I loved it because it left so much open to personal interpretation and required a lot of thinking to put it all together. I tend to find stories that are all nicely concluded and where all the pieces fit together perfectly are kind of simplistic. Life's not really like that. Lots of things happen in life that aren't fair and don't make sense.

My take on the book---the dogs are the ones that provide the lessons, if there are any to be had, because they keep reminding us of a "natural" order of things that is beyond human intervention and control. The people in the story (with the exception of Edgar, somewhat) lack the ability to really accept each other and whatever life throws at them. But the dogs never do that. They accept whatever life presents with grace and make the most of it. Dogs don't hold grudges, and they don't expect life to be fair or make sense. They just live until they die. And they accept that too.

I loved it because it was the first time I had read something that really convinced me it could be the thoughts of a dog translated into human words. Because he is mute, Edgar is almost dog-like--intelligent and verging on wild, able to communicate but only in his own way--listening and understanding, but unable to speak in "human" language.

Early in the book, the tone of the story and the values of the world the author is describing are made clear. Trudy has a stillborn baby--it's a gut-wrenching scene. And then, the next day Gar rescues a half-drowned newborn wolf pup and brings it home. In a story that makes sense on human terms, the puppy would provide a sense of fairness, retribution, consolation---all the human values that we try to impose on the natural world. But the pup dies too. Clearly, this isn't going to be a happy story.

 Quote: tracy collins

.... I loved it because it was the first time I had read something that really convinced me it could be the thoughts of a dog translated into human words. Because he is mute, Edgar is almost dog-like--intelligent and verging on wild, able to communicate but only in his own way--listening and understanding, but unable to speak in "human" language. ....

Ah, your post is so eloquent, and it puts my feeling about the book into words!

Almondine's perceptions as the author imagined them were my first experience, too, with "believing" the goings-on in a dog's brain (in a book). And yes, you expressed the dogs' (all of them) matter-of-factness .... not emotionless, but accepting. (They don't need the t-shirt with ".... and the wisdom to know the difference" printed on it." )

I'm glad you posted!

P.S. I absolutely understand the readers at the opposite end of the spectrum, too. This is not an "indifferent" kind of book.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

I loved it because it left so much open to personal interpretation and required a lot of thinking to put it all together. I tend to find stories that are all nicely concluded and where all the pieces fit together perfectly are kind of simplistic. Life's not really like that. Lots of things happen in life that aren't fair and don't make sense.

When I read a book I want an escape from the unfairness and tradgedies of life. I have enough of my own problems. I don't want to read a book, especially from the fiction genre, about other people's depressing lives. I want to see all the peices finally fit together for someone.

 Quote:

I loved it because it was the first time I had read something that really convinced me it could be the thoughts of a dog translated into human words.

I thought the chapters from Almondine's perspective were some of the best in the book. I also liked how at the end he showed pretty much everyone's point of view, and thourghout the book he switched from person to person.

 Quote: cindy easton rhodes

.... P.S. I knew it was a Hamlet parallel but not until I was quite a way into it.....

I am embarrassed to say that I was more than halfway through it, and even then, when Claude's name was my hint (duh ), the dogs still made me think "no, it's not
really ....."

When I was done I read a couple of reviews that were embarrassing to me in how quickly the readers recognized Hamlet ... such as in Edgar's mother's name!

Then I guess that the ghost of Edgar's father was the clincher. Yes, I was veeeery slow......

The most heartbreaking part of the story (IMO) was Edgar's rejection of Almondine after seeing her with Gar.

The most beautiful part of the book was when Edgar realized what made the Sawtelle dogs special.
In the end, what makes the truly great dogs so great, is not what we can teach them, but what they can teach us.

Was anyone else struck by what beautiful names the dogs had?
Essay, Tinder, Forte, Baboo...

Funny that the author chose the name of Essay for the dog that was finally the realization of the Sawtelle vision... I guess the author, being a writer, put a lot of value in that name.

I never really thought about the significance of the names other than Essay and Forte.
I also thought they were interesting names, although at first I thought they were a little weird. (I really liked the name Tinder right away though.)


This discussion really isn't going anywhere...

I really liked the part when Edgar tries to teach the dog to jump over a hurdle, and learns to "thank" the dog for teaching him .

OK I just finished the book...

Alyssa I can't imagine how you read it so quickly...

I should have known that it would have a horrible ending when Stephen King gave it that glowing review.

IT HAD A HORRIBLE ENDING!!!!!!! except for Claude in a kennel run at the end.

There were too many loose ends, like why Edgar couldn't talk. Was it because of his mother's "black seed"? Why wouldn't his parents tell him how they met?

What was the purpose of his drippy ghost father clutching his heart? The whole ghost thing was freaky and depressing (Who wants to hang around here after they die and watch people live their little lives?)

What was the purpose of the dogs running off? Reality says that if they go feral they starve, or kill livestock and are shot and poisoned by the village people.

The close father/son time was priceless, then shattered, the escape through the woods was good, time with Henry was good, the training pictures were good.

I really prefer happy endings.