The James Logan Courier

By Krislyn Perez, Courier Staff Writer

Christopher John Francis Boone is the main character and narrator of Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Christopher is fifteen years old and a mathematical genius. He is autistic; he loves and needs order. Christopher absolutely hates to be touched and understands very little about human emotions. He loves animals and has a pet rat named Toby.

His mother died a few years ago of a heart attack. Christopher often goes on late night walks and one night finds Mrs. Shears dog, Wellington, with a garden fork sticking out of him; Mrs. Shears is Christopher’s neighbor. Christopher decides that it is his duty to investigate the murder, just like Sherlock Holmes investigated many murders.

Christopher loves Sherlock Holmes and talks about him often. While investigating Wellington’s murder Christopher uncovers secret information about his mother and the truth about what happened to her.

The unique chaptering of The Curious Incident made me laugh every time I came to a new chapter. Christopher loves prime numbers and knows every prime number up to 7, 057. So of course he’d number all his chapters with prime numbers.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time had me hooked immediately and I loved every second of it. Christopher was a very lovable character and made me laugh tons of times. Haddon did an excellent job with this book. I would gladly read it again and totally recommend it to anybody looking for a good read.