A Whitbread Book of the Year,Los Angeles TimesBook Prize Finalist, andNew York TimesNotable Book
“Gloriously eccentric and wonderfully intelligent.” —The Boston Globe
The introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group’s reading of Mark Haddon’sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We hope they will
more >>
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A Whitbread Book of the Year,Los Angeles TimesBook Prize Finalist, andNew York TimesNotable Book
“Gloriously eccentric and wonderfully intelligent.” —The Boston Globe
The introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group’s reading of Mark Haddon’sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We hope they will provide useful ways of thinking and talking about this extraordinary novel, which won Britain’s Whitbread Award.
1. On pages 45–48, Christopher describes his “Behavioral Problems” and the effect they had on his parents and their marriage. What is the effect of the dispassionate style in which he relates this information?
2. Given Christopher’s aversion to being touched, can he experience his parents’ love for him, or can he only understand it as a fact, because they tell him they love him? Is there any evidence in the novel that he experiences a sense of attachment to other people?
3. One of the unusual aspects of the novel is its inclusion of many maps and diagrams. How effective are these in helping the reader see the world through Christopher’s eyes?
4. What challenges doesThe Curious Incidentpresent to the ways we usually think and talk about characters in novels? How does it force us to reexamine our normal ideas about love and desire, which are often the driving forces in fiction? Since Mark Haddon has chosen to make us see the world through Christopher’s eyes, what does he help us discover about ourselves?
5. Christopher likes the idea of a world with no people in it [p. 2]; he contemplates the end of the world when the universe collapses [pp. 10–11]; he dreams of being an astronaut, alone in space [pp. 50–51], and that a virus has carried off everyone and the only people left are “special people like me” [pp. 198–200]. What do these passages say about his relationship to other human beings? What is striking about the way he describes these scenarios?
6. On pages 67–69, Christopher goes into the garden and contemplates the importance of description in the book he is writing. His teacher Siobhan told him “the idea of a book was to describe things using words so that people could read them and make a picture in their own head” [p. 67]. What is the effect of reading Christopher’s extended description, which begins, “I decided to do a description of the garden” and ends “Then I went inside and fed Toby”? How does this passage relate to a quote Christopher likes fromThe Hound of the Baskervilles: “The world is full of obvious things which nobody by chance ever observes” [p. 73]?
7. According to neurologist Oliver Sacks, Hans Asperger, the doctor whose name is associated with the kind of autism that Christopher seems to have, notes that some autistic people have “a sort of intelligence scarcely touched by tradition and culture—unconventional, unorthodox, strangely pure and original, akin to the intelligence of true creativity” [An Anthropologist on Marsby Oliver Sacks, NY: Vintage Books, 1995, pp. 252–53]. Does the novel’s intensive look at Christopher’s fascinating and often profound mental life suggest that in certain ways, the pity that well-meaning, “normal” people might feel for him is misdirected? Given his gifts, does his future look promising?
8. Christopher experiences the world quantitatively and logically. His teacher Mr. Jeavons tells him that he likes math because it’s safe. But Christopher’s explanation of the Monty Hall problem gives the reader more insight into why he likes math. Does Mr. Jeavons underestimate the complexity of Christopher’s mind and his response
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Dust Cover Missing. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the AtlantaBook Company. more >>
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More Information: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
ISBN-10:
1400032717
ISBN-13:
9781400032716
Title:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author:
Haddon, Mark
Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A Whitbread Book of the Year,Los Angeles TimesBook Prize Finalist, andNew York TimesNotable Book
“Gloriously eccentric and wonderfully intelligent.” —The Boston Globe
The introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group’s reading of Mark Haddon’sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We hope they willNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A Whitbread Book of the Year,Los Angeles TimesBook Prize Finalist, andNew York TimesNotable Book
“Gloriously eccentric and wonderfully intelligent.” —The Boston Globe
The introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group’s reading of Mark Haddon’sThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We hope they will provide useful ways of thinking and talking about this extraordinary novel, which won Britain’s Whitbread Award.
1. On pages 45–48, Christopher describes his “Behavioral Problems” and the effect they had on his parents and their marriage. What is the effect of the dispassionate style in which he relates this information?
2. Given Christopher’s aversion to being touched, can he experience his parents’ love for him, or can he only understand it as a fact, because they tell him they love him? Is there any evidence in the novel that he experiences a sense of attachment to other people?
3. One of the unusual aspects of the novel is its inclusion of many maps and diagrams. How effective are these in helping the reader see the world through Christopher’s eyes?
4. What challenges doesThe Curious Incidentpresent to the ways we usually think and talk about characters in novels? How does it force us to reexamine our normal ideas about love and desire, which are often the driving forces in fiction? Since Mark Haddon has chosen to make us see the world through Christopher’s eyes, what does he help us discover about ourselves?
5. Christopher likes the idea of a world with no people in it [p. 2]; he contemplates the end of the world when the universe collapses [pp. 10–11]; he dreams of being an astronaut, alone in space [pp. 50–51], and that a virus has carried off everyone and the only people left are “special people like me” [pp. 198–200]. What do these passages say about his relationship to other human beings? What is striking about the way he describes these scenarios?
6. On pages 67–69, Christopher goes into the garden and contemplates the importance of description in the book he is writing. His teacher Siobhan told him “the idea of a book was to describe things using words so that people could read them and make a picture in their own head” [p. 67]. What is the effect of reading Christopher’s extended description, which begins, “I decided to do a description of the garden” and ends “Then I went inside and fed Toby”? How does this passage relate to a quote Christopher likes fromThe Hound of the Baskervilles: “The world is full of obvious things which nobody by chance ever observes” [p. 73]?
7. According to neurologist Oliver Sacks, Hans Asperger, the doctor whose name is associated with the kind of autism that Christopher seems to have, notes that some autistic people have “a sort of intelligence scarcely touched by tradition and culture—unconventional, unorthodox, strangely pure and original, akin to the intelligence of true creativity” [An Anthropologist on Marsby Oliver Sacks, NY: Vintage Books, 1995, pp. 252–53]. Does the novel’s intensive look at Christopher’s fascinating and often profound mental life suggest that in certain ways, the pity that well-meaning, “normal” people might feel for him is misdirected? Given his gifts, does his future look promising?
8. Christopher experiences the world quantitatively and logically. His teacher Mr. Jeavons tells him that he likes math because it’s safe. But Christopher’s explanation of the Monty Hall problem gives the reader more insight into why he likes math. Does Mr. Jeavons underestimate the complexity of Christopher’s mind and his response
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