Page 36 - Demo

A Novel Idea by Marsha Dusek, Recommended Reading Editor
It’s hard for me to believe that when you read this it will be November already, with the holidays looming too close for comfort. Some of you may have already made out your gift lists and maybe even stashed gift-wrapped presents in the attic or behind the cupboard—I applaud you. But if you are like me, you haven’t done a single thing toward picking out gifts and live in denial that winter, let alone the holidays, is anywhere close.
So for those of you who may need some ideas for gift giving (and this could be birthdays or any other warmer occasion), or something to read while you cuddle with your dogs by the fire (or fire pit, as my denial of cold weather dictates), I present two novels that I discovered this summer and just have to share.
Now I rarely buy popular novels, especially those found on the new fiction tables of my local book store. I am not necessarily attracted by the words “New York Times Bestseller” either, feeling that my taste in plain old fiction books may be a bit out of the norm to the general population. But I needed something to read, and despite its location in the store and the accolades of the book-buying public, I admit it—it was the dog face on the cover that attracted me. So I found myself perusing The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (HarperCollins 2009), which is billed as “a heart- wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope—a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.” I decided to give it a chance— after all, I had some beautiful summer days ahead of me, with hopefully lots of time in my favorite hammock.
I started reading it pretty much as soon as I got home, and I’ll admit that just five pages in I felt myself misting up, with a bit of choking in the throat, and realized that this was not going to be a run of the mill bestseller—this was going to be something quite different indeed.
The narrator of the story, as promised, is a sweet mixed breed dog named Enzo who has the soul of a human, and longs to become one in his next life. You see, he watched this documentary once about dogs in Mongolia, and it said that a dog who is ready to leave
34 The Australian Shepherd Journal November/December 2009
his dogness behind will next be incarnated as a man. Enzo (who admits to watching too much television) holds onto this hope—dreaming of retaining his memo- ries of this life and meeting Denny, his owner, man to man one day.
This isn’t really a dog story, though, but the story of his owner, Denny, and the amazing strength of char- acter both dog and master have. Denny is a quiet man with a talent for driving cars, good enough to aspire to become a Formula One champion. Throughout the book, the philosophies of driving through hazards on the track are used as a metaphor for the hazards we must navigate through life. The descriptions of driving are rich and vibrant, but also reflective and serene. You don’t have to be a racing fan to read this book, either. It’s not really about racing—it’s more.
Despite my plans to read in my hammock, I found myself bringing this novel along to an agility trial— something I never do. Seldom do I turn my atten- tion away from agility at an event; the action on the course, discussing the course, or getting ready to go in the ring—it‘s pretty time consuming. But during a lull between runs I found myself again absorbed in the lives of Enzo and Denny.
The words flowed around me, encasing me in a warm cocoon, and I was so caught up in the story that I had a hard time keeping track of the trial. At one point I was interrupted by another competitor, who upon seeing what I was reading, had to share that it was the best book she had ever read. I was amazed by her enthusi- asm, since she had been quite calm all day—almost too low key for her novice dog. But it also emphasized how special this novel could be. Her review also helped me