The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

This study guide will help you analyze the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it and putting it into perspective. The quotes from this study guide are taken from the Jonathan Cape edition of 2003.

Presentation of the text

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003)
Author: Mark Haddon
Genre: Novel

Mark Haddon (b. 1962) is a British novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. He has written several children’s books and also adapted various children’s books for television. He is best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which he wrote as a book for adults but which has become equally popular among adults and children. The novel won a number of prestigious awards and it has since been translated into 36 languages.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has since been adapted as a stage play, which was directed by Marianne Elliott and performed at London’s National Theatre in 2012. It was later transferred to London’s West End where it was very successful.

Extract

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Title

The title The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is unusual and is likely to catch readers’ attention from the beginning. The phrase is a quotation from the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The title highlights how Christopher feel he can relate to Sherlock Holmes, whose behavior is not socially conventional but who is highly logical, intelligent, and observant, and who has “the power of detaching his mind at will.” (p. 92). Christopher’s connection to Sherlock Holmes is important because he usually finds it very difficult to relate to other people or to empathize with them.