Saturday 11 January 2014

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon is an acclaimed book of fiction(2003).It leaves a lingering impact .
                                       This book by Mark Haddon is exceptional , brilliant and very original .I have yet to read another fiction book , with a protagonist having autistic disorder .Christopher is a fifteen year old boy with autistic disorder .His  capacity to understand mathematics and logic is high .But he cannot  understand why other human beings behave in  the ways  they do.He cannot understand , nor can forgive when he discovers that his father tells him a lie .It is a world seen through the eyes of a boy with autistic disorder.But by reading about the world as he sees it , we see the world and ourselves more clearly and with greater understanding .
                            When I was working with the department of Welfare for the persons with Disabilities in UP,India,I had the opportunity to meet  a large number of persons with different  degrees of special needs , and found that the persons with  autism spectrum disorders  lived in a totally  different world and faced exceptional challenges to live day to day life .And awareness in Indian society  about autism ,Asperger syndrome and other mental disorders is extremely low .Our educational system is also way behind to educate  persons with autistic disorders. This is sad , to say the least.
                   These 271 pages , describing  story of fifteen year  old  Christopher  in his own words , made me think more clearly about the world , about people around me and about myself .Go ahead and spend ten hours and read this book .I assure you , you will not regret the time that you will  invest .

No comments: