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Loading... The Art of Racing in the Rain (2008)by Garth Stein
  
» 26 more Books Read in 2016 (173) Favourite Books (405) Top Five Books of 2014 (191) Top Five Books of 2015 (514) Top Five Books of 2017 (617) Books Read in 2015 (916) the dog was the hero (22) Books Read in 2011 (23) Great Audiobooks (62) Carole's List (216) Books about Animals (11) Auto Racing (1) Unreliable Narrators (72) Unshelved Book Clubs (98) No current Talk conversations about this book. I read this when it first came out and liked most of it. Someone recommended it inadvertently, so I read it for the first time in twelve years. When this book gets tired of being really fucking disturbing, it switches to being really fucking boring. Has the author met a dog? They watch TV with their humans on the couch, especially commercials, and go nuts when a dog barks. But nooo, this dog loves the weather channel. Dogs eat blood and sniff infections really hard. The author skipped right over those ones. It's a biological thing, and the author was like nope, not -my- dog. The book just fell apart for me there. This concept could have been way more interesting if the author had injected more realistic dog behaviors in here, or had this be about a bird that got loose instead.. (  ) iszevthere | Jun 28, 2022 |  I really enjoyed this book. The author has a true talent in pulling the reader into the story. You buy the concept of the dog narrating right from page one. Ezno is a smart, charismatic, and funny narrator. I loved the idea that he saw a documentary that in Mongolia (I think) people believed that dogs got to come back after they die as humans. The family grew on you and the whole story was brilliant. The only flaw for me was there was a hell of a lot of talk about racing the cars and I have about zero interest in cars in general much less racing them. But I never got bored with it. Its a very quick read, but its smart and a great look on humanity. (  ) banrions | Dec 7, 2021 | I broke my own personal rule of never reading dog books at work and ended up sniffling on my lunch break when I finished this one. Enzo the dog narrates this at times dark story with great joy. I learned a lot about car racing, a world I'm not familiar with. This would be a great book club selection. ( ) readingjag | Nov 29, 2021 | Aborted attempt; hated it ( ) dualmon | Nov 17, 2021 | This book is the best of the best. It melts all the comedy, intrigue, sadness. The movie really missed the mark for me. But this book is incredible. The journey you go on with the main character and his dog is long, hard, and has a perfect ending. One of my favorite parts of the character, Denny, is his devotion to everyone in his life. He was put through hell after Eve's death, and he kept fighting. One of my favorite parts of our dog narrator, Enzo, is his description of human things. Somehow Garth Stein was able to perfectly present and convince the reader that he is in fact a dog. Although this book is very sad it also has a lot of engaging qualities to the characters other than their trauma. (  ) LilySmyth23 | Nov 4, 2021 |
Fans of Marley & Me, rejoice. If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter. Enzo is a reliable companion and a likable enough narrator, though the string of Denny's bad luck stories strains believability. Much like Denny, however, Stein is able to salvage some dignity from the over-the-top drama. “I savored Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain for many reasons: a dog who speaks, the thrill of competitive racing, a heart-tugging storyline, and--best of all--the fact that it is a meditation on humility and hope in the face of despair.” Has the adaptationIs abridged inHas as a student's study guide
Nearing the end of his life, Enzo, a dog with a philosopher's soul, tries to bring together the family, pulled apart by a three year custody battle between daughter Zoe's maternal grandparents and her father Denny, a race car driver. No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing AuthorGarth Stein is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing. Author ChatGarth Stein chatted with LibraryThing members from May 17, 2010 to May 28, 2010. Read the chat. Popular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54 — Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.04)
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Wikipedia in English (1)
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