I just finished reading it today. What a great little book. The autistic narrator definitely reminds me of some of the kids that I tutor. I especially liked the part where he confidently explains why heaven doesn’t exist.
The ending did give me a Judy Blume flashback, though. And I would have had more sympathy for the dead dog if it had been something other than a repulsive poodle!
At least it was a standard poodle.
I ‘read’ it in audio book form. The narrator did a really great job. I felt so damned frustrated when he was on the bench in the underground… beautifully done.
I agree. I thought this was a great book. The author really captured the boy’s voice well. Picked it up quite by accident, and glad I did.
I was required to read it for a school psychology class as as undergrad. Great stuff!
I found it a fascinating glimpse into the world of autism.
We have a Special Needs department at our school, and they approve of the book too.
Great book.
For one, an interesting look at autism as far as I know.
Two, you just kind of indentify with the main character so much it drags you in. Good job on the author’s part, too, because it takes a lot more than just making a character autistic and innocent to get you to sympathize so much.
Here’s a previous thread on the book. Excellent read.
Wonderful book!
I hope that Christopher does Maths at uni and does well.
I have a friend whose cousin’s children are mildly autistic. She does NOT like the book, because(according to her) Christopher is neither a pure Asberger’s type or an autistic type.
:rolleyes:
Is the phrase “do maths” the standard way that most British folks phrase it when they talk about indulging in mathematical pursuits, or is it Christopher’s particular way of speaking?
I must be the only person who loathed this book.
I think it was because I had already read the immeasurably superior and entirely overlooked book The Speed of Dark by Elizabreth Moon. It is also a first-person story told from the perspective of a high-functioning autistic individual. Moon’s teenaged son is autistic, so she actually has vast experience in observing how autisitic people relate (or not) to the rest of the world.
Huh, yeah, I was with a couple of psychologists the other day and they were discussing whether the kid had more autistic or asbergers symptoms. It never actually says in the book what his dagnosis is (IIRC.)
“I’m going to Uni next year”
“Oh, what will you be doing?”
“English, maths, and biology.”
Example illustrates that it is general phraseology, not limited to maths.
This is a grand little book. As a person with Asperger’s/ASD myself, Christopher is like a superhero. Can’t wait to read his continuing adventures.
mm
I am not from the UK, but I understand that that is how they refer to all math subjects. It makes more sense, to me, since “math” involves alot of different subcategories (most of which I hated).
but I like the way Christopher explains maths.
I liked the A-level question in the appendix so much, I generalised it and wrote an Excel spreadsheet to generate Pythagorean triples.
…Why yes, I do have a lief, thank you for asking. 
Whatever. Some people (not you) just feel the need to shit on other people’s art. I read this book and loved it! It was simple and beautiful.
I read that at the same time as TCIotDitN, but I like them both. Speed of Dark is deeper, I think. Of course they’re also different genres (Speed of Dark being SF, for those who haven’t read it) and the narrators are very different kinds of people. I definitely second your recommendation of Speed of Dark to anyone who likes TCIotDitN.
You ‘do’ a school subject. That can be at any level of school, but is moe noticeable at university level. As 1920s Death Ray said, that goes for all school subjects, not just maths. I guess it could sound like a Christopherism though.
Oh, Malacandra
I actually went to dictionary.com and put in ‘lief’ before I realised it was a typo.
No it isn’t. It takes place in a near-future (one just barely different from our own) but otherwise the plot unfolds as your standard fiction narrative.
Because Elizabeth Moon is rather well known for writing SF, The Speed of Dark got relegated to the SF ghetto (and roundly ignored). But aside from the fact that it does not take place exactly now, there’s nothing science fiction about it.
Excuse me while I froth a little bit more about this injustice.
It does also involve a new wonderdrug, plus relatively common space-travel (relative to now, that is, which makes the time rather different). That’s why I’d classify it as SF - soft SF - more than non-gen drama. Either way, it’s great.