The Boat Was My Friend

“And when the universe has finished exploding, all the stars will slow down, like a ball that has been thrown into the air, and they will come to a halt and they will all begin to fall toward the center of the universe again. And then there will be nothing to stop us from seeing all the stars in the world because they will all be moving toward us, gradually faster and faster, and we will know that the world is going to end soon because when we look up into the sky at night there will be no darkness, just the blazing light of billions and billions of stars, all falling.” 

That good.

Christopher is 15 years old and under the autism spectrum. He is emotionally detached and exceptionally logical. And he’s trying to solve the mystery of Wellington’s killing. Wellington is the neighbour's dog. Christopher is also the narrator of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, and because Mark Haddon did such a bloody good job in this book, all of his peculiarities, the naivety of his youth, the precise and analytical way he sees life, his unusual mathematical skills, as well as his awkwardness around other people come through with every word. 

And not only that; Mark Haddon’s greatness here is such, that he manages to infuse this unique novel with humour, sensitivity and immense emotion, all still conveyed by an emotionally alienated boy!

Christopher is weird, but charming-weird. He knows “all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,507” and he is by far the most memorable and engaging narrator I've come across since I don’t know when that I can empathise with.

And through Mark Haddon (whose other books I now equally want to read like crazy obviously), Christopher’s perception and depiction of the world is phenomenal.

And eventually there is no one left in the world except people who don't look at other people's faces and who don't know what these pictures mean 

and these people are all special people like me.