The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Finished another book today. Finishing books makes me proud of myself even though I'm not sure if reading fiction has any more value than watching a movie. At the very least it helps me read faster, and stimulates some thought.

Anyway, the book is called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It's written from the perspective of an autistic savant named Christopher. One night he finds his neighbor's standard poodle dead on the lawn with a pitch fork stuck in it. Christopher reasons that someone probably murdered the dog, and decides to write a murder mystery novel about it. Like Sherlock Holmes, he would play the part of a veracious detective to discover the dog's killer. His curiosity gets him more answers than he bargained for, and Christopher finds himself in the middle of his own dizzying suspense adventure.

The book has received much acclaim, but I think this review says it best...

"Heart-in-the-mouth stuff, terrifying and moving. Haddon is to be congratulated for imagining a new kind of hero."
-The Daily Telegraph

...because this book is told from the perspective of a different kind of person. Haddon's empathy is astonishing in his writing. What at first seems dispassionately funny will leave you with a smile and a tear in your eye.

Life of Pi

Last night I finished Life of Pi.

Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi, grows up on a zoo. Whether out of curiosity or sheer boredom, he studies and learns to embrace the religions of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The political situation in India becomes such that Pi's father decides that they must sell the zoo and leave the country. The cargo ship the family is on tragically sinks in the middle of the Pacific ocean and Pi finds himself stranded in a lifeboat with a Hyena, a Zebra, an Orangutan, and a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Before long, it's just Pi, Richard Parker and the Pacific. Pi, armed with years of applied education in zoology, knows he has no chance in killing the 450 lb beast with the few tools he has available. Instead, Pi finds his life and Richard Parker's locked in a delicate equilibrium. As much as the tiger depends on Pi's ability to provide food and water, Pi would die of loneliness and despair without his companion.

This book was fantastic, it makes profound connections between religion and story telling, between science and nature, and between life and love. My brain is still spinning.