Read this book. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Mark Haddon wrote it. The plot is a mystery with several unraveling layers, though many of them are predictable. The story-line is not the reason to read this book, however. The narrator is the reason to read this book because he provides such a unique way of seeing the world. I liken it to the journey Faulkner's retarded narrator takes the reader on in the first section of The Sound and the Fury. In the case of Haddon's bestseller, the narrator is a fifteen-year-old British boy who suffers from autism. It feels absolutely authentic throughout. It is an easy read, emotional and enjoyable and eye-opening. Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for his portrayl of an austic man in Rain Main, yet I think Haddon's Christopher is much more interesting because we get to see how he interacts with the world that the rest of us weave through seamlessly, and then we see how his mindset and subsequent behavior affects everyone around him.

Read this book. It isn't long, but it is engaging, and it'll make you think. The ending is weak and lacking too. More and more kids are diagnosed with handicaps and disorders, and though we understand more about them than ever before, we do not make real efforts to change to understand the people with these "problems"; rather, we are forcing them to assimilate into a society where abnormal is not accepted. Each side should have to give a little.

And this brings me to another point about how technological advances have usurped the natural survival of the human species. That, however, is for another time. For now, go read this book.