[anisa22]

i was just gna start a thread asking if anyone had read any good books recently and well, there you go recommending one before ive even asked.... might give it a try, but it does seem more like a book for people who are into medicine.

my recent reads that I'd highly recommend:

Angela's Ashes (and the sequel 'Tis) by Frank McCourt.... about a boy being brought up in a poor strict Roman Catholic Family in Ireland (its a biography).... read them, they're fakin fantastic! couldnt recommend them any more highly. def in my list of faves.

Also read 'A Child called It', 'The Lost Boy' and 'A man named Dave' over the weekend (trilogy)... about the third worst case of child abuse in america in the 60s and how the kid managed to pull though it all and do good out of his bad experiences.... read them. very inspirational on how to overcome traumas in your life, though admittedly, in the latter books, a bit american sickly sweet in places. However, in this case, the emotion is acceptable (even by a cold hearted cow like me!)

[Khilari]

hey thnx for recommendations

but seriously u dont need to be into healthcare stuff at all to like this book

it actually hasnt mentioned any medicy things and im on chapter 183 (which is something like ch 9 or something)



it's just written from an autistic person's perspective



bit like rain man (remember that one? tom cruise, dustin hoffman)





uve prob read it but 'A Suitable Boy' is a great book too.

[anisa22]

well, seeing as you recommend it so strongly, i might take a trip down to smith's at lunch time and buy myself a copy...


am reading a book called 'the story of my face' at the mo... bout some radical protestant sect or sumthin... so far its kinda crap, but i'll let you know if it turns out any better towrds the end.


also bought 'forget you had a daughter' (lol) yday.... bout that dumb ass brit who was carrying drugs and got chucked into a bangkok jail for 4 years.... thought id read it just so i could laugh at her stupidity.... its bound to be a rubbish read, but couldnt find anything else that looked appealing on the bestseller's stack....


also have 'the kid' at home which looks far more exciting (which is why i saved that for last!).


as you guessed, i have read a suitable boy.... it started off well, got a bit outrageous toward sthe middle-endish, but all in all, it was a fun read. though it is far too long to be allowed to be called one book.... by the time i got to the middle i had forgotten what happened at the beginning, and ad to go back to refresh my memory, it is that long!


reading has to be up there as one of my fave passtimes... im a bit of a number 5 (short circuit.... if uve seen the movie, you'll know what im talking bout)


By the way Star.... did you get round to finishing Life of Pi? And according to our deal, you were supposed to read memoirs of a geisha or Harry Potter.... i read that grisham book that you told me to (and still not a grisham fan), so you better keep up with your end of the bargain!

[Khilari]

it was JOHNNY FIVE

and all girls like a suitable boy


and i think you read too many books. you sound like the type who reads on the loo and in the bath and on the bus and on the train and while eating and while conversing with others


when i used to read all the time (years ago) i lost touch with reality. cos u sometimes get sucked into a book and out it down thinking "ok... im not a robot trying to kill my master... where was i before this book?"

dont buy from smiths its so common. waterstones is kooler man

[anisa22]

well... whsmiths: 2 minutes walk away

waterstones: 20 minute tube ride that requires a change to the northern line

i'm gna stick to being uncool.... its more convenient.

but you do get better deals at waterstones with their 3 for 2 offers....

and they have a coffee shop in all the stores

maybe i should think about making a change....


by the way, i never read on the loo.... thats just plain disgusting.... besides, if you're in there long enough to read a book you should spend your time concentrating on other things.... ewwww, and imagine borrowing a book from someone who reads on the loo.... yuck! who knows what kinda germs will be on the pages..... its worse than borrowing a book from the library (they all have bogies and unidentifiable objects stuck on them.... i never borrow library books cos they smell funny)


you would see me reading on the tube etc though.... its better than staring at ure feet throughout the whole journey. theres only so much interest you can fake in looking at your own shoes.....

[Khilari]

whass wrng with the northern line

jus cos its got the oldest signalling system in the uniwerse, the most frequent delays and unfriendly staff... doesnt make it bad.


if the euston waterstones is the nearest to you then lol (=haha)




do u read any books by isaac asimov? i love his stuff (robot dreams). anyway they're turning one of the famous ones from that book (i, robot) into a megablockbuster

i got so excited but then i heard that it stars william smith so i think its going to be an independence day-type cop out



i dunno which library u use but my lib books dont have bogie on them !!!!!! prob cos lots of kids use my local lib so they prob eat the bogie instead.

i dont have any money to buy all the books i want to read, so i cant afford your "luxuries"



i really like reading legends/myth type books but some of the good ones are so hard to read, like homer's oddysey

i have finals in 2 weeks. i shud do some work rather than procrastinate here.