The off beat story of a dog in the night-time

A lot of people believe in intuition and I’m, arguably, one of them. And intuition is what told me that the book “A curious incident of a dog in a night time” was going to be good. As I entered the bookshop, something about the cover of the book that was displayed in huge numbers close to the entrance was very captivating. Maybe it was the offbeat use of color and cartoon all over, or may be it was the amateurish look it had.



But in the end, so-called practical sense got the better of me and I decided against taking the book just because it was listed under the kid’s section. I simply didn’t even bother do check out the paperback of the book to read what it was about.

I saw the same book in one of my friend’s place exactly a month later. And my friend, as though I expected it, told me it was a brilliant book and I’d like it.

And I certainly did, simply because the language, tone and the story was very different. I’m not going to break the story line here, but if you are the kind who likes offbeat books – the ones like ‘Catcher in the Rye’ or ‘A beautiful mind’, you’d certainly like this book. The narrator, probably to everyone’s surprise, is an autistic boy, which makes the whole thing very interesting because it’s always interesting to read something that you can’t experience it yourself. Add to this the fact that the narrator is apparently a 15 year old, which adds a lot of spice, imagination and color to the whole thing.

I think the best part about the book was how it digressed very, very often from the main story line and then got back with ease. Some of the math puzzles and astronomical details would really bowl you over. It atleast bowled me over. I have no idea why it was initially listed under kid’s section. I’m sure kids can read this book, unlike stuff from other verbose authors, but adults can appreciate this book much more. Net-net: Don’t miss, especially if you borrow it from one of your friends or can pick up a cheap one on the platforms.