The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: what it's like NOT to relate to others

Life as a teenager is, for most people, all about emotions. And I don't just mean black-eyelined parent-induced angst; I mean experiencing new things, testing yourself, trying to figure people out - as well as being appalled at the things your parents do and say. High school life can seem like an endless stream of "Does s/he like me?" "I'm so embarrassed for her" "I hate you; you suck" "You're awesome; I love you" and so on. You can end up consumed by trying to figure out what other people think, analyzing everything they say and do, in the attempt to figure your own self out.

So imagining a life without that wild roller coaster ride of feeling and relating might seem pretty much impossible. Unless you know someone autistic, or read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

Autistic individuals lack the intuition that most of us don't even realize we use, making social communication difficult. Cues like body language and tone don't mean much to them, so sarcasm, for example, loses its meaning. (If you're curious, click here for a clearer explanation.)

Christopher Boone has Asperger's, an autism spectrum disorder; he can tell you every prime number up to 7,057, but he hates being touched. He's brilliant at science and math, but the color yellow totally freaks him out. The Curious Incident is a field trip inside his mind.

Chris finds his neighbor's dog impaled on a pitchfork, and then finds himself as the prime suspect. Solving the crime becomes his personal goal, but his unique way of dealing with the world means that this isn't a typical whodunit. Chris has his own brand of perceptiveness that takes him down different paths than you or I might follow, but in the end, he's still headed in the same direction.

Have you ever gotten to know someone with an autism disorder? Some people, both with Asperger's and without, have complained that Haddon's portrayal of what it's like to live with it is inaccurate, while others have pronounced it brilliant. Read it yourself, and then let me know how you feel.