Book Log 2018 #3: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Full disclosure time: I am the parent of a child who has an autism spectrum disorder. I don't know if I've ever really talked about it here, but I tend to think not as (a) there's no label for it among the post labels that have accumulated over the years, and (b) I don't post much here on anything that isn't related to books I've read or Lent.  I probably won't get much more into it going forward, but thought it made some sense to mention this in relation to this book, as it would be hard for me talk about it without referencing personal experience to some degree.

As you might guess from the title, the book involves an incident that took place in the night involving a dog. The main character, Chris, takes it upon himself to investigate the incident to figure out who is responsible for what happened. Chris is never given a specific diagnosis, but it's clear from his various sensory and social issues that he has some sort of ASD (blurbs for the book mention both Asperger's Syndrome and high-functioning autism), which complicates the investigation even while it doesn't allow Chris to drop it. When the case takes a very surprising turn, Chris has to face a new reality and his own plan for confronting it, eclipsing the original investigation.

My child does not share many of the behaviors and challenges that Chris has, but I could see similarities in how they both work through the day, and in how surprises can throw them off. I did think a little about how my child might be like Chris at his age (he's in high school), which I had not really done previously. So the book certainly helped me as a parent, beyond just being an interesting read. Regardless of your personal experience with autism, I do think this is a book worth reading.