The underdogs by Mark Haddon

His novel The miraculous incident with the dog in the night, starring the engaging autistic boy Christopher, made British writer Mark Haddon (1962) an instant audience favourite. In his first collection of short stories Pier collapses he once again shows strength in describing people who are just slightly different from most, yet oh so recognisable in everyday life. Compassion for the underdog, that's what it's all about.

Mark Haddon gave to the character Christopher in his successful novel a voice all his own. His portrait of the autistic boy trying to work out who killed his neighbour's dog was engaging and convincing. Haddon painted a realistic picture of the mindset of an autistic person, which is just a little different from that of the average person. The book became a mega-success; it won 17 literary prizes and sold millions of copies worldwide. After sequels An inconvenience from 2006 and The red house, which came out four years ago, there is finally another new Haddon - a collection of stories this time.

Prophecy

The characters that Haddon brings to life have in common that they often live more or less in a just different world, because they are different, different from the masses, outcasts or because they literally live in a different world or reality. In Pier collapses reality and surrealism are presented indiscriminately side by side, which is reinforced by the author's play with time and perspective. In 'Wildman', for instance, a family's Christmas dinner is cruelly disrupted by an armed stranger entering the house. Things were not going well between the family members anyway, but when son Gavin shoots the intruder, whether deliberately or not, it is the death knell for the already flawed family life. True, the uninvited guest does rise from the dead, but his family does not forgive Gavin, and the prophecy uttered by the yes-or-no deceased continues to haunt Gavin and gradually drives him towards the abyss.

In 'The Woodpecker and the Wolf', Clare and a few others reside on a planet in space. They are guinea pigs, but as is usually the case with guinea pigs: things end badly for them. Earth fails in aid and one after another dies. Clinging to the unborn life inside her, Clare manages to sing it out until the day a spaceship with help finally arrives. And in 'The boys who travelled to learn horror', a pair of young men go in search of missing explorers, and meet themselves and death deep in the jungle. Perhaps one of the best stories in the collection is 'Bunny', about 28-year-old man Bunny, 190 kilos, bedridden, unemployed, lonely. 'Three weeks before his tenth birthday, his father disappeared overnight to live in Manchester with some woman,' it says. And: 'His mother became a different person after that, more surly, less kind.'

Interpret

But despite his miserable circumstances, there seems to be light on the horizon for Bunny. He meets his old classmate Leah, and the two become fond of each other. For Leah, it is the first time in her life that someone needs her. All's well that ends well? Well, not exactly. But how exactly should the developments that happen next be interpreted? What are the intentions of the various characters? Ask the question to different readers, and you are bound to get very different answers.

Haddon does know better than to give overly easy solutions and explanations for his characters' behaviour; he does not make direct connections, he just gives the circumstances and 'facts', or not even that. This leaves plenty of room for one's own vision and interpretation.

They are rather dark stories - there are drifting deaths - and yet Pier collapses not a heavy or dark book. Because, of course, Haddon wouldn't be a true Briton if he didn't also possess that characteristic irony and humour, lacing his work with racy, pointed observations and aphorisms, such as 'deep down, it offered comfort to be hurt in the old, familiar ways' or 'family is always much more complicated than work'. That layering makes Pier collapses into an interesting collection of stories, which does not reveal its secrets all at once. That alone makes it so enjoyable to spend some time in Mark Haddon's parallel universe.