The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein
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Book Reviews of The Art of Racing in the Rain
Book Review: Sentimental dog story with a lot of human cliches
Summary: 2 Stars
Anyone who knows me knows that I am an off-the-deep-end animal lover and I cry even at benign "animal" films like Babe ("That'll do pig, that'll do...) let alone anything tear-jerky or involving the death of pet. And "Racing" puts its message way up front, in a forward that makes it clear from page one that the charming narrator is gonna die, putting all the cards on the table (so I am not really giving any spoilers).
I noticed here on Amazon a video from the publisher, one so elaborate it is like a mini-movie/commercial for the book -- it had to have cost a fortune, including all the music and editing. That's very disheartening -- it underlines what I was only going to imply, which is that this book was probably written with the moneymaking potential of a sentimental movie (and the big money advances that entales) firmly in mind.
Books (and films) about sentient animals (not just dogs, but obviously pigs, cats, horses, occasionally parrots and let's not forget the detective sheep in "Three Bags Full") are so ubiquitous now that it's not merely a sub-genre but practically an entire industry.
It is in the "dog story" that "Art of Racing in Rain" is most successful. Enzo is a mixed breed mutt (though oddly depicted on the book jacket as a pure bred yellow lab) owned by a young man, Denny Swift, who is crazy about auto racing. (Hint to author: if you are writing about a racer, it is overselling your hand to name him "Swift" -- it's like having your protagonist being an author and naming him "Typewriter".)
Enzo, a ridiculously smart and literate dog (he's been educated by 24 hours a day of PBS TV) with the intellectual equivalent of a PhD. His observations about life can be amusing, and he wants more than anything to be reincarnated in his next life as a human with opposable thumbs. Again, these are the best parts of the book, even though Enzo often doesn't seem very doglike (unlike all dogs I know, he doesn't seem to care much about food) and though he can't read, he has a complex understanding of things like dogs being color-blind. (This mystified me: as a human, I can see far fewer colors than a prey bird, like an eagle -- but unlike Enzo, I can't NAME the colors that I am not capable of SEEING.)
The book is far less convincing as the story of down and out dog owner, Denny. Has there ever been a protagonist with WORSE luck? He struggles as a young married parent (maybe because he deliberately impregnates his 20 year old girlfriend on their first date), has lousy jobs, dreams of racing cars but bungles every race he is in. His beautiful wife gets BRAIN CANCER (cue the theme from "Love Story"), his monstrous in-laws try and steal his adorable little daughter by manipulating the legal system. Heck, a previously UNKNOWN and never mentioned teenage cousin appears from NOWHERE, accuses him falsely of statutory rape and causes him to lose custody of his beloved child. His life seques from one tragedy to another, a constant tsunami of lousy luck, until....
Well, I guess you have to read it. It's a short book and probably a good beach read for this summer. You can't be overly critical or take a book like this TOO seriously; after all, dogs really don't watch TV and they probably don't get reincarnated WITH THE SAME EXACT NAME. (Hint #2: if your reincarnated dog is named Fluffernutter or Tinkerbell, does that mean when he reappears as a human child he will be called by that name?) Oh, and you can gain some comfort from the fact that most dogs -- especially healthy mixed breed mutts -- tend to live longer than Enzo and hip dysplasia (while painful and terrible) is a disease of INBRED PURE-BREEDS and not mutts. And dogs do not, to my knowledge, have the power to "will themselves to death" conveniently when you want to take a job in Italy.
The book is loaded with gaffes like this, interspersed with Denny's simply awful tragedies (until suddenly at the end when his wildest dreams come true, interestly just like his tragedies they are solely the products of Deux Ex Machinas). Supporting characters like his too-cute daughter, rotten in-laws, dying wife and even the late arrivals of his estranged (and BLIND!) parents are cut straight from a big sheet of cardboard. Someone should tell Mr. Stein that weepers about young widowers with cute kids have been done and overdone as movies-of-the-week and add nothing here.
But the world can easily absorb yet another good dog story. So if you love dogs, slog through the trite parts for the doggy bits, and bring a big box of kleenex for the inevitable weepy heartstring-plucking ending.
In conclusion: coming to a theatre near you VERY SOON.
Book Review: While hilarious at times, is quite often heartbreaking, but it is ultimately uplifting and heartwarming
Summary: 5 Stars
In Garth Stein's touching story, the appealing narrator is a dog named Enzo, who (of course) cannot communicate as he'd like to, by talking with his family. Instead, he pours his considerable heart and spirit into this book, sharing his experiences and reflections with readers. Although Enzo is frustrated with his limitations as a canine, he comforts himself with the fact that, according to a documentary he watched about Mongolia (Enzo is a dedicated television viewer), he will be reincarnated as a human. And he knows a lot about being a human after watching his master Denny Swift, who is a hero to him.
At the beginning of the book, Enzo is just barely clinging to life, so he spends time reflecting upon his past. As Denny, who is a race car driver, has told him, drivers cannot contemplate their moves while they make them. Racing is like living; you can only do it and then remember it at a later date. For Enzo, in these last days he immerses himself in memories.
His reminiscences begin with the day Denny chose him out of a heap of puppies, taking him from a country farm to an apartment in Seattle. Although Enzo doesn't enjoy living there, he adores Denny and thus looks on this as a good life. He later develops a fondness for Eve, "the interloper," who Denny falls in love with and marries. He stands in literally for Denny on the day that his daughter, Zoë, is born. Denny is off racing in Daytona, Florida while Enzo is at the new mother's side.
For Denny, the joyous day of Zoë's birth is overshadowed as his racing career takes a beating. After a year of obtaining sponsorships in order to enter the race, he loses this hard-won opportunity to shine when a driver on his team has an accident. Denny returns to his day job as a customer service representative at a luxury auto shop.
Shortly after giving birth, Eve asks Enzo to promise to protect the little girl, and the dog's feelings of commitment to his family are intensified. Enzo's role in the family becomes that of caretaker and watchdog. He takes his role of protecting his loved humans seriously --- and faithfully not only watches over them, but also manipulates their lives, often in humorous ways, to ensure that they are taken care of. This loyalty will be needed as their lives are about to unravel.
When the family moves to a small house, Enzo enjoys a cozy backyard and sunny spots to lounge in. Eve chooses to go back to work, so Zoë enters daycare, which leaves Enzo at home, bored, until Denny begins leaving the television set on for him. But his happiness is short-lived, for he is the first one to realize that something is seriously wrong with Eve; his acute sense of smell has detected a decaying odor emanating from within her head. When Denny is away from home at his next race, Eve wakes up with a terrible pain. It's so bad that she gathers Zoë and goes away, leaving Enzo alone for days.
While this is unfolding, Denny's team has won first place, and he's had an offer from a big-time team, but he must turn his back on the racing he loves as he has more urgent matters on his mind. Eve suffers an increasing array of terrible symptoms, such as mood swings, vertigo and nausea. She sometimes screams from pain yet refuses to seek medical care. And when she inevitably receives the worst diagnosis possible, the family is torn apart, beginning an intense emotional rollercoaster ride. Through it all, Enzo supports them in every possible way.
THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN is getting all kinds of buzz, and it deserves every accolade. Readers will be moved by this warm hug of a story (and may find themselves looking searchingly into the eyes of their own canine companions). Enzo is a charming and witty narrator. His tale, while hilarious at times, is quite often heartbreaking, but it is ultimately uplifting and heartwarming. And I found the ending to be oh so very satisfying!
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
Book Review: The Art of Reading A Book You'll Love
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the first times I can remember writing a book review within minutes of finishing the book. I feel the need to do this because I fear if I wait until tomorrow, I won't be able to express to you just how wonderful this book truly is. With tears streaming down my face, I'm urging you to read it.....something I've never done before.
You don't have to be a dog lover.....you don't have to be a race car lover. All you have to be is a reader looking for something worthwhile to read; something you'll never forget; something you will be missing out on if you don't take the opportunity to do something for yourself and begin a journey with a dog and a man.....a journey you won't soon forget. One warning though....do not read the end right before you're ready to go to sleep because sleep will not come. You will be too full of your thoughts and your feelings and a sadness overshadowed by happiness.
As soon as I finished the book, I instant messaged a reading friend of mine to encourage her to read the book right away. This discourse was so funny that I feel the need to post it right here within my review since perhaps some of you might feel the same way she did.
Myself: OMG..I just this minute finished The Art of Racing In the Rain and I can't stop crying
Friend: oh no
Myself: I was going to beg you to read it but I feel now I must order you to do so
Friend: it's a dog book, right?
Myself: It is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read
Myself: Yes it's narrated by a dog but it's so much more
Friend: hmmm
Myself: I just wrote the first two paragraphs of my review if that will get you to read it
Friend: okay okay
Myself: Promise me you'll read it and get Laura to do so as well
Friend: I hate car racing...despise it!
Myself: That is so insignificant
Friend: that turned me off more than the dog narrator
Myself: It's not the racing because there's hardly any of that in it
Myself: It's what makes someone a winner and not a loser
Myself: And they use the car racing as the backdrop for that
Friend: are there more than two paragraphs about car racing?
Myself: I swear to God.....do not ask me one more question about car racing.....Get the darn book because I'm asking you to. lol
Myself: You want great reading experiences.....this is one of them
Friend: the only thing worse would be if it was about car racing in INDIA!
Myself: lol
Friend: ok. so I just read the first 5 pages at Amazon and it has some promise
Myself: thank you
Myself: okay enough already......just read the book and let me know the minute you finish it when you're crying your eyes out and writing about it for that stupid Sunday Salon of yours lol
I posted this chat so you can see just what I have to go through simply to get a friend to read a book I like. Obviously I get no respect in this regard.
Well the bottom line is that she read it and now I see her recommending it to everyone she knows. Needless to say, I'm not going to tell you anything else about the premise or about a dog named Enzo and a man named Denny who has a wife named Eve and a little girl named Zoe. That's all you need to know.
You will laugh and you will cry but, in the end, you will feel fulfilled with a promise of hope....a promise as seen through the eyes of a dog. It doesn't get much better than that.
Book Review: Characters you care about, a story that grabs you -- maybe more dogs should write novels
Summary: 5 Stars
I have finally found a new novel I can stand to read.
To my great astonishment, it's told by a dog. (I'm not a pet-lover).
It contains many insights about car racing. (I have no interest in car racing, and I look askance at sports analogies.)
And the author has described it as "Jonathan Livingston Seagull' for dogs." (That book is tied with 'The Giving Tree' as my Least Favorite Ever.)
So what do I find to praise?
The concept: "When a dog is finished living his lifetimes as a dog, his next incarnation will be as a man." Not all dogs. Only those who are ready. Enzo, a shepherd-poodle-terrier mix, is ready.
Enzo has spent years watching daytime TV, mostly documentaries and the Weather Channel (It's "not about weather, it is about the world"). And because Denny Swift, his owner, is a mechanic who's training to race cars, he and Enzo watch countless hours of race footage. So Enzo knows about the world beyond the Swift home near Seattle.
The situation is equally appealing: Enzo is old, facing death. While he has learned from racing movies to forget the past and live in the moment, this is his time to remember. And he can remember objectively --- as a dog, his senses are sharper, his emotions less complicated. With the clarity of a Buddha, Enzo can see. And he can listen: "I never interrupt, I never deflect the conversation with a comment of my own." So he's quite the knowing narrator.
And then the story: a happy family, brimming with good feeling and ambitious dreams. Denny loves Enzo like a son. Denny loves his wife Eve, who works for a big retail company that "provided us with money and health insurance." And Denny lives for Zoe, their daughter. Then Enzo smells something bad happening in Eve --- the dog is always the first to know --- and you start to brace yourself. But not enough, not nearly enough. Bad things happen to good people in this novel, and then worse things, and soon you are so angry, so hurt, so tear-stained and concerned that you do not think for one second to step back and say, hey, wait, this is just a story! A shaggy dog story, at that!
It works out. This is fiction, of course it works out. Not without cost to the characters and the reader. But the payoff is considerable --- a story that commands you to keep going, ideas that are a lot smarter than the treacle Garth Stein could have served up.
"How difficult it must be to be a person." Enzo nails that. "To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live." Who wouldn't? "Racing is about discipline and intelligence, not about who has the heavier foot. The one who drives smart will always win in the end." And there's more --- yeah, this could be summer reading in progressive high schools some day.
Or you could take a refresher course now in learning how to race in the rain.
Why wait?
Book Review: Book Review: The Art of Racing In The Rain
Summary: 3 Stars
The Art of Racing in the Rain begins with the narration of Enzo, a yellow Labrador retriever mix. He tells the story of how he met his owner, Denny, a race car driver and mechanic by day. From there, Enzo tells the tale of how Denny fell in love with Eve, whom he marries quickly. They have a daughter, Zoe, and eventually fulfill the "American Dream" and move into a house in Seattle, Washington.
At first, Enzo is not thrilled with Eve or her relationship with Denny, but eventually he finds his place as her protector. In addition, Enzo comes to love little Zoe beyond measure. Enzo is completely obsessed with his next life as a human and the use of opposable thumbs. He shows an innate intelligence and discusses his TV shows and knowledge of the human and animal races. He is sure that, in his next life, he will be reincarnated to a man who will shake hands with Denny and become a race-car driver.
Enzo detects an odor from Eve's head, that he believes to be an odor which describes a deep illness within her. She subsequently suffers from migraines and horrible spells, but absolutely refuses to go to the doctor. In addition, when she slices open her hand and OBVIOUSLY needs to go to the Emergency Room, she insists on not going. But, fate has a way of just making things happen... she has an injury on a rock at a local waterfall and ends up being rushed to the hospital for a concussion. Here, the large tumor is identified and later discovered to be a life-ending, cancerous one.
Eve's awful parents... and, you'll only understand "awful" when you read the book.... who live on a nearby island, insist that Eve is taken to their home for nursing and recovery as Denny was working and could not provide for her the full time attention that she required. He begrudgingly agreed. Then, they hit him with the WHAMMY, they feel it best that Zoe stay their during her convalescence as "her mother is dying" and "she should spend as much time with her as possible." The writing is on the wall. So, Denny agrees and they set up a "visitation schedule" of sorts.
Months go by and eventually, Eve passes. That's when the madness begins. The parents sue for custody of Zoe and go to extreme tactics to ensure their success. This part of the story I shall leave out for the sake of those who have not yet read this book. In any event, the second half of the book is Denny's brave trail towards winning custody of his daughter back and realizing his dream in race car driving.
The story does end on a happy note, albeit a bit predictable.
On Sher's "One to Ten Scale..."
This is a tough one for me. I wanted so much to give it a higher score than I'm able to give it. It was an enjoyable book and one that I can relate to. But, in my honest opinion, I have to give it a 7.