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Autism book: The curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Irkoutsk

Irkoutsk

Well-Known Member
I've started read this book for my English class since I'm back to college for a technic in farming. This book seem really good and I think maybe you should read it but I read it in English class because English is not my first language.
 
Boone is said to have AS, but reading it makes it obvious that he has more severe autism.
 
I've actually seen a theater version of this book. It was unique, to say the least.

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I read this a while ago, it's a brilliant book and I was very touched by it, but Boone definitely has severe autism rather than AS.
I'd love to see the play too. :)
 
It was assigned-reading in high school for me with a test, like 'how many red cars for a Good Day?'. I did like the book, even if the character rather neatly ticked off (almost?) every symptom. But I understood that this was just one, albeit fictional, example of ASD.
I didn't know there was a play. Seems interesting.
 
SameStars said:
It was assigned-reading in high school for me with a test, like 'how many red cars for a Good Day?'. I did like the book, even if the character rather neatly ticked off (almost?) every symptom. But I understood that this was just one, albeit fictional, example of ASD.
I didn't know there was a play. Seems interesting.
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I like his car counting, and I can relate to it, because when I was a teenager I was obsessed at one point with spotting car makes and counted how many Volkswagens or Citroens I could spot :)

I agree that his symptoms are a lot more severe than those normally seen on a person with AS.
 
I've read the book and found it both interesting and touching. I really think the author nailed the voice of the protagonist of a narrator. You can really perceive things the way he does.
 
I love how casually he states that he curls up and starts moaning. As far as I remember, the narrative was in the present tense, too, so it's just him reacting in a way he finds natural, it's not a big deal to him.
 
I also love how when asked to use descriptive details to make his writing more interesting he fixates on details most people would find arbitrary, like the colour of a new character's shoes.
 
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Yeah, I loved the book even though it is, as others have mentioned, a more severe case. It's also a great book for ESL, given the simple sentence structure and literal meaning.

Has anyone read Marcelo in the Real World? I found this to be more like AS...although the protagonist shies away from that, like he 'copes too well' to have AS whereas I would think just the opposite.

Is there some perception by the general public that to 'really' have AS, you have to be severely disabled that I am missing? Or are authors just hedging to avoid backlash from parents of children with more severe autism? Or...what?
 
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I was curious about this book when it first came out, so I bought myself a copy. I like how the story is told in first person and it describes the beliefs and rituals of the main character. I agree with many of you that the problems that the boy has seem to be too severe for AS.
 
Everyone here is saying autism isn't the same as AS & that it's much worse...

I'm autistic & find these remarks a little sad, like maybe I'm much worse off than you.

I know that's not your intention but just so you know...made me feel depressed, like I'm severely disabled or something.

Anyway I'll read the book. Sounds like I may relate well. Hope it has a happy ending.
 
JDartistic said:
Everyone here is saying autism isn't the same as AS & that it's much worse...

I'm autistic & find these remarks a little sad, like maybe I'm much worse off than you.

I know that's not your intention but just so you know...made me feel depressed, like I'm severely disabled or something.

Anyway I'll read the book. Sounds like I may relate well. Hope it has a happy ending.
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Hey JDartistic, I'm sorry if my comment upset you, I meant no discrimination and you're absolutely right, I should have been more specific and said that Boone seems to be more a low functioning Autistic. I personally see no difference between Autism and Aspergers at the high functioning end amongst all the people I've met :)
 
JDartistic said:
Everyone here is saying autism isn't the same as AS & that it's much worse...
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If anyone has said it is objectively "worse", then they are full of ****. All I've heard us say is that this character's symptoms are too severe to just be Asperger's.
 
On third thought, he is probably just so numb from abuse and gaslighting that he can't feel anything. He would still have emotions, he just wouldn't be paying attention to them.
 
This book may have been my first clue--which I utterly missed--that I had more in common with the main character than I thought. A lot of what the main character did made perfect sense--and the reactions of others seemed weird. And yeah, autism is different, and it seems to have more layers or options that aspiedom does, at least as I experience it. It seems to be the reasoning that helped drive the DSM-V in the direction of lumping them together.

I loved the book, and I recall a reasonable and happy ending--not sentimental, but good in a real-feeling way.
 
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