Incidents of the Dog in the Nighttime Talk Show with Cameryn Roach and Jacob Prunes

Jacob: Hello Philadelphia, welcome to The Sunny-Side Up show. We have special guest Cameryn, a famous book analyst known for her depth on reviews and theories, on the show today.  How are you today Cameryn?

Cameryn: I’m fine, thank you for asking. 

Jacob: Are you familiar of the novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”?

Cameryn: Yes! I have been asked a lot of questions about that book and I have reread the novel quite a few times. 

Jacob: For our viewers that haven’t read or heard of the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is a story about 15-year-old Christopher Boone who was born with Asperger’s syndrome. In this part of his life, his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, is killed and Christopher takes it upon himself to find out what led up to the moments of the dog’s death. Along this journey, Christopher learns new information that’s not about his love for math or physics, and he finds himself in a place he didn’t expect to be in. 

Jacob:  So, was there any sympathy for the characters during a certain part of the book?

Cameryn: Personally, I felt sympathy for Christopher. I felt that his parents didn’t really prepare themselves on how to handle a child with Asperger’s syndrome besides just going with what he’s comfortable with, like for example they make sure that each part of his food doesn’t touch each other. I’ll give them credit, his parents did make sure that he was stable academically but other than that not really. 

Jacob: I really felt sympathy for Christopher’s father in the beginning of the book 

Jacob:  

Cameryn: The revival of his mother in the story was a little surprising, but it was also predictable. The whole scene where Christopher found the letters from his mom and started to read them is my favorite. It showed a side of shock within Christopher that neither the audience of the book or Christopher himself has seen before. Then his father found out what he was doing, and that was also the moment when the relationship between Christopher and his father reached its last straw. To me, it had to be one of the most exciting scenes in the whole book. 

Jacob: How did you feel when you figured out that Christopher’s dad killed Wellington? What was your initial reaction?

Cameryn: I was really surprised when Christopher’s dad revealed that he was Wellington’s murderer. I kind of expected that his father knew who did it since he would get mad every time Mr. Shears or Wellington would be brought up around him, and he just didn’t want Christopher to get involved in something dangerous. But I didn’t anticipate that he would give himself away. 

Jacob: Did this section of the book change your opinion about Christopher’s dad?
 
Cameryn: Once Christopher was reading the letters back to back and his father walked in on him and started stumbling over his words, that removed most of the sympathy I had for him. He knew he messed up when he didn’t tell Christopher the truth about his mom, and he knew he messed up when he started getting physical with his son. It was just a matter of time until we would come up to the scene where things would really unravel. 

Jacob: Yeah, for me this really changed my view on his dad. This part really explained a lot of questions I had. In the beginning of the book I felt pity towards Christopher’s father but now, I don’t really feel as bad. I kinda understand why he did what he did, but I feel like he could have avoided it.

Jacob: Next question I have is, did you have any intimation that the mom was alive in the beginning of the book, or did you really believe that she was dead?

Cameryn: I believed she was dead, but because of the way she was brought up multiple times made me think that something big or important in the story would include her. 

Jacob: Now was it just me or did you notice that every other chapter was just a sidetrack that involved an interest of Christopher? If you did then why do you think that is?

Cameryn: I think Haddon decided to write his book like that so we would further understand Christopher as a person and as a character and not just a boy who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome that likes math and physics. There’s obviously more than that to him, but that was just a little overview. 

Jacob: Do you think Christopher’s idea to run away from his dad was a good one?

Cameryn: Not entirely, but given his fear towards his dad and how he couldn’t trust that many people besides his mom and Siobhan, it was certainly brave. 

Jacob: And know let me hear you overall opinion on this book?

Cameryn: I liked this book a lot. It provided a different outlook on how the narrator could think and tell his story. 

Jacob: Well that’s all the time we have today. Thank you all for watching...The Sunny-side up show.

Link to video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1LpowETXho

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