Although this book has an excruciatingly long title, you shouldn't be put off by it as "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" ranks high amongst my "the-best-ten-books-which-were-ever-written" list.
In a nutshell, the story is about a 15-year-old boy named Christopher who has autism (a mental illness which makes people unable to communicate properly, or to form relationships). Apart from the fact that he cannot show emotions easily, he is as clever as they come. Just how shrewd he is can be observed by the reader while he tries to find out who killed a neighbours' dog, which is the ostensible topic of the novel.
As the plot unfolds, the reader gets the unique opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a boy who says that feelings are nothing else than "...having a picture on the screen in your head." While reading, you feel sorry not only for Cristopher, but also for his family, who always feels that they are fighting a losing battle aganist his illness and are accordingly jaded by their life routine.
I must say that I'm well aware that this book doesn't give you a complete insight into the complex phenomenon of autism, but what it certainly does is to broaden your perspective through acquiring knowledge on this topic. What's more, so poignant is the book at times that a male friend of mine even had to sob while reading it.
All in all, this attention-grabbing book is definitely worth spending time on as it is a far cry from any fiction book I've ever read before.
