It ain't necessarily so
Nicholas Barrow
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon Cape, £10.99, pp. 271. ISBN 0224063782 Even the title of this book put me right off. The idea of a poodle being stabbed by a fork in a suburban garden is totally unconvincing. Neither does Christopher, the main character, appear real.
The novel, narrated by Christopher, who is 15 and has Asperger's syndrome, is chiefly about his relationship with his parents. Told untrue stories by his father about his mother because of his condition, Christopher misreads social situations and tends to believe anything he hears. I allegedly have Asperger's myself. I would say that Christopher, as a character, is a complete nerd, and a total exaggeration of a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's. Unlike other recent books on the subject, such as Luke Jackson's Freaks, Geeks and Asperger's Syndrome, Clare Sainsbury's The Martian in the Playground — about Aspergers in school — and Nita Jackson's autobiography, Standing Down, Falling Up. I found this book patronising, inaccurate and not entertaining.
The author seems more interested in the boy's brain than in the plot (I guessed who killed the dog early on). Christopher is very good at maths, which is a cliché about autism. There are several pages of maths problems. But this is not a maths lesson, it's a novel. I skipped the maths parts, which I thought pointless. And I was bored and irritated by the style supposed to illustrate Christopher's way of thinking: 'And I said "Thank you for supper", because that is being polite.'
The author describes a lot of what is going on in Christopher's mind, but there is one important thing left out. Most 15 year-olds would have sex on the brain, regardless of what problems they might have. There is absolutely nothing of this kind mentioned in the novel. Is Christopher completely uninterested? And I have never heard of an Asperger's young man or woman wetting themselves. Here Christopher wets his trousers more than once. Is he incontinent? Reading that, I was totally put off the lad.
The Aspergers I know went to mainstream schools or special schools for peo ple of comparable intellect. Christopher goes to the same institution as a boy who tries to eat his own faeces. Christopher himself often talks of 'pm', like a threeyear-old. Also, anyone of 15. Aspergers or not, would know what marzipan is. For God's sake!
And another thing: why would Christopher's father undress his 15-year old son? Christopher is made out to be retarded. I agree that a percentage of teenagers with Asperger's may appear loopy. But in my experience, if you have Asperger's you can often show a normal social side, then get frustrated.
Christopher has an obsession with not having different foods touching on his plate. This is convincing. What are well described are his rages and how much he hates physical contact. Many Aspergers are like this.
The part concerning Christopher's mother and her affair with a neighbour is the best. I found Christopher's train jour ney with Toby, his pet rat, to visit his mother in London exciting; also when he jumps down onto the underground rails to rescue Toby. This is an Asperger's thing to do, to rescue an animal one is fond of, regardless of the danger. 1 became worried for Christopher over this. However, he didn't know that there are toilets on trains. But he is 15, not five. It's disconcerting. It puts you off the boy. He has no dignity.
I think some people with Asperger's would be offended by this book. I didn't feel comfortable reading it and found it depressing. On the other hand, it could definitely help untrained staff in schools and care homes. Here they are given the example of a very extreme Asperger's type, which would prepare them if someone did behave like that. In the care home I was in they didn't know much about AS.
But someone with Asperger's reading it would be embarrassed.
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