Publisher: Vintage
Publication Date: May 2003
Page Count: 226
Genre: contemporary fiction/mystery
Audience: adult, with young adult appeal (2004 Alex Award winner)
Source: bought, read for class
Rating: 2.5 I would give this book a hand hug (since it doesn't like people touching it)
Goodreads Summary:
Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.
My thoughts: While I recognize this book's merit and great popularity, it just wasn't for me. I liked Christopher (our main character), and I appreciated the authentic quality of his perspective, that of a boy with (I'm assuming) Asperger's Syndrome, a very high-functioning form of autism. I previously read House Rules by Jodi Picoult which features a main character with Asperger's Syndrome and, as a future teacher, I find I'm quite fascinated by AS - while it is on the autism spectrum, individuals with autism oftentimes have similar but very different characteristics of what people normally associate with autism. In fact, AS has historically gone undiagnosed and individuals with AS have been labeled as eccentric or unusual rather than identified as having a specific disorder.
Back to the book, aside from Christopher's unique point of view, I didn't connect with the overall plot of the story. Character reactions to Christopher's behavior sadly ring true as many people misunderstand the nature of autism; individuals with autism are often judged as simply having behavioral problems by people who don't know any better (in this book, police officers, Mr. and Mrs. Shears, random strangers, etc.). I felt for Christopher's character but found it difficult to relate to a story that follows the mystery of who killed Wellington the dog. It was interesting to see the jumps Christopher's mind makes, the stream-of-consciousness factor of the book; we go from his "detecting" activities to random (to us) tangents about science, maths, and religion. I found myself often skipping over these parts because they were way over my head, though I'm supposing that was the point!
Overall, I see the appeal of this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in reading a book told from a character with Asperger's Syndrome. However, it sadly wasn't for me.
I feel obliged to note that I loved this book and gave it five stars on goodreads :). Don't listen to her, people!
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