Christopher Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has little understanding of human emotions. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, at fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour's dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.
Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favourite fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. The investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with a crisis within his own family.
A novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a comedy, a heartbreaker, a mystery story, and a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.
 |
 |
 |
| Listen & Read Online | Read online | eAudioboook [BorrowBox] |
About the Author: Mark Haddon (1962-)
Mark Haddon (born October 28, 1962) is an English novelist and poet, best known for his 2003 novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Haddon was born in 1962 in Northampton and educated at Uppingham School and Merton College, Oxford, where he studied English language. Afterward, he was employed in several different occupations. One included working with people and children with disabilities, and another included creating illustrations and cartoons for magazines and newspapers. He lived in Boston for a year with his wife until they moved back to England. He then took up painting and selling abstract art. Haddon lives in Oxford.
In 1987, Haddon wrote his first children’s book, Gilbert’s Gobstopper. This was followed by many other children’s books, which were often self-illustrated.
In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and, in 2004, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Overall Best First Book for his novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. His second adult novel, A Spot of Bother, was published in September 2006.
Haddon is also known for his series of Agent Z books, one of which, Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars, was made into a 1996 Children’s BBC sitcom. He also wrote the screenplay for the BBC television adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ story, Fungus the Bogeyman, screened on BBC1 in 2004. In 2007, he wrote the BBC television drama, Coming Down the Mountain.
In 2009, he donated the short story, “The Island,” to Oxfam’s Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Haddon’s story was published in the Fire collection.
Related Links
 |
 |
 |
| Discussion Questions | How to analyse "Curious Incident" | Close Reading: Book Pairings (6) |
- Contemporary Authors
A generation of contemporary writers who were born after 1940 and are, therefore, generally considered to have little or none of the pre-WWII perspectives or mentalities that characterize the authors of the Modern/Postmodern Period. - Christopher Boon: An outsider with a difference.by Dr Jennifer Minter, From English Works Notes.
Videos
Theme is "Curious Incident . . ." by Mark Haddon
In this video we look at three of the key themes of the text so that as we look at the text in more detail you can understand some of the ideas we want to be drawing out.
SOURCE: Atomi (2020), posted on YouTube, [9:07 mins], URL: https://youtu.be/2xaPBRWrNXY
The Use of Digressions in Curious Incident
A interactive video which explores the use of digressions in the novel 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.'
SOURCE: Casey T (2020), from ClickView, [5:53 mins] URL: https://clickv.ie/w/D8Cp
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night: From Page to Stage
Made in collaboration with the National Theatre, this one hour special examines how one of Britain's best loved books was turned into a multi award-winning theatre production.
SOURCE: ABC3 (2015), from ClickView, [59:01 mins], URL: https://clickv.ie/w/58Cp