Teaching the Dog to Read {novella}

We don't remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
--Linda Pastan

I'm into epigraphs this morning. And also, this story. Because after I finished it last night I was kind of reviewing it in my head, and then this morning I had the realization that turned the lights on, that great a-ha moment and now I can't stop smiling.

That's the kind of story this is. It seems to me that Jonathan Carroll is a very generous writer, or at least he's been very generous in this story. He is not asking his readers to fight for this, he wants you to have this very wonderful little meditation on life and so he has sent this nice pitch right over the plate and its right there and he is totally rooting for you to knock it out of the park. But he is not show more smug! He is not self-satisfied! Never a moment of author condescension anywhere in here. (Ahem. Sorry. Thinking about certain other authors I've read recently. Well. Author.) He is just giving this, so you can enjoy it.

So what did I enjoy about it? I loved the rhinos and the bullterriers. The ants with big shoes. The can opener! I loved the can opener! I loved the parallel when Day says he didn't script anything and then A. just lets the experiment run. I loved the unabashed shallowness of desire (A watch. A Porsche. A man with a watch and a Porsche.) that deepens into more. I loved the poignancy of the looking-glass Red King whose-dream-is-this that happens in kind of a slow motion tsunami through the whole thing. I loved the layers of teaching a dog to read. I love that I can tell you all this without spoiling anything in the slightest.

(There was a moment towards the beginning when I was in a state of confusion, I thought there was too much telegraphing of punches going on. I was all, don't tell me the story, pal, show me the story. And everything seemed so blatant. So if you have that reaction, don't worry about it. Just read on through. It vanished for me the moment it was disclosed that Night was lying his ass off.)

And the lights-on moment? As I was arranging and rearranging it all in my mind this morning, admiring the red-king-ness of it and the names of it, I suddenly realized that the story begins at a mirror. Oh, Jonathan Carroll! I think I love you! I must now resist the urge to go back and find all the references to timepieces in [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|24213|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|Lewis Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872220s/24213.jpg|2375385]. Anyway, I am going to leave all the God/reality questions these things bring in (and do not presume to resolve) out of this review. Go read.

So, yes. Go get yourself this story and read it. As for me, I will be reading [b:The Land of Laughs|42143|The Land of Laughs|Jonathan Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388472821s/42143.jpg|495086].

(Almost forgot: if you get this on ebook, it starts at the epigraph (at least on Kindle) which is a nice touch, but do yourself a favor and page back and look at that cover. It's a lovely touch.) show less

I enjoyed reading this, but it felt like it could have been a lot shorter or a little fuller. Mr. Carroll has a somewhat sparse writing style, leaving the reader to fill in details on her or his own. I usually like it, but the given elements of the story didn't quite match up with it's length this time.
Having said that, I'm always happy to spend time with Jonathon Carroll and the slightly off worlds he creates. I'd recommend this if you've read his other stuff, but it's not a good starting point.