Book title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Author: Mark Haddon
Status: Finished
Synopsis:
Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers. Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington.
Review:
I found this book intriguing when I first started reading, partly because of its unique POV -- a story told by an autistic boy. The book gives readers an insight into the mind of a gifted yet socially crippled one, to (try to) understand the ways an autistic genius' mind works......I'm impressed by the degree of verisimilitude Haddon employs in translating common elements of the diagnosis into Christopher's character, yet I find it harder and harder to like Christopher as a person (fictional character). He is autistic, this I understand, it's not his autistic behavior that turns me off, not even his uncontrolled yet frequent violence against the police or anybody who touches him, but his bloated ego and lack of empathy. I've been trying hard to be considerate and understanding, hoping that Christopher is not totally unfeeling, that he would at least like his father as much as he like stray dogs or his pet rat, but no, he has no sympathy for his father, who is devoted to him 110%, who sacrificed his marriage and almost everything for him.
Many readers praise that this is a great "coming-of-age" story, well, Christopher proves to be a capable "detective", he does overcome tremendous fears to solve the so-called mystery, and he even becomes the first student in the history of his school to pass his maths A-levels, he does great and achieves a lot, I could give him that, but Christopher fails to see that his mother is sick of taking care of him, it's his father who loves him like he is, yet he refuses even to trust him, imagining that his father will kill him, in this regard, I can't see how "coming-of-age" this book is.
The story wore thin towards the end, the whole last section felt bloated, the novelty of the book faded and left me feeling irritated and a little bored.
Mark Haddon did a great job creating an authentic autistic character, but that doesn't make it a good book and a great story.
一直期待這天來臨。
大概因為黑洞大中華區話事人阿左同是記者出身，做事很有傳媒的作風。
李怡於專欄文章暗嘲本屆「奧運煙花相當於過去二十八屆奧運的煙花燃放量總和的四倍，中國一定是世界上最富有的國家了.......但為什麼中國還自稱是發展中國家？為什中國許多窮鄉僻壤的小孩子沒有上學機會，或在破爛的豆腐渣校舍上課？」
平日愛以血、色、腥提高銷情的《蘋果日報》，今日竟以十分正面的報道作頭條，以「他們都是英雄」為題，提醒市民在憑弔歌頌兩位殉職消防英雄時，也別忽略了當日同樣冒死救火救人的同袍 -- 雖然脫不了賣煽情的作風，但最少教人看得舒服。
Heroes，並非指風靡全美的電視劇，而是現實中，真真切切有血有肉捨身救人英勇殉職的消防隊目蕭永方及消防員陳兆龍。
近日腦記(腦場記者簡稱)間炒作得沸沸揚揚的，非Ｇ廠商出品的 tablet PC 莫屬。不因為產品特別便宜或功能特多，而是那個引來ｘｙｚ＠＃％＆聲四起的爛記者會（￣□￣； ）!!!!
上畢化妝課，才醒覺原來自己不曾擁有化妝掃 （￣□￣； ）!!!!
颱風北冕強襲，天文台昨夜雖已預料會改掛８號波，但還是睡不安心，仍舊準７ａｍ起床，一直留意天氣報道，確定８：３０ａｍ仍在懸掛８號波才安心繼續補眠 (∪o∪)
早上雖不至於陽光普照，但天色還挺正常的，及至傍晚，已經漫天烏雲，一副暴風雨前夕的模樣。
