WARNING: May contain spoilers!
The first half of this novel was amazing. It started at the right
foot, introducing us to Christopher Boone who has an autistic
spectrum syndrome, and his quest to find Wellington, his
neighbour's dog's, murderer. It continued to be intriguing as the
reader begins to get to know who Christopher is exactly. For
example, his little quirks, his views, his love of red and prime
numbers, and his hatred for the colour yellow. We get to know him
and we get to glimpse how exactly he works. He is intelligent and
practical, but he functions solely with logic and not emotion. It
is the first time I have read a novel with such a different type of
protagonist. I was hooked instantly.
I loved how the chapters were prime numbers and not numbered
typically like other novels. I enjoyed how the novel seemed
completely written by Christopher Boone, even the Appendix at the
end of the book. I really enjoyed the consistency in the novel. It
also interested me how Christopher, with his autistic tendencies,
would figure out who killed Wellington. I even began to make up a
way he would solve it and who the prime suspect was, etc., etc.
Once I hit the middle of the novel though, I was extremely
disappointed, not necessarily because of the content or writing,
but because I was expecting something completely different from
what it was. I didn't expect a full-blown family drama. The reader
is unceremoniously told who killed Wellington and it almost comes
as a shock because the reader is not expecting to be told who the
culprit is already. I was disappointed because the last half of the
book was about Christopher making his way to London, being scared
and going back home instead of being the awesome adventure of
Christopher Boone trying to find a murderer.
This is, however, a small little thing compared to the big picture.
I can still appreciate what the author has done with this novel. He
has created something completely real, something that does happen,
a character that exists right now. Christopher is real. At least he
seems real to me. The way the novel is written makes you believe
that it really is written by a Christopher Boone, and I guess that
makes it more heartbreaking. The way Haddon has downplayed the
emotions in the book, never really describing how someone looks as
they are speaking, what they sound like, etc. gives the reader the
feeling of what Christopher sees every day. It broke my heart to
read the way everyone around him acted, how his family falls apart
at the seams under all the stress of his being autistic. It hit me
that wherever he went, the pressure of taking care of him would
break any family who was not strong enough to handle it. And this
is what happened; once with his original parents, and again with
his biological mother's new partner. It is a reality, however, that
many autistic children face. It is genuine and sincere, and I was
left almost dumbstruck at the end at how apathetically it ended.
It is an eye-opening, creative, and highly entertaining book, yet
it does not let you understand the protagonist. Never do you
completely and utterly agree and nod your head at what Christopher
says; you are only able to watch Christopher from a farther place
and see what he sees, agreeing sometimes and others not. And, I
guess, in this way, Haddon has done a great job of writing this
novel. He has taken you inside a person who could exist, and who
you could encounter walking down the street and has forced you to
face them even though it may make you feel uncomfortable. However,
I am still disappointed that it was not, initially, what I
expected. Nevertheless, I do recommend it a great deal to anyone
who can deal with a character you cannot relate to, and those who
can tolerate no emotional growth, because really, that is not what
Christopher's story is about, nor is it what Haddon had in mind
when writing this novel.