"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

Wonderfully involving book! To describe this book's narrator as a 15 year-old, autistic boy is a bit like calling the heart a small pump. Christopher is indeed a child with special needs, but he's also a complex, gifted character, with tremendous insecurities, a stubborn streak and an original way of expressing himself. His personality scorches every page of this absorbing book. At first, Christopher's life seems fairly structured: we learn that his mother has passed away, so he now lives with his father (and his pet rat, Toby). He attends a special school, where his teacher, Siobhan, provides much-needed encouragement for his confidence and his astounding talent with numbers. Christopher is observant, self-aware, but also stuck in a rut of make-believe: he's certain that it's going to be a good day if he sees four red cars in succession, but four yellow cars mean a "black day" which he feels must be spent alone. In such moments of distress, Christopher finds comfort in eternal certainties - complex calculations, the laws of physics, the motion of the planets. He may face challenges, but Christopher's shield in the strife is a boundless curiosity. Upon finding that his neighbour's black poodle has been killed with a garden fork, he sets out to investigate the crime and to write about it in the style of his hero, Sherlock Holmes. Discouraged by his father and snubbed by the dog's owner, Christopher is undeterred. But the investigation uncovers mysteries far more disquieting than the death of a poodle: the black dog turns out to be a red herring. Shocked at his discoveries, Christopher needs to know more, and embarks on a journey to London from his home in the west of England. Ignoring his father's warnings, threats to his personal safety and even a run-in with the police, Christopher shows a single-minded determination that would be admirable even in a boy without his disabilities. Throughout this journey, he continuously describes his experiences, feelings and conversations in a deadpan, almost robotic fashion, but the reader is never left in any doubt about this youngster's very human vulnerability. The can of worms that Christopher opens causes turmoil for himself, his family and his neighbours. Yet, the final outcome appears to prove that he was right all along to take these risks. The book's closing pages offer the eternal verities: secrets, however well-intentioned, can do more harm than good - and the truth will out. My thoughts: Having ploughed through a couple of books where the plot took forever to take off (and, in one case, failed to leave the runway), it was refreshing to become immersed in a story right from the start. I raced through it in a couple of days - something to do with its easy readability, but there was also, I think, a psychological force at work, thanks to Christopher's decision to set out the chapters using prime numbers. I'd barely started and already found myself at chapter 29 - talk about speed reading! It's a gifted author indeed who can persuade the reader to show genuine concern for the welfare of a fictional character, but this is Mark Haddon's supreme achievement. The moment when Christopher stumbles upon his mother's letters is unbearably sad, made more so by his father's response. I genuinely wanted to reach out and comfort them - a measure of how involving this book really is. Like another recent novel, The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez - this book attempts to solve the mystery of one mysterious person's heart. That one interpretation. The dead mother figure echoes a similar theme resonating in The Losers' Club and both books are quietly tragic, while somehow managing to be highly entertaining, even often funny. Ultimately the mark of good book is how it rings true emotionally. So yes I would certainly recommend this book.