A first-person story about a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome
Author: Sylvia Borissvoa
Translator: Donika Boneva
Christopher John Francine Boone is a 15-year-old boy who lives alone with his father in Swindon, Wiltshire, one of the most inhospitable English cities. Christopher is different from most of his peers, has difficulty communicating with people, and describes himself as a “mathematician with some behavioral difficulties”. Although no exact diagnosis has been made, the book’s references point to , also known as the ‘scientist’s syndrome’.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Johnatan Cape, 2003) by Mark Haddon is a remarkable first-person account of the thoughts, world and experiences of this extraordinary boy; a story that just as unusually begins with… the dead neighbor’s dog which Christopher finds in the meadow, and the investigation he decides to undertake. Hence a story begins, as personal as it is universal, that no matter how different we are from each other and how strange we sometimes look in the eyes of others, the things that divide us are completely belittled by the things that unite us.
The book captivates with the authentic style of the boy-narrator, who has brought the author a number of awards for his masterful performance.