The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Pages 1 - 44)

Edited by: Chris OConnor  at: 1/26/06 10:15 pm

Amusing opening. My favorite line so far is about Steve, who can't even fetch a stick.

One thing that's throwing me a little off is the numbering of the chapters. The book starts with 2. Oookay. I haven't skimmed ahead much, but given what we know about the protagonist by the second (um, 3rd) chapter, maybe he's using the sequence of primes rather than using all the whole integers starting with 1. Then again, 1 is a prime, so why start with 2? Look at me, confused by a autistic, fictional character.

Okay, so my first official task as discussion leader will be, to ask everyone who's reading how they think the novel would differ if it weren't narrated from the point of view of its main character. This is an on-going question -- feel free to dredge it back up again in later chapters.

He is indeed using primes, but now that you mention it I don't understand why he didn't use #1. I was going to number the threads here i this forum by Chapters, but that was looking rather messy on paper. So I went with page numbers instead.

Oh, and I know who killed Wellington.

According to what I've read online the #1 is no longer considered a prime number.

Read me

Quote:

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The number 1 is a special case which is considered neither prime nor composite (Wells 1986, p. 31). Although the number 1 used to be considered a prime (Goldbach 1742; Lehmer 1909; Lehmer 1914; Hardy and Wright 1979, p. 11; Gardner 1984, pp. 86-87; Sloane and Plouffe 1995, p. 33; Hardy 1999, p. 46), it requires special treatment in so many definitions and applications involving primes greater than or equal to 2 that it is usually placed into a class of its own. A good reason not to call 1 a prime number is that if 1 were prime, then the statement of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic would have to be modified since "in exactly one way" would be false because any . In other words, unique factorization into a product of primes would fail if the primes included 1. A slightly less illuminating but mathematically correct reason is noted by Tietze (1965, p. 2), who states "Why is the number 1 made an exception? This is a problem that schoolboys often argue about, but since it is a question of definition, it is not arguable." As more simply noted by Derbyshire (2004, p. 33), "2 pays its way [as a prime] on balance; 1 doesn't."

With 1 excluded, the smallest prime is therefore 2. However, since 2 is the only even prime (which, ironically, in some sense makes it the "oddest" prime), it is also somewhat special, and the set of all primes excluding 2 is therefore called the "odd primes." Note also that while 2 is considered a prime today, at one time it was not (Tietze 1965, p. 18; Tropfke 1921, p. 96).

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Chris

Hmm, interesting. Does that mean that there's a more complex but more correct definition of primes than the one I was taught in school? I seem to recall that the definition was "any number that is only divisible by itself and 1." The number one would fall into that category. Although, I guess mathematicians are free to make an exception of it if they please. Maybe they could just add, "and is not a square." That would exclude 1 nicely, and without bothering any of the other primes.

The narrator explains on pages 11-12 how to derive prime numbers...but does not offer a reason why 1 is omitted. Maybe there is an explanation later on...unless Chris is right on the nose...but still...the narrative does not offer this or any other reason at this point.

On page 12, I find it interesting how the narrator sums up his discussion of primes:

Quote:

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Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think they are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.

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Now...I do not know that I agree that primes are what is left after you 'take all the patterns' away. After all, the patter for determining primes was offered by the narrator just a few sentences before? I do not know...this just struck me. I will leave it to the more mathematical amongst us to probe deeper if they like.


Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Christopher John Francis Boone...

Hmm...this name screams of discovery, revelation, unexplored territory...

Does anyone else see what else these names could reveal about the narrator or story?

I assumed the names were references to Columbus, St. John, St. Francis and Daniel Boone. Maybe I am off a bit...anyone else have any ideas?

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

I found it a bit odd that the police would just take this child into prison like an adult offender. I mean, does not the town know that this child had this condition? It just seemed odd. Where was the father at the time of the incident? 7 minutes after midnight...and this person was left alone?

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

What a fantastic read! I should be in bed getting rested for this weekend camping trip, but instead I was taking a bath finishing this book. I'm going to bed, but do plan to participate in this discussion.

I think Christopher stayed in his house and avoided the outside world as much as possible. It wouldn't be difficult for the police to not even know about him or his condition. Then again this is a work of fiction and the real answer is that Mark Haddon decided that the police wouldn't have any prior knowledge of the boys autism.

I'm worried that my version may be using different page numbers... pg 44 is... almost to ch.73 (starts next page), yes?

I'm sorry... what is up with this neighbourhood? The dog is on the front lawn, not in a nice safe gated area and... Mrs. Shears just didn't notice? *think think* If somebody stabbed my dog I think I would notice...

Also - is it normal to have children wandering into your yard after midnight??

misterpessimistic: I found it a bit odd that the police would just take this child into prison like an adult offender.

Well, Christopher is 15; he may very well look like an adult. And parts of Europe consider a person no longer a minor when they hit 16, so he may be right on the verge anyway.

Where was the father at the time of the incident? 7 minutes after midnight...and this person was left alone?

That will probably be revealed, although, for the moment, I think it's safe to assume that his father doesn't exactly coddle him. The way he argued over letting Christopher take the Math exams, it looks as though he's a little bitter at having been left to raise a mentally impaired child on his own.

Jade: I'm worried that my version may be using different page numbers... pg 44 is... almost to ch.73 (starts next page), yes?

There are definitely different editions floating around. Pg. 44, in the edition I'm reading, comes in the middle of a chapter. We may need to find a different organizational principle for the threads. Unfortunately, I think Chris is out of town, and I don't have the ezboard permissions to change it myself.

The dog is on the front lawn, not in a nice safe gated area and... Mrs. Shears just didn't notice?

Was it the front lawn? I was thinking it was a garden area in the back, but I may be mistaken. I'm trying to imagine a British neighborhood -- the map Haddon provides makes it look like those typical duplex style apartment houses that the British installed in droves during the Thatcherite era.

I think the book was a brilliant illumination into the mind of an autistic child. I hope you get a copy Tara.

What about it didn't you like, Mr. P?

I hope to post on this book. I finished it but have not thought out any potential posts yet.

I am just immersed in a lot of things right now...but I will do my best to add some thoughts.

I do not know much about Autism...IS this book an accurate insight into an autistic mind? How many here have known an autistic person? I was looking around for some books about autistics, non-fiction, to see about doing some research. I came upon two (I do not remember titles at this moment) that were written BY autistics I was thinking on checking out of the library...but as I said...too many things going on. I have not been able to read anything for the past 3-4 days.

I actually know a couple who have an autistic child...but we do not speak anymore.

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Edited by: misterpessimistic  at: 2/16/06 9:58 am

I personally can't say how near it comes to reflecting the inner workings of an autistic mind. I don't think anyone can say for sure, save for someone with autism, and I'm not sure how well they'd be able to address the question. That said, Oliver Sachs gave it his thumbs up, and he's about as expert as they come.