Dogsbody

For a book that is ostensibly about a girl and her dog, this novel is actually surprisngly entertaining. Jones uses her typical charm and ability to write the everyday into extraordinary to weave a story that is both energetic with celestial magic and warmly wonderful with humanity. She tells the story of a wrongly accused star (only Jones could make this odd choice of protagonist work) who is banished to Earth to serve out his punishment in a canine body, with limited means of finding the true crimical as redemption. Choosing to give the re-embodied Sirius a dog's body is a great touch in my opinion, as it stays true to the nature of the star, gives the creature an instant connection with humans, and gives him just the right amount of show more challenges and benefits to make the book a wonderful romp. show less

This isn't going to be a review... really, it's more of a babbling adoration, because I cannot even express how much I loved this book. Having read 'Howl's Moving Castle' and other bits of Jones' impressive body of work, I knew she was an extraordinary writer, one you could go back to again and again and still find wonder waiting in her stories. But I had, until last night, never read 'Dogsbody'. I had not even heard of it until I picked up the recent Firebird reissue. And I really, really wish I had. I wish I had known of this book years ago. I wish it and I were by now old friends. Because it is that good.

The story is otherworldly and original, though it does flirt with the generally familiar tropes of fantasy enough for comfort. show more Sirius, the dogstar, is convicted of murder and sentenced to life as an earthbound being -- a dog. The first part of this book is taken up, in beautiful and precious ways, with Sirius figuring out just how to be a dog. But he also has hope that his sentence will end better than it began -- he is looking for something, a powerful and dangerous thing, and if he finds it he may be able to return to the heavens where he belongs.

His search is a part of the plot, of course, but so is the development of his relationship with his owner, an extraordinary girl to whom the world has been and continues to be unkind. This is really the core of the story; the way the almost-dog and the girl bond is familiar to anyone who has ever truly loved and been loved by a dog; it is a miraculous relationship, both joyous and melancholy, though of course in this fantasy novel it runs into some unusual challenges.

The pacing of the story, the growth of love and the strain on those relationships, the search -- all of this is pitch perfect. But the end of the book leaves you feeling both heartbroken and transcendent. It is pure, perfect magic. I will not spoil it for you, but I will tell you that I wept and now just looking at the cover raises up a wave of emotion. This is a book about a girl and her dog, and the most powerful things in the universe, which are not always what you might think. This is a story that is immense and distant, yet also small and personal, mythic and yet so real. I think it may be one of the most wonderful books I've ever read. And it is one that you should read too. show less

Sirius, the denizen of the Dog Star, is wrongly convicted of murdering another denizen and as a punishment is sent to Earth where he is 'reborn' as a puppy and given the life-span of that dog to clear his name.

On Earth he's adopted by a young girl called Kathleen. DWJ does a fantastic job of showing us the world from a puppy's point of view and there were some laugh out loud moments as well as lots of cute ones (the personifications of the different dogs were hilariously accurate). But the book also deals with some more serious issues just as well, Kathleen is Irish and living with her aunt and uncle in England during The Troubles. Her aunt resents her and in exchange for being allowed to keep Sirius the puppy, Kathleen has to do all show more the housework which makes her tired for school and and easy target for some Irish jibes from her schoolmates.

A great children's/YA book and I enjoyed it much more than the more well known Howl's Moving Castle. In typical DWJ fashion, the ending was.. unexpected. And made me cry.

I'm torn between 4.5 and 5 stars but thinking about it again has made me bump it up to 5 stars. Highly recommended but why is this book not more well known? show less

Ah, well, we meet again my love.

[b:Dogsbody|18932|Dogsbody|Diana Wynne Jones|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1298416565s/18932.jpg|1106116] was first laid before me by my first librarian in elementary school. She offered me the book, what with the chilling rendition of the cold dog on the cover. Fur as white as snow, ears as red as blood, in mid leap towards the front of the cover. I devoured the book more quickly than anything, and left with a part of me stolen by the story. I could relate to Leo, to Sirius, to whatever you choose to call him. I had my rages, had my temper. Rereading it all these years later, yes, I've had my ill-chosen love. I felt I understood him, and understood the love that Kathleen had for him and the show more emptiness she felt towards the end.

Rereading it now, I understand the subplot of the Irish Troubles, the prejudice that I missed completely when I first read it innumerable times. I understood the mythology of the Hunt, and better the desire to chase and destroy and mourn and love that was all wrapped up within it. I understood the difference between the wild and the tame, the intelligence and the cruelty. There is so much in this book that just... it's almost like we were given only a brief snapshot of what could have continued on for ages. The world built was beautiful, cruel, confused and haunting. We were given so much in this book to explore, and so much was just viewed through inadequate eyes.

I think I'll always love this book, and I know it will always have stolen a large part of who I am. It's my favorite for a reason, and I spent years trying to find it for a bigger reason still. This book is an under-appreciated classic, and one I'll always hurriedly recommend to anyone who asks me. show less

Here the planets and stars are sentient beings, vast and powerful. Sirius the dog star is accused of murder, looses his temper during the trial and is condemned to live on Earth, where he must find the supposed murder weapon, a thing called the Zoi. He only has the dog's lifespan in which to find it, or he will simply die as a dog.

When Sirius comes to himself after the trial, he is a tiny helpless puppy. He doesn't know who he is or where he came from, but as he grows something else starts to come through his dog's nature. A bit at a time Sirius patches together his memories and tries to figure out what he must do. It's not easy. He has no idea where the Zoi fell, and as a dog is under the power of people- some who mean him harm and show more others, like the girl Kathleen who adopted him, who tie him down with love. I love the way this story is told, through the dog's viewpoint. An ordinary pet who has a grander plan to carry out, but must navigate the daily indignities of flea baths, being tied in the yard, suffering the company of cats and being torn between his need to protect and comfort Kathleen, and the urgency to find the missing Zoi. For if it falls into the wrong hands the beautiful green Earth, which he is coming to know and love, could easily be destroyed...

There's a lot more to this story than just his search, though. Kathleen is staying with relatives because her father is in prison, and she suffers being bullied by her unfeeling aunt, as well as her cousins and boys at school. Sirius is her only consolation, and the relationship between them is quite tender. I love Kathleen's character. She's kind, smart and bookish! and puts up with a lot of crap before she finally stands up for herself. Some of my favorite parts are how Sirius develops a relationship with the household cats, his encounter with the fox, the revenge Kathleen gets on her cruel aunt, and the ending. I find it very sad, and fitting at the same time.

from the Dogear Diary show less

Finished my re-read, and I think I love it even more now than I did as a kid. Possibly this is because I have a dog I love very much now myself!

I love this book for so many reasons, but I think most of all it's a book I love because of how strongly it makes me feel. It seems to somehow distill some essence of what it is to live-- sorrow, pain, humor, love, longing, sacrifice, devotion, joy-- and socks me right in the chest with that emotion.

Great story with a young girl and a puppy; does not descend into maudlin cuteness. Charmingly interwoven with the mythical Wild Hunt led by Herne. Constellations come alive as luminaries ('godlike', Sirius, Sol, Polaris) in modern Britain, during the time of IRA unrest. Re-read in 2025 and still a 5-☆ story.