Nop's Trials

Nop's Trials was not what I expected. I was thinking since it was primarily about a Border Collie named Nop that it would be sweet and gentle, like the breed itself. Indeed, the story definitely has warm and tender moments - like when Nop is communicating with other friendly dogs but there is definitely a harsher side to Nop's Trials. If you know anything about Border Collies you know they are working dogs, used on farms to corral livestock like sheep or cattle. They are so smart and quick to learn that people have created competitions to showcase their abilities. These competitions are called "trials" and McCaig uses the word "trials" to steer the reader to this mode of thinking. In reality, Nop's "trials" stem from the competition but show more are more of the "trials and tribulations" variety. Because Nop is a prize winner, always taking first place at the trials, a vicious man named Grady Gumm is hired to steal Nop from his owner, farmer Lewis Burkholder. This is to prevent Nop from ever competing again. Grady is an unscrupulous dog owner who keeps dogs for fighting so pretty soon into the story there is violence. I have to admit it shocked me. The good news is that Nop escapes Grady only to bounce from one trial to another. He encounters many walks of life, dog lovers and dog haters alike.
But Nop's Trials isn't just about Nop and his misadventures. It also delves into Lewis Burkholder's life without Nop. It portrays a man as a farmer, a father and a husband. It examines the relationships between man and land, father and pregnant daughter, father and son-in-law, and husband and patient wife. Life's lessons are masterfully played out while Nop's fate remains a mystery. show less

Eh. I like dog stories, but this just did not work for me. Part of it was the rather odd anthropomorphic style - sometimes dogs just react on instinct, sometimes they think things through, sometimes they talk to one another...in thees and thous. Threw me out of the story every time. Then, there was more time spent on the various dysfunctional people and families Nop is associated with than with the dogs themselves. Jack London did "dog bouncing between bad situations" better, with Jerry of the Islands; Terhune did loyal dogs and loyal masters better in a dozen books. Nop collapsing at the trials was the only part of the book that struck me as both good (well-written and ringing true) and new (not trite). There were other well-written show more bits, and there were other scenes that didn't feel borrowed from other dog stories, but that was the only one that had both. Also, for a bunch of self-proclaimed dog lovers, the good guys here did an awful lot of closing their eyes and ears to animal abuse ("not hearing" the yelping at the first trial, for instance). There are some badly abused animals here, and quite a few dogs die from various causes. It's too shallow to give real ideas, and too nasty to be a pleasant read (though it does have a happy ending). Not a winner. show less

This one was not for me, at all. It's a formulaic, by-the-numbers drama about a poor doggie-woggie that gets stolen from its goody-goody owner by some bad men and ends up in the illegal dog fight circuit. Cue predictable plotlines.

But that isn't what I object to, really. What made me dislike the book so much was that it was so obvious that the author was calculatedly pulling all the right strings to provoke a particular emotional response. The writing was fine; it was the intentional emotion-wringing process that put me off. It'd make an utterly unremarkable movie of the type that's aired on the middle-aged-lady channel, after the royalty gossip and the day's hospital soap opera.

Just marvellous. I loved the story and I hated the story. I'm a dog nut and the four that we have we rescued. One of them survived a pit bull training arena and we got her all sewn up and almost hairless so I know what some men can do to animals. Mr. McCaig's storytelling reminded me of things we must never forget. It is a canine Black Beauty in a way but, for me, it reads better. The flow is great because he leaves out the unnecessary and paints the necessary minimally to give a superb movement to the story and a quiet strength to the emotions. I will read this again and hope to find some more of Mr. McCaig's work.

So, the cover on my copy of Nop’s Trials has a blurb from James Herriot that says:

“Nop’s Trials held me in fascinated suspense to the last page. Poignant, authentic, and beautiful.”
I will use that blurb to organize my review and how I thought it fit that description.

First, I thought the start of the book was a little slow. I actually started this book a long time ago and put it down until now. I saw a review or two where people quit reading the book either in this slow beginning or in the next part when the villains come into the picture. It takes a while before the ‘fascinated suspense’ gets started, and I think the pace of the rest of the book makes up for that slow start.

Second, poignant means ‘evoking a keen sense of show more sadness or regret.’ I don’t really like sad. If you really like sad, read Beem by Gavriil Troyepolsky. In this story, sad means bad people do mean things to dogs including Nop. If you hate that kind of thing, maybe find another book. In this book, there is the challenges the dog has to go through and we are just hoping somehow there of a happy ending. Actually, in this book, Nop is thrown in and out of a bunch of bad situations. At some points, it was not fun reading for me. I wondered if I would wind up giving the book only 3 stars for inventing situations and people who do mean things to dogs. But in fairy tales, there are monsters and it is the overcoming of them that makes the ride worth it and in this case, Nop’s Trails redeemed itself for me.

James Herriot’s blurb also used the word ‘authentic.’ The author does know his herding, farming/ranching details and it shows in the book and I think that is what he is referring to. The book is good storytelling, but no bits of prose stuck out enough that I wanted to copy out and add to my list of favorite quotes.

The last word in the blurb was ‘beautiful.’ Not sure if I felt that, but I did cry at some points. And to me when a book generates strong emotions (except for hate of the book of course like Beem), it means the book really had me engaged.

Lastly there was some unexpected things in the book that added to me enjoying the book; the rodeo part, the part dealing with a fire engine, the part with the dog named stink. Those of you who have read the book will know what I mean. Hope you do choose to read the book and would love to share comments on it. show less

So, the cover on my copy of Nop’s Trials has a blurb from James Herriot that says:

“Nop’s Trials held me in fascinated suspense to the last page. Poignant, authentic, and beautiful.”
I will use that blurb to organize my review and how I thought it fit that description.

First, I thought the start of the book was a little slow. I actually started this book a long time ago and put it down until now. I saw a review or two where people quit reading the book either in this slow beginning or in the next part when the villains come into the picture. It takes a while before the ‘fascinated suspense’ gets started, and I think the pace of the rest of the book makes up for that slow start.

Second, poignant means ‘evoking a keen sense of show more sadness or regret.’ I don’t really like sad. If you really like sad, read Beem by Gavriil Troyepolsky. In this story, sad means bad people do mean things to dogs including Nop. If you hate that kind of thing, maybe find another book. In this book, there is the challenges the dog has to go through and we are just hoping somehow there of a happy ending. Actually, in this book, Nop is thrown in and out of a bunch of bad situations. At some points, it was not fun reading for me. I wondered if I would wind up giving the book only 3 stars for inventing situations and people who do mean things to dogs. But in fairy tales, there are monsters and it is the overcoming of them that makes the ride worth it and in this case, Nop’s Trails redeemed itself for me.

James Herriot’s blurb also used the word ‘authentic.’ The author does know his herding, farming/ranching details and it shows in the book and I think that is what he is referring to. The book is good storytelling, but no bits of prose stuck out enough that I wanted to copy out and add to my list of favorite quotes.

The last word in the blurb was ‘beautiful.’ Not sure if I felt that, but I did cry at some points. And to me when a book generates strong emotions (except for hate of the book of course like Beem), it means the book really had me engaged.

Lastly there was some unexpected things in the book that added to me enjoying the book; the rodeo part, the part dealing with a fire engine, the part with the dog named stink. Those of you who have read the book will know what I mean. Hope you do choose to read the book and would love to share comments on it. show less

Nop, Lewis Burkholder's newest and promising border collie, is stolen on Christmas day by a pair of rednecks who keep dogs for bear hunting and dogfights. He is then sold to an unscrupulous dog owner (Burkholder's enemy), and begins a long terrifying journey, passing through many different people's hands, suffering abuse from most of them. Told in conjunction with his trials is the story of life back home on the farm: Burkholder's depression and anger at loosing his dog, difficulties working the farm without a dog to handle the cattle and sheep, friction between Burkholder, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, and almost in the background is the Stink Dog, once a champion border collie but now rendered crippled by an accident.

I found the show more story intriguing, but sometimes McCaig's spare, concise writing style left something to be desired. I did love the insights into how these dogs work and think. Border collies are not at all like other dogs, and Nop is a very strong character. Burkholder himself is quite stubborn and tenacious, and the surprising methods he uses to pursue his lost dog make a good page-turner. However, the examples of almost every kind of cruelty and abuse a dog can suffer could make this book very disturbing to some readers.

writen on the Dog Ear Diary show less