The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
Expectation: A light-hearted English mystery.
Reality: Darker than expected with a somewhat problematic undertone.
My Take:
How do you review a book that you generally enjoyed while simultaneously feeling it was borderline problematic?
I’m struggling with how to summarize my feelings about “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” because I was entertained and surprised by much of the narrative, but it also felt opportunistic and appropriative.
This stems from the fact that Mark Haddon wrote from the point of view of a neurodivergent individual while admittedly not doing any research about common disorders under this umbrella.
While much of Christopher’s representation and story were done with care, there were also times where I felt Haddon made him the butt of a joke or amplified personality traits for manufactured drama. The amount of times Christopher’s “otherness” was celebrated and then ridiculed was whiplash inducing.
One must take into account the novel was published in 2003 when the general consciousness about the importance of diverse stories being written by diverse creators wasn’t where it is today.
While we can celebrate how an underrepresented group was featured prominently — no doubt helping to raise awareness of spectrum disorders — I’m not going to lie, it was also cringe-worthy. It felt similar to how I feel when cis-hetero people write about queer people as tragic victims (i.e. HIV/AIDS) versus people worthy of a good life.
Maybe I’m being overly sensitive — I’d love the perspective of someone from this community as my opinion is not from a lived experience — but if the past few years have taught me anything it’s that we should question and analyze the art we consume to determine if it hurts more than it helps. I don’t know if there’s an easy answer here.
All that to say, this was an interesting and immersive story, buoyed by the strength of Christopher and how he sees the world. Essentially he sets out to determine who killed the neighbor’s dog, which takes him on a small-scale adventure with huge repercussions for him and his family.
There are shades of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, which gave the story levity, but the tonal shifts were at times jarring. Overall, Haddon earns credit for his vivid details that made even the most mundane tasks feel like epic adventures. While I’m still rating this rather highly, it’s solely on the strength of the execution.
Jeff Woodman did a fine job narrating the audiobook, although his voice and delivery felt a tad too old for a 15-year-old character. Overall, not a terrible way to experience this slim, modern (although questionable) classic.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5 stars
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: March 16 – March 20, 2023
Multi-tasking: Good to go. You may miss some detail, so mindless activities (walking, etc.) would be best.
