Prime Numbers are like Life. Review on The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time - Mark Haddon

Some books take you on voyages and adventures to a fantasy world while some others lead your imagination astray with beautiful men and women in resplendent colours, but there are very few books, which present the mundane humdrum life of people with such empathy that it seems endlessly fascinating, and this book queerly titled “The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night Time” is one such exemplary example.

Having worked with autistic children, Mark Haddon, in this book gives a deep perspective of the mind of a 15-year-old suffering from behavioural problems. Now don’t mistake, Christopher Boone, for that is the name by which the narrator/protagonist of this book goes by, to be mentally retarded. On the contrary he is a mathematical genius who entertains himself by solving quadratic equations and puzzles.

Hiding in small spaces, hating large crowds, detesting people touching him, disgust for colours yellow and brown, unable to comprehend metaphors are some of the behavioural problems Christopher suffers from.

Christopher’s little world revolves around his father, his teacher Siobhan and pet rat, Toby. He believes that his Mother died of heart attack. When his neighbour’s, Mrs.Shears’, dog is found killed with a garden fork, Christopher resolves to investigate the crime and write a book on it. In the course of his investigation, he discovers not only the dog’s killer but also secrets about his own family.

Mark Haddon has done a wonderful job of combining Maths, Science and philosophy in the young adult’s turbulent mind. Unlike the usual consecutive numbers, prime numbers are used to number the chapters –this is because Christopher loves prime numbers, he says

“Prime Numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime Numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”

Written in very simple language and with childish illustrations you would really enter into Christopher’s realm.

You feel helpless when Christopher groans and suffers in large crowds. You are touched by the affection shown by Christopher’s dad as he tries to cope patiently with Christopher. You admire Siobhan for helping Christopher overcome some of his fears. Though you are inclined towards Christopher most of the time, you also tend to sympathize with his parents. It has a philosophical tone at times without getting too didactical.

Christopher has very rational opinions about everything including death about which he writes:

“But Mother was cremated. This means that she was put into a coffin and burnt and ground up and turned into ash and smoke. I do not know what happens to the ash and I couldn’t ask at the crematorium because I didn’t go to the funeral. But the smoke goes out of the chimney and into the air and sometimes I look up into the sky and think that there are molecules of Mother up there, or in clouds over Africa or the Antarctica, or coming down as rain in the rainforests of Brazil, or in snow somewhere.”

But the best take away from this book is the knowledge imparted –the book is interspersed with Mathematical problems like the Monty Hall problem, galaxy and the Constellations, the Big Bang theory, the causes of a heart attack besides Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Canon Doyle.

The author must be a devout Sherlock admirer because the title of the book “Curious Incident…” is one of the important clues in the Sherlock Holmes mystery “''The Adventure of Silver Blaze''.

Although this book is Pronounced Winner of Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, and Book trust Teenage Fiction Award, do not ignore it with the remark,“yet another book for children!” because this book is as much for the adults as the books - “To Kill a Mocking Bird” or “Catcher in the Rye” or ”Mister Good This is Anna”.