[ book tip by Hannah Geismar ] 'Pretty good book,' I thought, after having read The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime. It was only when I started thinking about what to read next, and realized that I only wanted to read something that was exactly like it, that I understood just how good it is.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is a detective story with more than just a twist. It's a trip inside the mind of a 15 year-old boy with Aspergers Syndrome, whose behaviour - and life - is governed by rules and logics that would never qualify as being 'normal'. He loves primary numbers, is great at maths and adores the colour red but dislikes brown food, hates being touched and can't figure out what emotions are all about.

When he finds his neighbour's dog killed, he decides to investigate the murder. But doing investigation is tough when you don't like talking to strangers, have never been outside your own street on your own and when the colours of the cars you pass on your way to school defines whether it will be a good or a bad day.

Judged by our standards for 'normal', Christopher does crazy things… but within his own universe, everything he does has its own logic to it. Mark Haddon's great achievement is that he makes you understand and accept - possibly adopt - that logic, which obviously forces you to question what rules and logics your own life is influenced by.

Available in French as Le Bizarre Incident Du Chien Pendant La Nuit, Editions Pocket 2005)

[ book info ] Haddon, Mark: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime. Vintage Books, 2004 .