Books 124: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

"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. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.He is a fifteen-year-old boy with autism, and also a savant genius who knows the capital city of every country in the world, every prime number up to 7,057, and much more. One day he discovers the dead body of Wellington, the neighbour's dog, who has been stabbed by a garden fork.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher's mind."


(I didn't have time to write my own summary, so credit goes to Book Browse for doing a very good job of it!)

Anyways, I got this book from the library and finished reading it in the same evening -- I just couldn't put it down! It was one of those books that left me with a strange sort of feeling that I can't really put into words. One of those books that manages to somehow makes you want to laugh, want to cry, and just want to sit back and reflect on life, all at the same time. I would definitely recommend it.