What I Think So Far

I am currently on page 177 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, and am planning on finishing it up very soon. So far I have throughly enjoyed reading this book; it is not only a mystery of who killed Christopher's neighbor's dog Wellington, but it is a story of growth and a look into the life of a boy struggling with autism. Not only are the readers able to build empathy for those who struggle with autism but we also learn how to best communicate with children who have similar conditions through the way the characters in the novel communicate with the narrator. When Christopher's parents or teachers at school talk to him, they make sure to explain everything in a way that he would understand by not leaving any details or reasonings out of the explanation. For example on page 75, Christopher tells his teacher at school about an incident that occurred at home and she said, "If you start to feel sad about this, I want you to know that you can come and talk to me about it. Because I think talking to me will help you feel less sad. And if you don't feel sad but you just want to talk to me about it, that would be OK, too. Do you understand?"(Haddon 75). Whenever she or one of his parents talks to him, they explain things that might be new ideas for Christopher, and don't stop breaking the idea down until he understands it. This could be very helpful for a reader who may want to work with kids with special needs either as a teacher or a care provider; it gives insight to what goes through the minds of the children and suggests successful ways to communicate.
Another aspect I really enjoy about the novel is being able to see how Christopher problem solves or analyzes the world around him. He somehow is able to turn almost everything into a math problem in order to make judgements and it's really amazing how his brain works this way. He finds an equation for everything and when he is overwhelmed with stimuli around him, he does mental math to calm his mind. It gives us a perspective of what others mentally go through in certain hectic situations that may not bother the average person at all. It could even help us solve our own problems, working them out in a more mathematical, logical way.
This book is full of drawn diagrams, illustrations, tables, maps and lists that visualize what Christopher is describing or trying to explain. I like having that visual aspect to the story that compliments the text. Below are some examples of the diagrams and maps that are included in the book.

Above is a map of the routes that Christopher took to find the train station in his town. He enjoys making maps of his surroundings to better understand them and to get around easier. His logical approach to finding a place that you know is near but you don't know exactly where, was to go in complete circles in different directions to search on all the possible locations. This was his illustration of that process. 

Here, Christopher wrote out all of his options when he came in to a conflict and didn't know what to do. Making a chart here was helpful for him to visualize what he should choose and why. 

I am definitely enjoying this book, not only because of the perspective it is written in but also because it involves a very interesting mystery. Not to spoil the ending, but the main mystery eventually evolves into a more serious mystery that when solved forms a conflict that is a huge plot twist!