I wasn't sure exactly how we want to do this, so I'll just throw out a few topics for discussion.
First of all-- what do you guys think of it so far? I really, really love it and I'm kind of in awe at what goes on in Christopher's head. Even when he explains the math problems I'm lost, which is a real insight into the head of a "special needs" person. I'm impressed with Mark Haddon because there's no way in the world I could write it.
Anyway, here are a few things to think/talk about:
Given Christopher's aversion to being touched, can he experience his parents' love for him, or can he only understand it as a fact, because they tell him they love him? Is there any evidence in the novel so far that he experiences a sense of attachment to other people?
One of the unusual aspects of the novel is its inclusion of many maps and diagrams. How effective are these in helping the reader see the world through Christopher's eyes?
According to neurologist Oliver Sacks, Hans Asperger, the doctor whose name is associated with the kind of autism that Christopher seems to have, notes that some autistic people have "a sort of intelligence scarcely touched by tradition and culture --- unconventional, unorthodox, strangely pure and original, akin to the intelligence of true creativity" [An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks, NY: Vintage Books, 1995, pp. 252–53]. Does the novel's intensive look at Christopher's fascinating and often profound mental life suggest that in certain ways, the pity that well-meaning, "normal" people might feel for him is misdirected? Given his gifts, does his future look promising?