When I passed by a roadside book vendor on my way home one day, I didn’t think much about the collection of books he would have. But yet, since I couldn’t contain my greed, I tromped over to him.  I was far from disappointed.  Because lying among the heaps of ‘regular’ books lay this gem of a piece: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. In a world where almost every kid looks up to Harry Potter as their hero, this book comes as a breath of fresh air. Far removed from the magical world of Harry and friends, this book is deeply rooted in the world around us. Spoken through the pen of the protagonist of this story – Christopher Boone, the book poses the question, “If what we do is ‘normal’ then what is crazy like?”

Fifteen-year-old Christopher is what most ‘normal’ people would call ‘a special child.’ And special he is indeed in the most unique sort of manner. Christopher has a marvellous memory, an extremely precise, scientific and logical mind and he can see what most of us can never even spot. Numbers to him are like child’s play and even though he can keenly comprehend the relationship between two numbers no matter how large or how complicated…what he cannot understand is the functioning of the ‘normal people’ as of course, they cannot understand him. One day, he finds his neighbour’s dog lying dead in her lawn. When he is taken into custody for attacking the police officer who has come to inspect the murder, he realises that he must get to the bottom of this seemingly trivial crime. He decides to write a book about it.

As the book unfolds, also unfold Christopher and his bag of idiosyncrasies. Subtly but surely, we get an entry into the mind of this wonderful boy who is a mystery to the world. As he goes about finding clues to the murder, he accidentally also uncovers secrets and truths which change his world forever.  With every passing page, Christopher seems more normal than the people who we call ‘grown-ups’. As the book concludes, you are left with the ironical realisation that there is a lot more to the world around us than what meets the eye. See it through Christopher’s eyes and you’ll know what I am saying.

NOTE:

1. This book has won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award & Booktrust Teenage Fiction Award in the year 2004.

2. Since I found at a road-side vendor’s shop, you’ll probably get it at your local book store too or find out if they can order it for you.