History YMMV / TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNightTime

* FairForItsDay: Today, this book comes across as a very stereotypical treatment of autism. But when it came out, it was actually one of the most nuanced and progressive depictions of an autistic character in fiction up to that time.

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Even though Christopher was viewed as a progressive portrayed of autistic people back in the day, in the years since the book was released and many other representations of autistic people have been shown in the media, many people (Both autistic and non-autistic) began to see him as an [[HollywoodAutism autistic stereotype]] given his LackOfEmpathy and his tendency to be an [[SmallNameBigEgo egomaniac]] who belittles his classmates as well as his blatant AngstWhatAngst in regards to the emotional abuse he suffers from others.

* CondemnedByHistory: When this book was first released, it was viewed as one of the most progressive portrayals of autism and was praised for getting the reader to imagine the mind of an autistic person. However, many years after this book was released, especially around the late-2010s when autism became better understood, many readers have started to realize how problematic this book really was. For starters, while some autistic readers did relate to Christopher's problems, many others didn't and has criticized Christopher for his autism being stereotypical as well as his violent tendencies and being oblivious to any abuse done to him. Then the author eventually admitted he did no research on autism, saying that "imagination always trumps research," which angered many autistic readers. And finally, there has been a lot more autistic representation than ever before, with many autistic creators sharing their stories about their experiences with being on the spectrum. All of these combined has resulted in this book falling from grace over these two decades.

** Christopher's father is this depending on who you ask. Despite his flaws, some fans sympathize with him when [[spoiler:his wife leaves the family for Mr. Shears,]] leaving him to take care of Christopher on his own. They see him as trying to be a good father and trying to make everything right for him. His detractors however view him as [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic irredeemable]] for various reasons. This includes [[AbusiveParents being verbally and physically abusive towards Christopher, even when he was a child]]; him [[spoiler:lying to Christopher about his mother being deceased for two years]]; and the most significant being [[spoiler:killing Wellington over being rejected by Mrs. Shears, Wellington's owner. The father getting no punishment from this or address his violent outbursts made some view him as a KarmaHoudini.]]

** This book's portrayal of autism. Some fans say Christopher is a sympathetic portrayal of autism and they show the struggles of autism for the time it was released in. However, others (especially some autistic readers) find it to be very problematic. They find Christopher to be [[HollywoodAutism another autistic stereotype;]] being a math savant, [[LackOfEmpathy having no empathy,]] and being a burden to others. They also felt that Christopher's tendencies came across as [[NightmareFuel violent and dangerous, especially moments where Christopher carries around a Swiss Army Knife]]. The author admitting [[http://markhaddon.com/blog/aspergers-autism/ he did no research on autism]] doesn't help with this.

* CantUnHearIt: To those who got to see the theatre adaptation, Mickey Rowe ''is'' Christopher, partly due to [[ActorSharedBackground being on the autism spectrum himself]] and also because he nails Christopher's [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] JerkWithAHeartOfGold personality perfectly by balancing Christopher's jerkish traits and actiosn with a demeanor that clearly shows he's a troubled and ultimately well-meaning kid. As such, many book readers hear his voice when reading Christopher's lines.

** Christopher himself. First of all, [[http://markhaddon.com/blog/aspergers-autism/ the author in 2009]] has stated that [[CreatorsApathy he did no research on autism]] and said "imagination always trumps research", which didn't sit right with some autistic readers. Second, although the author stated that the message of this book is about understanding people who think differently [[InsistentTerminology as opposed to teaching readers about autism]], [[BrokenAesop some autistic readers feel this book did the opposite]] by making Christopher come across as [[HollywoodAutism a problematic stereotype (i.e. math savant, lack of empathy, burden to others, etc.)]] due to the lack of research into understanding autism. Third, every character in this book (except Siobhan and Mrs. Alexander) [[CrapsackWorld is verbally (and in a few occasions physically) abusive towards Christopher]], including authority figures [[AbusiveParents and even his parents]]. Christopher doesn't seem to be affected by any of this whatsoever, implying that autistic people don't feel abuse. Finally, even ''[[DisabilityasanExcuseforJerkassery Christopher himself]]'' is an asshole and, at his worst, can come across as downright [[MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency sociopathic]], as he [[SmallNameBigEgo derides everyone's skill and intelligence and praises his own]] and will kill anybody, armed either with his limbs or his Swiss Army Knife. This book was a success both critically and commercially to the point where it won several awards, earned itself a play based on it, and it still appears in pop culture.

** Christopher. Some fans like him because they find his view of the world interesting and liked the UnreliableNarrator aspect of his character. However, others were turned off with Christopher insulting others for being less intelligent than him, and for coming across as a SpoiledBrat rather than the troubled child he is. In addition, some readers weren't happy with how [[HollywoodAutism Christopher's autism is represented.]]

*** In addition, some readers weren't the most enamoured by Christopher's hatred of the colours yellow and brown as it was felt that his attitude towards such things blatantly as common as common can be came across as quite hostile to the point where it became comparable to water and sunlight being {{Weaksauce Weakness}}es to vampires.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Despite Mark [[CreatorsApathy doing no research for the book]], it was considered unusual and novel at the time because of the protagonist being implied to have autism ([[DiagnosedbytheAudience it was not actually an example of a work with an explicitly mentally disabled character]]) and it became a critical and commercial success. However, as real famous people who also had autism made their own impacts, [[note]] Creator/BillyWest, WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter, Creator/HelenHoang [[CreatorsontheAutismSpectrum among others]][[/note]] the book began to show its age.

* BrokenAesop: According to the author, he wrote this book to get people to understand people who think differently. Problem is in this book, besides the fact that Christopher's autism was portrayed in a [[HollywoodAutism very stereotypical fashion]], he was also portrayed as someone who insults everyone around him (including his disabled classmates) while praising his own intelligence, and at worst threatened people with a Swiss Army Knife on two separate occasions. It also didn't help that Christopher is oblivious to any verbal abuse thrown by almost every other character unchallenged, even by his own parents.

* CantUnHearIt: To those who got to see the theatre adaptation, Mickey Rowe ''is'' Christopher, partly due to [[ActorSharedBackground being on the autism spectrum himself]] and also because he nails Christopher's [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] JerkWithAHeartOfGold personality perfectly. As such, many book readers hear his voice when reading Christopher's lines.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Many readers agree that the book is ''much'' more pleasant to read if one substitutes Christopher's [[HollywoodAutism "Aspergers"]] for practically any AmbiguousDisorder that comes to mind. Even the original author [[InsistentTerminology eventually agreed with this claim]], asking to remove the word from the cover.

** Christopher carries a Swiss Army Knife at all times and is not afraid to use it in self defence. Given what he perceives to be a “threat” (i.e people actually trying to help him at the Tube station) this could lead to him attacking (or possibly even killing) a stranger in the future who only wanted to assist him.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Despite Mark [[CreatorsApathy doing no research for the book]], it was considered unusual and novel at the time because of the protagonist being implied to have autism ([[DiagnosedbytheAudience it was not actually an example of a work with an explictly mentally disabled character]]) and it became a critical and commercial success. However, as real famous people who also had autism made their own impacts, [[note]] Creator/BillyWest, WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter, Creator/HelenHoang [[CreatorsontheAutismSpectrum among others]][[/note]] the book began to show its age.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Despite Mark [[CreatorsApathy doing no research for the book]], it was considered unusual and novel at the time because of the protagonist being implied to have autism ([[DiagnosedbytheAudience it was not actually an example of a work with a mentally disabled character]]) and it became a critical and commercial success. However, as real famous people who also had autism made their own impacts, [[note]] Creator/BillyWest, WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter, Creator/HelenHoang [[CreatorsontheAutismSpectrum among others]][[/note]] the book began to show its age.

** Christopher. Some fans like him because they find his view of the world interesting, and liked the UnreliableNarrator aspect of his character. However, others were turned off with Christopher insulting others for being less intelligent than him, and for coming across as a SpoiledBrat rather than the troubled child he is. In addition, some readers weren't happy with how [[HollywoodAutism Christopher's autism is represented.]]

** Christopher. Some fans like him because they find his view of the world interesting and liked the UnreliableNarrator aspect of his character. However, others were turned off with Christopher insulting others for being less intelligent than him, and for coming across as a SpoiledBrat rather than the troubled child he is. In addition, some readers weren't happy with how [[HollywoodAutism Christopher's autism is represented.]]

** Christopher himself. First of all, [[http://markhaddon.com/blog/aspergers-autism/ the author in 2009]] has stated that [[CreatorsApathy he did no research on autism]] and said "imagination always trumps research", which didn't sit right with some autistic readers. Second, although the author stated that the message of this book is about understanding people who think differently [[InsistentTerminology as opposed to teaching readers about autism]], [[LyingCreator some autistic readers feel this book did the opposite]] by making Christopher come across as [[HollywoodAutism a problematic stereotype (i.e. math savant, lack of empathy, burden to others, etc.)]] due to the lack of research into understanding autism. Third, every character in this book (except Siobhan and Mrs. Alexander) [[CrapsackWorld is verbally (and in a few occasions physically) abusive towards Christopher]], including authority figures [[AbusiveParents and even his parents]]. Christopher doesn't seem to be affected by any of this whatsoever, implying that autistic people don't feel abuse. Finally, even ''[[DisabilityasanExcuseforJerkassery Christopher himself]]'' is an asshole and, at his worst, can come across as downright [[MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency sociopathic]], as he [[SmallNameBigEgo derides everyone's skill and intelligence and praises his own]] and will kill anybody, armed either with his limbs or his Swiss Army Knife. This book was a success both critically and commercially to the point where it won several awards and earned itself a play based on it and it still appears in pop culture.

** Christopher's father is this depending on who you ask. Despite his flaws, some fans sympathize with him when [[spoiler:his wife leaves the family for Mr. Shears,]] leaving him to take care of Christopher on his own. They see him as trying to be a good father and trying to make everything right for him. His detractors however view him as [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic irredeemable]] for various reasons. This includes [[AbusiveParents being verbally and physically abusive towards Christopher, even when he was a child]]; him [[spoiler:lying to Christopher about his mother being deceased for two years doesn't help with this.]]; and the most significant being [[spoiler:killing Wellington over being rejected by Mrs. Shears, Wellington's owner. The father getting no punishment from this or address his violent outbursts made some view him as a KarmaHoudini.]]

** Christopher's father is this depending on who you ask. Despite his flaws, some fans sympathize with him when [[spoiler:his wife leaves the family for Mr. Shears,]] leaving him to take care of Christopher on his own. They see him as trying to be a good father and trying to make everything right for him. His detractors however view him as [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic irredeemable]] for [[AbusiveParents being verbally and physically abusive towards Christopher, even when he was a child]]. Him [[spoiler:lying to Christopher about his mother being deceased for two years doesn't help with this.]] But the most significant reason his detractors dislike him is because [[spoiler:he killed Wellington over being rejected by Mrs. Shears, Wellington's owner. The father getting no punishment from this or address his violent outbursts made some view him as a KarmaHoudini.]]

** Christopher himself. First of all, [[http://markhaddon.com/blog/aspergers-autism/ the author in 2009]] has stated that [[CreatorsApathy he did no research on autism]] and said "imagination always trumps research", which didn't sit right with some autistic readers. Secondly, although the author stated that the message of this book is about understanding people who think differently [[InsistentTerminology as opposed to teaching readers about autism]], [[LyingCreator some autistic readers feel this book did the opposite]] by making Christopher come across as [[HollywoodAutism a problematic stereotype (i.e. math savant, empath, burden to others, etc.)]] due to the lack of research into understanding autism. Thirdly, every character in this book (except Siobhan and Mrs. Alexander) [[CrapsackWorld is verbally (and in a few occasions physically) abusive towards Christopher]], including authority figures [[AbusiveParents and even his parents]]. Christopher doesn't seem to be affected by any of this whatsoever, implying that autistic people don't feel abuse. Finally, even ''[[DisabilityasanExcuseforJerkassery Christopher himself]]'' is an asshole and, at his worst, can come across as downright [[MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency evil]], as he [[SmallNameBigEgo derides everyone's skill and intelligence and praises his own]] and will kill anybody, armed either with his limbs or his Swiss Army Knife. This book was a success both critically and commercially to the point where it won several awards and earned itself a play based on it and it still appears in pop culture.