Tring Book Club - Birdsong and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

One of the reasons I joined a book club was to broaden my reading. Otherwise, I would never have read Birdsong. Although I did find most of it hard going, there was a lot to discuss at our next meeting. I was definitely in a minority of one when I caused some controversy about my serious reservations about the writing. After reading the introduction to The Bookseller of Kabul, and wished that I had not, I carefully avoided this novel's introduction. That may have been a mistake. It does say that the early section of France in 1910 was written with "a kind of period formality". And that in the sections during the fighting in France from 1916 to 1918, Sebastian Faulks wanted "to give an unstable feeling by various grammatical means". I thought that these devices made for a very poor read.

When I suggested that best writing came in the modern section (without these gimmicks), the general consensus was that this was the most trivial part of the book, and maybe it could have been left out altogether. But I rather liked a refreshing change from the horrors of the trenches. I cannot stand reading about horror, and this book detailed death, injury and pain in shocking detail, tedious and even boring in the long, repetitive and laborious descriptions of trench warfare. I did say that I am a great horror film fan, but have difficulty in reading it. Amanda (our course leader) suggested I may have too much imagination, and this may be true. But I did learn about the digging of tunnels, leading from the trenches to under the enemy's lines, where explosive charges would blow up in their faces.

I happened to particularly enjoy the modern section where Elizabeth finds someone to translate the code of our hero's diaries, where what he has written is wonderful and sad. And this research, together with revelations about the family history, will prove invaluable for generations to come.

Thank goodness for Mark Haddon. His The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is highly original, poignant and very funny, short and sharp, educational and enriching, well constructed and a jolly good read. I hardly ever read a book twice, but I was so glad that this book was chosen as I had the chance to enjoy again this wonderful book, having first read it in 2003. It is written in the first person by Christopher who is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. Whilst he is brilliant at maths, his affliction is a source of severe difficulty for those around him. But inside the brain of this vulnerable teenager, we are constantly uplifted by his spirit, enthusiasm and optimism. He almost dismisses those incidents which plague his family, so we are never embarrassed for him.

It was so sweet when Christopher talks about getting to know someone by asking them to draw a plan of their house or what kind of car they drive. He cannot stand different foods touching on his plate ( as a boy, I always had my custard separate, and after, the main pudding). The second half of the book is the most amazing 24 hour adventure, a nerve jangling experience. This novel is essential reading for young and old alike.