The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

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      <p>Author: Mark Haddon</p>
      <p>ISBN: <isbn>0224063782</isbn></p>
      <p>Publisher: Jonathan Cape</p>
      <p>Reviewed by: Simon Wistow</p>
    </item><item>
    
    <p>Not strictly a book on programming - yet still an interesting book
    for programmers to read - "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
    Night-time" was simultaneously released as a kids book and an adult novel
    a la the omnipresent Potter child. Unlike Ms Rowling however, Mr Haddon
    can not only tell a good story but is well versed in the black arts of
    plot pacing, exposition and that nasty tricky dialogue stuff. Always a
    good start.</p>
    
    <p>"The Curious Incident" tells the story from the viewpoint of 
    Christopher, a high functioning autist (some reviews, presumably 
    bolstered by press releases have specified it as Aspergers but there's 
    little evidence to confirm that in the book). One day he find his next 
    door neighbour's dog dead - killed with the garden fork still pinning it 
    to the ground. The story follows Christopher's attempts to solve the 
    mystery and, in the process, finding out rather more about his mother's 
    death and the relationships of those around him.</p>
    
    <p>What makes this book novel is the style in which is written in. Since
    it is in the form of a pseudo diary of Christophers it attempts to
    present the world through the eyes of someone with autism with all the
    attendant confusion and illogicalities of the world thrown into sharp
    relief. This is dealt with with a mix of sensitivity and humour - never
    is the reader encouraged to pity Christopher. In fact, quite the
    opposite - Christopher seems to pity many of those around him and indeed
    I certainly found myself feeling for the father on many occasions.</p>
    
    <p>So, why have I sent this review to a programmers mailing list? Well,
    the relationship between autism spectrum disorders and programming has
    long been a subject that has interested me - it has shown that there is
    a vastly higher incidence of Asperger's Syndrome and Dyspraxia among
    children in Silicon Valley (and thus presumably the offspring of
    programmers) than else where in the world. Many of the traits in the
    book are recognisbale, to a much lesser extent, in my programming
    friends. In fact I was rather surprised to recognise some of my own
    habits mirrored by Christopher.</p>
    
    <p>To be honest I'm sort of shoe horning this book into a london.pm
    review because, well, I think it's a bitching book and everyone should
    read it. But also because, in all honesty, I think it will be of
    interest to hackers because of the subject matter and the way it's
    written. Although maybe I'm just projecting ;)</p>
    
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    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    
    <page title="The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" keywords="">
    
    <item>
      <p>Author: Mark Haddon</p>
      <p>ISBN: <isbn>0224063782</isbn></p>
      <p>Publisher: Jonathan Cape</p>
      <p>Reviewed by: Simon Wistow</p>
    </item><item>
    
    <p>Not strictly a book on programming - yet still an interesting book
    for programmers to read - "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
    Night-time" was simultaneously released as a kids book and an adult novel
    a la the omnipresent Potter child. Unlike Ms Rowling however, Mr Haddon
    can not only tell a good story but is well versed in the black arts of
    plot pacing, exposition and that nasty tricky dialogue stuff. Always a
    good start.</p>
    
    <p>"The Curious Incident" tells the story from the viewpoint of 
    Christopher, a high functioning autist (some reviews, presumably 
    bolstered by press releases have specified it as Aspergers but there's 
    little evidence to confirm that in the book). One day he find his next 
    door neighbour's dog dead - killed with the garden fork still pinning it 
    to the ground. The story follows Christopher's attempts to solve the 
    mystery and, in the process, finding out rather more about his mother's 
    death and the relationships of those around him.</p>
    
    <p>What makes this book novel is the style in which is written in. Since
    it is in the form of a pseudo diary of Christophers it attempts to
    present the world through the eyes of someone with autism with all the
    attendant confusion and illogicalities of the world thrown into sharp
    relief. This is dealt with with a mix of sensitivity and humour - never
    is the reader encouraged to pity Christopher. In fact, quite the
    opposite - Christopher seems to pity many of those around him and indeed
    I certainly found myself feeling for the father on many occasions.</p>
    
    <p>So, why have I sent this review to a programmers mailing list? Well,
    the relationship between autism spectrum disorders and programming has
    long been a subject that has interested me - it has shown that there is
    a vastly higher incidence of Asperger's Syndrome and Dyspraxia among
    children in Silicon Valley (and thus presumably the offspring of
    programmers) than else where in the world. Many of the traits in the
    book are recognisbale, to a much lesser extent, in my programming
    friends. In fact I was rather surprised to recognise some of my own
    habits mirrored by Christopher.</p>
    
    <p>To be honest I'm sort of shoe horning this book into a london.pm
    review because, well, I think it's a bitching book and everyone should
    read it. But also because, in all honesty, I think it will be of
    interest to hackers because of the subject matter and the way it's
    written. Although maybe I'm just projecting ;)</p>
    
    </item>
    </page>