Music From the Art of Racing in the Rain
I was meandering around Borders i Saturday when I saw a dog's head on the embrace of a volume, and since I am magnetized to animals (especially dogs), I had to option it upward and foliage through it. I was pleasantly surprised to read the encompass to discover out it is written entirely from the perspective of a dog. Adorable and unique; I have e'er wanted to know what it'south similar in the mind of a dog. Although obviously written by a person (or my dog has some explaining to do as I was nether the impression that dogs do not have opposable thumbs and tin't write), it would exist so interesting and heartwarming to read through a dog'southward perspective. By folio six I was sobbing and sniffling. I didn't purchase the book and so because, as an brute lover, I am especially sensitive to certain subjects. As a doggy mom, I am more sensitive and I can't bear to think well-nigh certain things, whether peaceful or otherwise. I cry watching Animal Cops. I cry whilst watching Wild Discovery. I love animals intensely. And then when I read those first six pages and discovered how the story would unfold, I didn't think I could do information technology. I felt like I needed to go my bearings. I did and I bought it. The book isn't curt, but I read it on 1 Dominicus. I couldn't stop. There were many times where my tears were blurring my vision and I couldn't read further until I wiped my optics sloppily. Only there were also many times when I laughed out loud, something I rarely practice. When you lot're an gorging reader, you lot tend to immunize yourself to a actually proficient express mirth (or a practiced scare, although that wasn't at play hither). Simply Enzo, the dog, is witty, hilarious, immensely introspective, brilliant and sensitive. And I cried more considering of this, because he is all of these things and considering he was being so unflinchingly brave and honest. And, yes, I know it was written by a man and not a dog, but if you've ever been a parent to a dog you'll know that the author'southward voice is eerily similar to expressions and personality "isms" that are directed at you lot every day. My pup is very well taken intendance of and loved with a fierceness that astonishes me, but after reading this volume I have been talking to him, laying on the flooring with him, treating him more as a friend who can hear and understand me even though he tin't form or speak the words through his oral fissure. This story is beautiful and hopeful and devastatingly sorry, but it is told in such a frail way that y'all'll observe yourself sobbing but feeling okay about information technology. If Enzo is okay, I thought, then and so am I. Maybe it's because this is what I want to hear and what I want to remember because I know my own boy volition leave me some mean solar day, but I want to believe that all of Enzo's thoughts are real and that when it is fourth dimension, they want you to let them go. I can't imagine it and I'm tearing up just writing this, but mayhap thinking virtually this when I'm forced to will make it just a tiny, minute bit less paralyzingly heartbreaking. The book took my breath away and makes me feel closer to my dog. For that solitary I am indebted.
Y'all know that guy who comes up to you when yous're having a bad day and says something like, "merely call up positive thoughts and good things will happen" as if it were actually that simple? As if the spirit of Karma or whatsoever is patiently waiting effectually for yous to will happiness upon yourself so that information technology tin can be befittingly bestowed? Yeah, well fuck that guy. Bad things happen all the fourth dimension to people who don't deserve information technology, regardless of whether or not they are in affect with their "positive energies." Similarly, people who are jerks are at no greater risk of having a safe autumn on their heads while they walk downwardly the sidewalk than anybody else is. Non in the existent world, anyhow. Evidently this book does not accept place in the real globe. By now, I think it is pretty much known that this book is written from the perspective of a dog. While this may be a turnoff for a lot of people, information technology is not what ruined it for me; I can be very open to anarchistic styles of storytelling. No, what ruined information technology for me is the fact that the entire thing is horribly botched. First of all, when y'all are a writer and you choose to narrate your tale through the eyes and ears of homo's all-time friend, y'all demand to adhere to your own limitations. If your story involves whatever kind of tromping through courthouses, police force stations, or hospitals, You CANNOT Become In that location. Nor can you give your canine narrator ESP or amazing powers of deductive reasoning, either, every bit bounty. That is cheating. Second, please don't exist smarmy. You are already asking your reader to suspend his convictions enough to buy into this whole concept of a domestic dog harnessing a human soul; please do non expect him to swallow that your domestic dog is also an bawdy-crunchy environmentalist with a belief in the law of attraction and a distrust of the medical community to kicking, considering that is just asking as well much. When you practise that, you expose yourself equally a fraud trying to button your own agenda onto the reader through your characters. Again, cheating. (And equally an aside, I can assure you that doctors and drug companies are not sitting effectually boardroom tables scheming over how to swindle sick people out of all their money. How ridiculous.) Putting all this aside, the book still fails on then many other levels. Its characters are hollow shells, driven past motivations I could in no way relate to. This, in turn, translates to an exceedingly weak plot in which events occur unnaturally, giving the entire novel a contrived quality. Information technology also tries—constantly—to draw analogies to race car driving, which comes off sounding rather pathetic. And its catastrophe actually nauseated me. Truly, I am at a loss to explain the popularity of The Art of Racing in the Rain, because actually? This book is for the dogs.
If you have all the same to read this wonderful novel, do yourself a favor and do so. Information technology's original and captivating, and I simply adored Enzo (the narrator ... who also happens to be a dog). It tells the story of a particular family, with twists and turns that keep the pages turning. It's a perfect read for a rainy afternoon or while laying in bed, the kind of novel that you'll think long after y'all've finished.
That beginning - whew - nigh shorted out my kindle with the tears. If you're like me (avoiding pitiful books like the plague), you'll feel the urge to abandon this book afterwards Chapter 1. Don't do that. There is an admittedly beautiful story that has to be told (and don't worry, the ending is not as distressing equally the beginning implies.) He loves machine rides, treats and his stuffed domestic dog BUT Enzo is a peculiar sort of canis familiaris. He understands English, the finer points of racing and the emotional needs of his humans. But he's trapped in a canis familiaris'southward body - no thumbs and no talking - and he is in ache when his humans are hurting. Simply this has led to one supremely useful skill. As he says, When Eve gets sick, when Zoe is snatched by her grandparents and when his beloved Denny well-nigh to truly give up, simply Enzo is able to heed. Simply how can Enzo help them when he's trapped in a dog'south body? And everything is you lot. This is one of those books that anybody should read once - information technology has such a solid story and that ending (oh that catastrophe!) was merely what I needed. The 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge - A book with a weather element in the title YouTube | Web log | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads I've e'er felt almost human. I've always known that there'southward something about me that'southward different than other dogs.
Enzo belongs to Denny (and Eve and Zoe, only mostly Denny). Acquire to listen! I beg of you. Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories.
This book is all nigh listening - what can be learned and gleaned if but people spent their lives equally dogs exercise. I know this much about racing in the rain. I know it is about residue. It is nearly apprehension and patience...It is most believing that you are non y'all; yous are everything.
This was a truly excellent book - the writing, the plot, the characters - all but stunning.
I'g shocked...shocked, by how much I loved this book. The narrator is a domestic dog. In that location is much mentioning of racing - Formula Ane, NASCAR, Indy.... and the narrator is a domestic dog. But I think I mentioned that already. I liked this book so much that it made me want a dog. No, it made me desire this dog. And I don't even like dogs. Enzo, a terrier/lab mutt, believes in his next life he will exist human. Equally he feels practically human already, just limited to grand gestures due to his loose-muscled tongue and lack of opposable thumbs, he spends his dog years closely watching his ownder, Denny Swift, to learn the art of being human so that when it'southward his turn, he'll have a caput start. Denny, a race car driver/mechanic/down on his luck dad is a kind possessor who loves his dog and uses racing philosophies in his ain life. In that location are many to choose from, but my favorite is, "No race has always been won in the first corner; many have been lost in that location." Denny'south own story is i of piece of work, patience, courage, endurance, promise, and love. It's non an easy story to read. There are times I felt like throwing the book I was so mad at Denny'due south in-laws, but (kind of embarrassing to admit here), Enzo kept me sane. I just loved that dog. But when I'd most had it, he'd brand me express mirth and I could manage some other affiliate. Enzo dies in the finish. Information technology'southward not a secret. From the opening pages, you are reading the words of a dying dog. But that didn't accept away my sadness in the finish. I bawled when Denny held his beloved friend in his arms and says, "It's okay. Yous can go." Recollect Where The Cerise Fern Grows and Old Yeller only for adults. In that location is some mentioning of "mounting" (it's a dog's perspective, remember) and language. Several times throughout the book, Denny or Enzo say, "Your machine goes where your eyes go." Enzo knew that applied to life too. Your life goes where your eyes get. I'm happy my eyes rested on this book.
A fantastic and well told story! At times, I was near tears. Other times I wanted to reach into the book and punch one of the characters. I was so emotionally invested, I was talking out loud to the volume. In the finish, I fix downwards my Kindle and gave a standing ovation. I was skeptical going in . . . this is the part where I fear pet lovers will start unfriending me and/or sending me hate post! I am non a big pet person so I have been putting this off because I heard it is told from the indicate of view of a canis familiaris. My worry was that information technology may not entreatment if I couldn't connect to the love an possessor might have for their dog (I know, I am a terrible person!😉) But, I volition say that I actually enjoyed it. The domestic dog in question is Enzo, and he comes beyond every bit very wise and human being. The cutesy dog/owner story I feared it is non. Considering Enzo is very wise, this book is very quotable. I began to motion-picture show Enzo sitting on a mountaintop in robes waiting to impart knowledge on those coming to seek his guidance. Considering of this, I feel that this is a proficient book to recommend to those seeking inspiration. Some other aspect that sold me on this book is how much the volume is about motorcar racing. I dear watching motorcar racing and talking about cars, drivers, great moves someone fabricated in a race, or their mistakes made, etc. This is simply similar Denny and Enzo in the book. I thought information technology was awesome how auto racing philosophy was connected to life in general. I mentioned in the start that at times this book made me rage. It has been a long time since a book has made me this mad (the last was probably The Giver - which I really flung beyond the room. That was a concrete copy, though. This was my Kindle, I didn't want to fling it). I cannot really say what made me and then mad without spoilers, but be certain to set yourself because I bet at that place are few people who tin brand information technology through this volume without a like reaction. Because I was then moved - to happiness, to sadness, and to acrimony - I give this book A++++, 16 thumbs up, all the book awards, etc. I tin can hands recommend this book to anyone!
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Edited April 20, 2021 Notation on May 18--Oh man. My book society'south pick this month. Only started reading it last nighttime. A dog narrator. And machine racing. I dozed off in self-defense. May twenty--Not my kind of volume. Don't read any further if you loved it. Elsewhere on this site my friend Judy compared Garth Stein to Robert James Waller. I think that's insulting to Waller. It felt like Stein had a list -- dog hero, check. Wonderful woman with fatal brain tumor -- check. Adorable child -- check. In-laws from hell -- bank check. False accusation of rape -- check. Wait, what was that final? Are you kidding me? Girl taken away -- check. Then of course fairy godFerrarifather -- check. Rape victim recants -- bank check. Gets his daughter back -- check. Reconciliation with estranged parents -- check. Who also give him bank check -- check. No adept human action goes unrewarded! The top of his profession -- oh of course cheque, how could it be otherwise. Merely look, in that location's more! Dog reincarnated every bit man boy and race machine driver wannabe! I didn't buy the dog every bit narrator for a moment. I'm non proverb an animal's point of view can't be washed, and done well (The Incredible Journeying, The Silent Meow, Watership Down, The Current of air in the Willows), only not here. And the whole plot was merely so implausibly over the top. I put it down at page three, folio 26, and page 29, and then I remembered that I, too, have picked books for book club that people hated. Readers, I finished it. I consider information technology to be a triumph over my gag reflex. I see now that I've been completely wasting my time for the last 20 years. My next book volition be about the mother of a picayune girl with leukemia as told by their cat. Husband deserts them -- check. Mother loses her job because of bad economic system -- check. Has to work three jobs to replace it -- check. She sells their house to pay medical bills -- check. Arrested and child removed by family welfare due to child neglect -- check. Married man's mother sues for custody -- check. Through information technology all the only comfort is the cat -- check. Child dies. True cat runs abroad. The completeness. No, wait, this is a cynical feelgood Stephen Spielberg book, what am I saying? Of class the child doesn't dice, the kid is cured by a all! new! and improved! handling! Check! Mother discovers an ability to make yarn from true cat's pilus -- check! Fairy godartgallerymother discovers true cat pilus sweaters on mother's do-it-yourself website online and gives her her own show -- check! She sells them for millions -- bank check! Md who invented the treatment falls in dearest with mother -- check! Cat lives to twenty-ane and comes dorsum as third child of now leukemia-complimentary daughter, and grandma gives her knitting lessons. On the other hand, Stein'southward volume sold a zillion copies and I'1000 sure he's crying all the way to the bank. I just hope they don't make a movie out of information technology.
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This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Withal some other volume I was reading as a preview to see if I should purchase information technology every bit a gift. Sadly, no. Equally disappointing is disliking the piece of work of a local author. I always want to like local authors (and artists of all stripes), but it isn't always possible. First, I don't think automobile racing is a good metaphor for life. Maybe it is, but I accept a bias. I hate the automobile. I think the personal automobile is the single nigh destructive concept we've conceived. To then race them (in circles, no less) seems pointless at the very all-time, and maybe even criminal when one considers the environmental costs. As I said, I'thousand biased. The reason I read this in the commencement identify was the dog-as-narrator. I'yard really trying to find a proficient dog-as-narrator book. This isn't information technology. The canis familiaris-as-narrator in Stein'southward book is gimmicky. It doesn't add to the story, it doesn't analyze the plot, and it doesn't raise the narrative. I kept asking, "Why is the dog telling this story?" I still accept no satisfactory respond. The narrator was specially unlikable to me due to his obsession with being reincarnated as a man. It rubbed me the wrong way for several reasons, and seemed to backbite from the story whenever it came up. Information technology too underscored my question about why nosotros were listening to the dog in the first identify. My final disappointment with this book involved a footling deus ex machina action that tied a piddling bow effectually the story and robbed it of any emotional truth it had held for me upwardly to that point. Ultimately a discouraging read, simply I finished it in the unrealized hope that it would redeem itself. [I should probably read this review after getting some slumber and edit it for clarity and accurateness, but I uncertainty I will.]
2021, I love you already for starting a new year with a book like this. 1st January, 2021: I didn't know what to await when I picked up this book today. This is the second time I picked it upwards. I picked information technology up last twelvemonth, went into a few pages and I realised I wasn't ready for the story. I did non desire to ruin the reading feel, and then I put it downwardly. Then glad I did (trust your reader instincts e'er!). The first folio. It made me weep. I continued crying until the next few chapters, I got used to the story and the characters and so I cried, like ugly-i-am-dying-at present kind of bawling my optics out ignoring the called-for sockets and the crazy headache throughout the final few pages. It hurt. And it nonetheless hurts. *Caution: I concord that this book is a masterpiece. But, dog moms (like me or canine lovers in full general), delight consider before picking up this book. If you cry seeing a cute puppy, delight practise non pick up this volume. The heartbreak is just too much! The story is told from the perspective of a canis familiaris named Enzo. He'due south been living with his human being, Denny, before he got married and have a daughter. Things turned pretty ugly and hard for Denny with his wife, Eve, dying immature from brain cancer after struggling for months, leaving him with his modest daughter. Denny doesn't have a stable job with his interest only with cars and races. Well, the blow comes when he'due south been charged of sexually assaulting a minor. Things turned crazy. The entire read is a rollercoaster! For my heart which was breaking all this while and for my tear glands which take been working consistently for the terminal iv hours or so. Considering of Enzo. Because I love this canine with all my heart! Our german shepherds passed away when I was away from dwelling. I know how difficult it is to permit become. This story triggered me a lot especially reading about the struggles of Enzo considering of onetime age and also, the last few pages. I could relate to nearly things when information technology comes to the domestic dog-human bond in the story. It's and then existent. I need to finish crying.... My caput is hurting and my hoodie is all moisture. Yes, my pillows and my bed. I need to make them dry out. My whole room cried I guess. How could such a tiny homo produce all those tears? I haven't cried this much in my life. Let alone reading a book.
THE ART OF RACING IN THE Rain by GARTH STEIN is an inspirational, wonderful, and deplorable story that had me feeling so many different emotions while listening to this volume. Laughter...happiness...sadness....anger...and even a few tears. I had chills and goosebumps! That is good writing to make me feel so many different emotions while reading/listening to a book. Information technology was such a touching and uplifting story nigh the life of Enzo the dog, which was told from his ain perspective. I found this story to be quite endearing, enjoyable, sorry, and even funny with a few good twists and turns to keep me interested to the very finish. Would recommend! Audiobook - The book is performed by Christopher Evan Welch. All of Brenda & my reviews can be plant on our Sister Blog:
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/
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