Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I have just finished reading “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (via Amazon)

I have to admit, after reading the first few pages, i was unenthusiastic about reading on because it seemed rather boring. I feel bad saying that actually because the protagonist, Christopher, has behaviour problems and its clearly a very good insight into how someone like him lives their life, and i decided i would give the book the benefit of the doubt and carrying on reading.He is really intelligent and loves Maths and Science, yet is freaked out by anything coloured brown and yellow and struggles with things which we find normal and take for granted.

I’m really glad i persevered with this book as it is actually really interesting once you get into it. I was fascinated how someone who likes order and familiarity in his life actually copes when his life is turned upside down. How he manages to get from his own house, and the small area outside it which he understands, to an address in London of all places is truly amazing, especially with all the barriers on the way. It makes you appreciate just how hard it is for someone like him to do what everyone else does without problems. I found myself feeling a bit choked up by the end because you just want everything to be rectified.

I give the book 7/10 because i finally understand why this book has received so much praise. I would recommend it to people who want to see what the fuss is about, but i think its one of those books which you can be unsure whether you like it or not. It’s worth a read!

World Book Night

Image via Wikipedia

World Book Night was launched yesterday evening (2nd December), a vision which sees 20,000 people being chosen to distribute 1 million free books to people they know, in a bid to get more people reading.

World Book Night finalises giveaway list – The Bookseller.com

The list of books available to giveaway goes as follows:

Kate Atkinson - Case Histories (Black Swan)

Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin (Virago)

Alan Bennett - A Life Like Other People’s (Faber/Profile)

John Le Carré - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (Penguin)

Lee Child - Killing Floor (Bantam)

Carol Ann Duffy - The World’s Wife (Picador)

Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Vintage)

Seamus Heaney - Selected Poems (Faber)

Marian Keyes - Rachel’s Holiday (Poolbeg/Penguin)

Mohsin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Penguin)

Ben Macintyre - Agent Zigzag (Bloomsbury)

Gabriel García Márquez – Love in the Time of Cholera (Penguin)

Yann Martel - Life of Pi (Canongate)

Alexander Masters - Stuart: A Life Backwards (Fourth Estate)

Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance (Faber)

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (Sceptre)

Toni Morrison - Beloved (Vintage)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun (Fourth Estate)

David Nicholls - One Day (Hodder)

Philip Pullman - Northern Lights (Scholastic)

Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front (Vintage)

C J Sansom - Dissolution (Pan)

Nigel Slater - Toast (Fourth Estate)

Muriel Spark – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Penguin)

Sarah Waters - Fingersmith (Virago)

As you can see, it is quite a good selection of books. Its quite a good incentive to get more people reading books, and as it is backed by various publishers, it gives them a good marketing strategy for the future.

However, one could argue that those less charitable people who are chosen to distribute free books may decide to sell them and make themselves a profit. But of course, the books will still be read by anyone who gets hold of them (whether they buy them or get them free) because that’s the whole point of a book – to be read!

This whole experiment is basically like a larger-scale version of buying books and lending them to people within your group of friends, family and acquaintances, only the books are free to acquire, your friends keep the books AND get hold of some high quality reading material! It just seems like a great way to spread the word about a good book and ensure more people have to opportunity to experience reading such a book!

As Margaret Atwood is quoted in the above article: ”World Book Night is truly an astonishing vision! It mirrors the way books really do move in the world – from one passionate reader to another. But this one night will be white water rafting, with books!”

So true!