A Dog's Eye View
I promised more normal entertainment reviews, so here you are! I hoped you enjoyed my little bit on Guardians of the Galaxy, which I'm going to follow with something a little more serious (Not that Guardians wasn't serious. I almost cried a few times. No joke. There were tears in my eyes).
This post is about a particular story called The Art of Racing in the Rain, a novel by Garth Stein about Denny, a racecar driver (the title makes some sense now doesn't it?), and his family told through the eyes of their dog, Enzo. Yes you read that correctly. It's narrated by a dog.
I know this might pose a problem to some of you who are incapable of suspending your disbelief. It definitely seemed to be for a number of Goodreads commentators that I encountered when looking at the synopsis and reviews for this book. It's not fair for me to judge you because I understand that the line is drawn for all of us somewhere, but come on people. Please, just get an imagination for Pete's sake! There's no requirement for how vast and impressive it needs to be, but when we live in the world that we do now, a lack of an imagination makes life much more difficult to get through.
Minor tangent. And now back to the book. So it's narrated by a dog, but not just any dog. Enzo is special. He knows it, and you come to realize it very soon too. I personally could not have thought of a more creative or better narrator for the story. You see, Enzo is a very old dog on the eve of his death recounting the story of his life. He is a dog who is ready to move on and believes in reincarnation. It's a bit crazy, I know, but stay with me here. Enzo believes that his next step in life is to become a man, and honestly, I can believe that too. His soul is more human than dog so while he cannot speak to us or fight his primal instincts all the time, he listens and observes and understands.
But while this story is about Enzo (and his many racing analogies), it is also the story about Denny because the truth is, Enzo is not in control. He doesn't have his paws on the wheel (excuse the racecar analogy). He's got no opposable thumbs (something else he regrets), how could he drive? So this is also Denny's story and Denny's story is one about bad things happening to good people.
Some may believe that The Art of Racing in the Rain is contrived. In some ways it is. It's about people being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or for the sake of drama, the right place at the right time. Could situations have been avoided? Maybe. But one of the many mantras this family follows is that there's no point in dwelling on what has already happened. You must focus on what the future holds. It seems cliched. Let me be honest, this book is filled with cliches. "No race is ever won at the first turn but many have been lost there". "Your car goes where you eyes go." Those are just the ones I remember. But even though I have never been a fan of racing, I found a lot of these sayings to hit home. And I think that's what works about this story. The emotions really hit home.
Reading this book, I was extraordinarily angry at some points. They were the points you were supposed to be angry, but still it wasn't pleasant. I felt every emotion that I was supposed to along the way, twisting and turning with the emotional roller coaster Garth Stein had laid out for me. Sometimes I wanted to get off, but by the finish I felt like it had all been worth it because the ending could not have been more beautiful. It made me smile to myself in a way that I can't even describe in words. I don't want to ruin the ending for you, but I was deeply moved and closed the book feeling content, like all was right in the world.
It's been such a long time since I've sincerely felt so strongly about anything. My summer off with all of its travels was extremely fun but hardly offered much emotional turmoil. And starting a full time job doesn't exactly scream "let's tap into the depth of human emotions". But this book was able to elicit such powerful and raw feelings, ones I had almost forgotten I possessed. Some of you may be upset that I ruined this for you, but I just want to say that there is a happy ending. I wanted to say it because there are times in the book when things look so bleak, it makes you not want to continue. I know it's a story, but I really admire Denny's resilience and patience and the loving supportive network that he has. I think I enjoyed this book so much because it made me realize that no matter what bad things happen to you, it's possible to get through it. It gave me hope. And in the time when things are the darkest, a little ray of hope can go a long way.
This post is about a particular story called The Art of Racing in the Rain, a novel by Garth Stein about Denny, a racecar driver (the title makes some sense now doesn't it?), and his family told through the eyes of their dog, Enzo. Yes you read that correctly. It's narrated by a dog.
I know this might pose a problem to some of you who are incapable of suspending your disbelief. It definitely seemed to be for a number of Goodreads commentators that I encountered when looking at the synopsis and reviews for this book. It's not fair for me to judge you because I understand that the line is drawn for all of us somewhere, but come on people. Please, just get an imagination for Pete's sake! There's no requirement for how vast and impressive it needs to be, but when we live in the world that we do now, a lack of an imagination makes life much more difficult to get through.
Minor tangent. And now back to the book. So it's narrated by a dog, but not just any dog. Enzo is special. He knows it, and you come to realize it very soon too. I personally could not have thought of a more creative or better narrator for the story. You see, Enzo is a very old dog on the eve of his death recounting the story of his life. He is a dog who is ready to move on and believes in reincarnation. It's a bit crazy, I know, but stay with me here. Enzo believes that his next step in life is to become a man, and honestly, I can believe that too. His soul is more human than dog so while he cannot speak to us or fight his primal instincts all the time, he listens and observes and understands.
But while this story is about Enzo (and his many racing analogies), it is also the story about Denny because the truth is, Enzo is not in control. He doesn't have his paws on the wheel (excuse the racecar analogy). He's got no opposable thumbs (something else he regrets), how could he drive? So this is also Denny's story and Denny's story is one about bad things happening to good people.
Some may believe that The Art of Racing in the Rain is contrived. In some ways it is. It's about people being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or for the sake of drama, the right place at the right time. Could situations have been avoided? Maybe. But one of the many mantras this family follows is that there's no point in dwelling on what has already happened. You must focus on what the future holds. It seems cliched. Let me be honest, this book is filled with cliches. "No race is ever won at the first turn but many have been lost there". "Your car goes where you eyes go." Those are just the ones I remember. But even though I have never been a fan of racing, I found a lot of these sayings to hit home. And I think that's what works about this story. The emotions really hit home.
Reading this book, I was extraordinarily angry at some points. They were the points you were supposed to be angry, but still it wasn't pleasant. I felt every emotion that I was supposed to along the way, twisting and turning with the emotional roller coaster Garth Stein had laid out for me. Sometimes I wanted to get off, but by the finish I felt like it had all been worth it because the ending could not have been more beautiful. It made me smile to myself in a way that I can't even describe in words. I don't want to ruin the ending for you, but I was deeply moved and closed the book feeling content, like all was right in the world.
It's been such a long time since I've sincerely felt so strongly about anything. My summer off with all of its travels was extremely fun but hardly offered much emotional turmoil. And starting a full time job doesn't exactly scream "let's tap into the depth of human emotions". But this book was able to elicit such powerful and raw feelings, ones I had almost forgotten I possessed. Some of you may be upset that I ruined this for you, but I just want to say that there is a happy ending. I wanted to say it because there are times in the book when things look so bleak, it makes you not want to continue. I know it's a story, but I really admire Denny's resilience and patience and the loving supportive network that he has. I think I enjoyed this book so much because it made me realize that no matter what bad things happen to you, it's possible to get through it. It gave me hope. And in the time when things are the darkest, a little ray of hope can go a long way.
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