Book Reviews and Thoughts :: The world of Books and Literature

Bitter. Funny. Sweet. Annoying. Funny.

This is Mark Haddon’s first published novel and for that I applaud. For it is not easy to write from the point of view of a 15-year-old, autistic boy. The boy, a mathematics genius, takes upon himself to write a book. Since he does not like reading about things unreal, he decides to write about his own life, in his own way. In the process, he also intends to solve the murder mystery of the neighbor’s dog. Fun begins.

Haddon writes in simple language, and explains simple incidents of ordinary days of a not-so-ordinary child. The brilliance of the book lies in the bohemian writing style, use of mathematics to carry the book forward, and linking incidents by most reciting most unrelated thoughts. The book flows as the trail of thoughts in the boy’s mind, which I totally enjoyed. Gets two thumbs up from me!