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Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

#24: Feb. - Mar. 2006 (Fiction)
MadArchitect

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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.
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Chris OConnor

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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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

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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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

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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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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 PiperEdited by: misterpessimistic  at: 2/16/06 9:58 am
MadArchitect

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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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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.
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Perhaps I can help on this point. You need to sweep away any images you have of autists. Every single one is different. Hence the difficulty of diagnosis, and the difficulty of effectively assessing treatments (and the proliferation of snake oil salesmen in the area - people will grasp at anything to make their child 'normal').I think, though, that this book does encapsulate a plausible autistic world view. It is one of attemting to sort order out of confusion, of trying to cope with too much information hitting you at the same time because those 'filters' don't work, and of attempting to cope with your situation by engaging activities which may seem strang eto an outsider, but perfectly natural to yourself. _________________________________________________________Il Sotto Seme La Neva
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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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Hey Mad:Did we go to the same school?! That's the same definition of primes I was taught. However, I took algebra before 1986. Since the definition given above was published in 1986, perhaps it has changed?!
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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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Mr. P,for the kid to be out of the house after midnight, I assumed that he had snuck out. Of course, we find out later where dad was...I, too found it strange that they took a 10 year old to the pokey. Agreed that it's weird they didn't know about his condition, or at least asked him where he lived before hauling him away, even though he slugged a cop.
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Re: Curious Incident: Pages 1 - 44

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MA: 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.It seems to me that there would not be much of a story if it was not told from the point of view of the child. To me, this book is not too much about the story itself, but how that story is told. The author 'reveals' things to us by the way the child experiences the world. Because the child experiences the world in an unusual way, we have an unusual story. It's what makes the book interesting!
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