In discussing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Haddon made it clear that he saw it as realistic fiction that is actually realistic: no lucky encounters, no interventions of a deity, just mundane life. However, some have criticized that The Curious Incident does not live up to these ideals as it uses strange events like a dead dog and an impromptu sprint to London to advance the plot. Parallels can be drawn between this and Occam's Razor. Occam's Razor basically states that in most cases the simplest solution should be considered first. In other words: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Realistic fiction books rarely meet this standard. For example, The Great Gatsby is based on a million recluses so in love with a lady that he locates her house. Technically this could happen, but in reality it would almost never happen. And, anyway, The Great Gatsby never covers the day-to-day events of Nick's life. Despite what critics say, Christopher's reaction to the climatic events of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is not escapism and aligns with Haddon's philosophy because his reaction is proportional to the events and realistic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The entire book passed through Christopher’s mind. It is, for the most part, a delightful experience. He has a unique way of thinking and we are privy to his every thought. Haddon uses this omniscient perspective in his mind to follow Haddon's philosophy that "use your imagination and you will see that even the narrowest and most mundane lives have infinite significance if you examine them carefully enough." Christopher certainly proves this by discussing mathematical concepts like the Eratosthenes sieve and its arbitrary limits like "I think I would like pink squares but not yellow squares because I don't like yellow." At first glance, this is an extraordinarily boring paragraph due to its mundane subject matter. However, Haddon has Christopher deliver it in such a fascinating way that it engages the reader and tells us a lot about him. Haddon clearly puts a lot of effort into developing Christopher's daily life. Haddon manages to grab the reader's attention with the most mundane events. Haddon's presentation is reinforced by Christopher's Asperger's syndrome. It's safe to say that the vast majority of the book's audience would never have spent much time thinking about the mind of a person with Asperger's. However, from the meticulous description of the dead dog in the first paragraphs, we can tell that something is different - even if it talks about mundane events. This allows Haddon to depict mundane events and be truly realistic fiction while still truly enjoying the reader. For example, when the policeman questions him about his potential involvement in Wellington's death, Christopher thinks "he was asking too many questions... They were piling up in my head like loaves of bread in the factory where Uncle Terry works." ". This clever way of thinking grabs the reader's attention while sticking squarely to the philosophy of being as normal as possible while using imagination as a "hook" to keep readers engaged in the story (e.g. opposed to unrealistic plot jumps like most realistic pieces). fiction). This gives Haddon more freedom to talk about these kinds of events..