*Since Mark Haddon has a big amount of fan mail, he cannot respond to all of them, so in the situation that he did respond, I did my best to represent what I would say back or ask*
Email address : vintageanchorpublicity@randomhouse.com
-Email-
Dear Mr.Haddon,
My name is Mitchell. I live in Port Coquitlam, Canada and I am in grade 9 at Riverside Secondary School. Apart of my English class, we had to read a novel. Each student in the class got to choose a novel of their choice. Out of the 5 options of novels that our teacher gave us, I strongly gravitated towards yours. I am sure that having an international bestseller has brought you many emails and letters as such. With a capturing synopsis, I knew this book would be a great one. At the very first page, the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime caught my interest. It’s elusive but elaborative writing format was something I had never seen before. It was so simple but also so complex. I have never had an effect off of a novel as strong as yours. It really changed my perspective, my thinking. And that’s why I’ve emailed you. I am both a logical and practical thinker, but this made me something more. Chris’s way of thinking is truly an eye-opener. Being mentally challenged is one thing, but having incredibly deep thinking skills like his is another. Not only the way he thinks, but the way he acts has changed me. In every situation or problem that he encounters, he examines every aspect with precession. He doesn’t look at the big details; he goes for the little ones, the ones that aren’t normally noticed. Some would call him a loner, socially inept. I would call him passively observant. This is one of the things that has altered me. I am usually overly confident and don’t look at situations and issues before I blurt out what I want to say so applying this characteristic to me would be preferable. It has made me think of where I am, what’s around me,etc. Also, like Chris says, white noise is better than silence. To me, I believe that this means that having a little of fun or something to occupy is better than nothing. It’s saying that make your life fun, don’t make it plain. Live life to it’s fullest. After hearing this froma boy that is slightly defective, it really makes me think of how far I can go and what of good I can do. This novel has overall made me a better person no doubt. It has showed me that keeping to yourself and being observant is often the better and smarter option while also having a little pizazz in life. I am pleased to have read this great novel. I would highly recommend because it really does give you another perspective of life like it did to me. Thank you for the exceptional novel.
Sincerely, Mitchell Watson
What the letter looks like :
Questions for author is situation of a response :
- What prompted you to write this book? How did you get the idea?
- Can you correlate with any of the characters? With Chris?
- What or who inspired to write this book?
- How did you feel when you realised that you had written an international bestseller book and won many awards?
- Why did you base the story in the past?
- Do you have any connections with people who have mental disabilty?
-I would also incorperate ideas and questions from my group and possibly from the class if he agreed to skype in class.