Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Book Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain

I just finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.  One of my students finished reading it over winter break and brought it to me to read.  The thing I loved about this book is that it's narrated by a dog named Enzo.  It was a really interesting perspective, especially because the dog could only communicate with the people in the book through its actions.  (In that aspect, it reminded me a lot of The Book Thief, which is narrated by death.)

The narration was my favorite part of this book because I thought that the overall plot was pretty depressing.  I kept waiting for it to get better.  It didn't necessarily get better, but it did resolve some...  Maybe I'm being too hard on this book.  I'm sure that it would be more interesting if you were interested in racing because Enzo's owner races cars.  (But let me just say that the ending of the book is a lot like the ending of Marley and Me.  It definitely made me cry.)

3 comments:

  1. ohmygosh...my most favorite book of all time!! i loved that it made me laugh out loud and then cry and then laugh again... i thought the plot was VERY positive, in that it was all about unconditional love, and the idea that that is never-ending. i thought, tho it was narrated by a dog, it was completely intelligent writing, the stringing together of the words. i thought it was masculine, with the analogies to car racing, but still, analogies that everyone could understand. maybe a little simplistic, but totally loved it.

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  2. You're right about the unconditional love. I suppose I just felt like the characters in the book couldn't catch a break and things kept getting worse and worse. But the characters are full of love for each other, which I somehow let myself overlook. Thanks for the reminder!

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  3. This book touched my heart and I went from laughing to crying in the space of minutes while reading. Enzo is such a special character and he is so "human". When you read this book you will have moments when you are angry and upset on his behalf and you just want to shake the humans.
    If you have a dog, you will appreciate him more after reading this, and if you don't you will want to hug every yellow lab you pass on the street.

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