this book was given to me as a gift years ago and never read it - i was perusing my bookshelves looking for a book, and picked this guy up. i think i read this in three days. i had no idea what the book was really about, so the whole story was an awesome suprise and not what i was expecting at all.
the book is written in first person from the perspective of a fifteen year old british boy with (what i'm assuming, although it was never made clear) severe autism. the book starts with him discovering his neighbor's dog who was killed with a pitchfork, and just kind of goes on from there. the writing of the book well illustrates the mind of this autistic narrator - strong math and logic skills, lenthy run on sentences, chapters that are only a few sentences long, and chapters not related to the previous or following. the reader really gets into the mind of the narrator with the detailing of how he views people, interactions, everyday life, superstitions he has, etc.
this character has a loud, unquiet mind and so i found myself identitfying with him quite a bit (to an extent, of course). for as long as i can remember, i have had an unquiet mind - racing thoughts, sometimes 'weird' ways of viewing things, on and off obsessive behavior over the years, and sometimes odd ways of reasoning. so, i really liked the character and understood him in an odd way. i like people who are 'different' and have been genuinely been interested in how their minds work.
i have an autistic neighbor, daniel. i see him often - he walks around talking to himself, so you can hear him coming whenever he is around. he loves toby - like, it makes his day and his eyes light up whenever he sees my dog. i enjoy talking to him as well - he's probably one of the most genuine, kind, friendly people i have met. he lives indenpendently. but, i digress...
read the book - it's awesome, and a very quick read.
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