A Dog of Flanders

A moving story about hope and friendship. Having transformed my outlook on life, I vividly remember the experiences of reading this well-crafted story though I'm reflecting years later.
This book is particularly memorable to me because of the fact that it was my first novel. Though originally written in English, I read it in Japanese. But the language difference didn't hinder me from relishing the book.

Having read the book as a child in elementary school, I learnt how a good time suddenly turns into a nightmare. I was shocked by the fact how ruthlessly cold and altering life could be. Reading the novel made tears pour out of my eyes, but it was not just a complete tragedy. I smiled, cried and felt an array of emotions. I genuinely show more enjoyed every page. show less

Sweet, in the despairing style - like The Little Match Girl. An innocent boy and the dog who loves him are abused by indifference and casual cruelty until, just before everything would have changed, they die. I was crying at the end...but it's so sweet it's saccharine. I would have preferred if he were rescued in time, and actually went on to express his skill in art - or otherwise developed beyond the innocent scapegoat he is here. I'm glad I read it (and it was a very quick read) but I doubt I'll reread.

3543. A Dog of Flanders, by Louise de la Ramee ("Ouida") (read Feb 17 2002) This kids' book (first published in 1872) tells of Nello, a little boy near Antwerp, and his dog Patrasche, and I found it sad and very touching, with the delightful Ouida extravagance of sentiment--which so captivated me when I read Under Two Flags in May of 1996. Moving and unforgettable.

A Dog of Flanders: A Christmas Story is a young adult book written by the Victorian English author Marie Louise de la Ramée (aka "Ouida"). It's a sentimental animal fable, part of her lifelong campaign to draw attention to the problem of cruelty to dogs. It's set in Flanders where dogs are routinely worked to death.

I found the story pleasant and emotionally moving. It can be overly sentimental in that Victorian way, and has some Romantic Nationalism, but the story is good and leaves one with a positive feeling in the end. Although Ouida wrote over 40 novels and was very popular in her time, she is hardly read anymore, this children's books now appears to be the most popular of her works. But in her time her most famous work was Under show more Two Flags (1867), which was still being published and read in the 20th century, including 4 different movie adaptations. Likewise A Dog of Flanders seems to have inspired at least 7 movies, as recently as 1999. It also sells well in Japan.

A Dog of Flanders: A Christmas Story, available at LibriVox (audiobook)
A Dog of Flanders: A Christmas Story, available at Internet Archive (scanned book w/ original artwork)

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2009 cc-by-nd show less

A most memorable book from my childhood. I still remember it after 55 years. So I guess it gets 5 starts for longevity.

A classic story of love and devotion, set in a world that sees only monetary worth.

So, this woman in the Victorian club specializes in lesser-known female Victorian authors and she recommended a bunch of books to me. Neat thing to specialize in, huh? I realize some of these are less lesser-known than others; she does too.

BTW I am going to repeat this message for several other books, so...get used to it.