Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #159804 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-18
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

An amazing adventure with a unique guide
So much has been written about this book that it is hard to come up with original ways of describing the genius of it. So, I will pretend that you know nothing about it. The book starts with a murder... the murder of a neighborhood dog. The narrator of the book is falsely accused of being the killer so he decides to solve the crime and discover the true perpetrator. It doesn't sound too interesting except that the narrator of the story is a 16-year old autistic boy by the name of Christopher Boone. Christopher decides to both solve the crime and write about his investigation in a book for a school project.

Solving the crime will be difficult for Christopher for several reasons related to his autism. He is unable to understand why people react the way they do. He can't decode metaphors such as I laughed my head off, since the person still has their head. He can't look at people and use their facial expressions as a clue to what they are saying. He becomes overwhelmed by strangers, crowds, loud noises, and being touched and throws himself on the floor, rocking and moaning when he feels overwhelmed. But solving the mystery is only part of the story as Christopher's investigation reveals something else that he could never have expected.

The story itself is a framework that Haddon uses to show what autism might feel like from inside the mind of an autistic person. There is a logic to the mind of Christopher and by using the first person Haddon makes Christopher a believable and understandable and sympathetic character. This makes even the common place become engrossing as we struggle with Christopher to perform the simplest of tasks. For example, buying a ticket and getting on a train becomes a page-turner as Christopher struggles with crowds and noises and smells.

Haddon has written a brilliant novel that has that rare quality of being worth re-reading. I don't know if this book actually reflects the mind of a person with autism but I do know that it is thoroughly fascinating, unique, and enjoyable. I can strongly recommend this book.

The Logical Book
Christopher John Francis Boone is my kind of guy. He's really good at mathematics, he lives for logic, and he makes sure his life is in order using lists, maps, diagrams and graphs. Surprises are definitely not welcome, and he likes everything to be predictable and according to a prescribed schedule.

On the negative side however, he's only fifteen, he's autistic, he's got more phobias than Adrian Monk, and his fractured family haven't yet learned how to cope with his illness.

Christopher often determines what type of day he's going to have by the number of cars of a specific color that pass in a row, and when he finds the neighbor's dog impaled on a garden fork, it must have been a Black Day indeed. The death of poor Wellington brings out his inner Sherlock, and he is determined to solve the case, working in his logical fashion, despite the objections of his father.

Unfortunately, this investigation uncovers a lot more than the identity of the canine garden fork killer, and he is faced with several difficult emotional issues which his mind is unable to handle.

Brilliantly told in the words of Christopher himself, this novel allows the reader a rare look into the world of autism, or as much of it as we presently understand, and shows clearly the challenges an autistic person faces on a daily basis.

The mathematics and logic puzzles may not be for everyone, but I especially liked "The Monty Hall Problem", which I pondered for a long time before agreeing that the "vos Savant" solution is the most logical. Now at least I know that if I were ever called up for a game show that required me to choose from three closed doors, I should cross my fingers and switch as quickly as possible, even if one third of me knows I'll still get Monty's goat.

Eloquently told in simple language, this book is a must read for young adults and old adults alike, especially those with a penchant for a drastically different outlook on life.

Amanda Richards

Curiously inconsequential
It begins well, but a quirky narrative structure is not enough to sustain a book in which the plotline is so hackneyed. Christopher's father is a convincing mix of emotions, but the mother is a patronising sketch (her letters, with their contrived spelling errors, are a real low point), suggesting that as a novelist Mr Haddon still has a long way to go.

I am aware that this is written as a children's book, but there are far more accomplished writers for children (e.g. Elizabeth Laird, Anne Fine, Alan Gibbons, Geraldine McCaughrean) who can construct an engrossing narrative without recourse to such gimmicks-as that, sadly, is all that Christopher amounts to in this flimsy setting.

A promising idea, disappointingly executed.