The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time By Mark Haddon Reviewed by Steve Rudd

I think people believe in heaven because they don't like the idea of dying, because they want to carry on living and they don't like the idea that other people will move into their house and put their things into the rubbish. This strangely endearing novel is one of the most originally-styled that I've ever read. Revolving around a 15-year old boy called Christopher who has autism, the narration comes direct from his mouth and the reader is left in little doubt as to what living with autism must be like.

In fact, everything sounds so authentic that it's natural to assume that either the author himself is autistic, or that somebody close to him is. Otherwise, Mark Haddon has clearly undertaken much research into autism and how it affects people.

The crux of the actual story comes from the fact that Christopher's parents are split up, and Chris lives with his father. Chris has been brought up to believe that his mother is dead, when in fact she's living down south - in London - with another man.. a fact that Chris' dad has chosen to keep secret.

So when Chris discovers that his mother is really alive & kicking, and has been writing letters to him every week for some years, the logical thing to do - especially upon having just had a massive falling out with his dad - is to head for the nearest train station and to London in search of his mother.

The style of Haddon's writing is flawlessly effective and logically executed. The narrative is masterfully 'interrupted' by numerous mathematical problems that serve to illustrate Christopher's amazing capabilities in the subject, as though Dustin Hoffman's autistic character in the movie Rainman has been more than just a celluloid inspiration. Christopher concedes, mid-yarn, that his teacher 'Mr. Jeavons said that I liked maths because it was safe. He said I liked maths because it meant solving problems, and these problems were difficult and interesting, but there was always a straightforward answer at the end.

And what he meant was that maths wasn't like life because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end. I know he meant this because this is what he said.'

Far from being a sentimental story, The Curious Incident.. is firmly rooted in a wholly believable tract of reality.

Face it, Mark Haddon wouldn't necessarily have won two BAFTAs for his work as an author, illustrator and screenwriter if the tales that he spins couldn't be related to. This could quite possibly be the most startlingly original and subtly touching novel you read this decade, and there's little wonder that it proudly spent mucho time topping the Number One best-selling book slot. ISBN 0-385-60587-0 (first published by David Fickling Books; 2003)

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