Questions about "The Curious Incident of the Dog ..."

[intotheworld]

I haven't read much of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time , I honestly can't manage much of the book because some of the concepts are painfully over-simplifed for me and it has messed with my enjoyment of this book.

I'm trying to understand what other people I know like about this book.
As I generally value the opinions of people on this forum I'm asking here rather than reading reviews of people I don't know.

Anyway, getting to this questions I wanted to ask...

For those who enjoy this book:

What particularly do you like most about this book?

What do you feel this book is about or the greater values and opinion it represents?

I also may ask another question depending on responses, but the question would provide a lot of information about why the previous questions were asked and I have some speculation that I'm making bad guessing about what people like about this book.

[Jaya]

It's been a while since I read the book but I do like it and I will get round to replying properly sometime soon...probably.

There is a thread about the book here already, but it has some spoilers. Part of the point of the book is to oversimplify concepts.

EDIT: There are a couple of major spoilers in the thread. I'd suggest reading the book to its conclusion before discussing it. It's sometimes difficult to have an in-depth discussion about the nature of a novel when the other person in the conversation hasn't read it in its entirety, and I think this is one of those times.

[intotheworld]

I should better clarify how I've read the book, I do own a copy of the book but have never read it through in a consistent manner. I've read enough that spoilers are irrelevant, but overall I'm just baffled by the book and what relevance the book has in the common perception of autism. From the background that I'm coming from discussing this book with most of people I know generally starts arguments on public perceptions of disability. However, I think the the responses here would be more varied and less about trying to apply the book to real life. I understand the importance of your suggestion of reading a book before complaining about it though (which might be how what I'm asking is perceived, hard to determine online), and I do understand why this is important. Most of my personal conversations with other people about this book were with people who the concept and mention of autism was focused on as one of the most important elements, those I realize this is not likely the perception of the general public.

The book for me presents a handful of sensitive issues and I can't manage to process the book alone in a consistent start to finish manner.

[Jaya]

overall I'm just baffled by the book and what relevance the book has in the common perception of autism

It has no relevance. It is not a book about autism. It is a book about a boy - the protagonist, how he deals with the world, what his neighbours are like, what he's like, the loss of his mother, and above all....a curious incident.

It may help to read the author's points on this. He says that the novel is not about autism, and he certainly never meant the cover to specify Asperger's Syndrome (in the book, Christopher's diagnosis is not made explicit). I think someone in the other thread mentioned something about... how having autism is not what makes a person, like being Austrian...does not define you. A novel from the viewpoint of an Austrian person is not necessarily about him being Austrian. I hope I make sense.

Christopher happens to be a narrator with autism. A narrative is not a plot.

[intotheworld]

I'm aware of the author's knowledge of the subject and intentions as I did search for the information.

I did read the other thread through and did see that post you're mentioning.


I'm going to have to give some background at this point, as otherwise what I'm asking may fall apart.

Despite an author's intentions some books (both fiction and non-fiction) have been noted to change common conceptions about specific topics when the book becomes popular enough, and the author's own intentions may be misinterpreted (one example would be religious responses to The Golden Compass).

In concerning about what influence autism has in the book, though the book doesn't mention autism much, the book become noted and related back to relevance to autism within (at least, not certain of other places) autism within the USA. Within perceptions of disability in fields that must approach the topic a lot of argument goes in relation to what relevance a disability has on a person and their personality.

I'm interested in further responding and clarifying my questions, but I will be at a conference for the next week and it is unlikely that I will be able to respond to this thread during that time. At the moment I feel defeated as I feel I am unable to explain what information I'm looking for.

[Soapy]

I've read this book and i did enjoy it although it wasn't my favourite book.

You're asking very cryptic questions about it. I think that to say this book is "not about autism" would be to deny that part of what makes it an interesting read is that it is written from a point of view of someone who is autistic. If it was a story about an average boy who didn't need to add food dye to his food to eat it and was trying to find out who killed his neighbour's dog then it would not have had much of a public interest. Its success is because it is about someone who is autistic, and also about relationships within a family when a child is autistic.

For my two cents I can't imagine he's got Asperger's, which tends to be a milder form of autism. Christopher appears to be a bit more severe than those with Asperger's. although I admit I am basing that on the people I know who do have Asperger's. But the autism spectrum is so much more broad than the public realises and sometimes it seems that Asperger's and autism are used interchangeably when they are in fact not the same.