Shannon
Hillsborough
A review of this — 12 weeks ago
Christopher, he narrator and main character of this short novel, is 15 years old and a high-functioning autistic. Of course, you’re never told that outright, but it’s easy enough to deduce from the narrative style, Christopher’s behavior and the circumstances of his life (special school and so on). What’s remarkable about this book, though, it that it’s not about a boy with autism. It’s a bout a mystery that begins with the discovery of a murdered dog in a neighborhood garden, and as the story unfolds, we learn about what it must be like to live with autism—to not fathom emotion, to think with inescapable logic about everything, to be unable to deal with too much of the world at once. As readers, we grow to understand and empathize with Christopher, but never to pity him, because the story is never allowed to degenerate into maudlin sentimentality. Instead, it is told with objective straightforwardness that is sometimes ruthless, allowing a rare, engaging and ultimately affirming glimpse into an alien world – ours, as seen through the eyes of an autistic.



























