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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
I was really excited to read this book, but in the end it was pretty disappointing. It started off good, but went downhill. I found the writer/owner to be an unsypathetic, verging on cruel toward the end, dog owner. Marley, however, seemed charming. :)
I've had this book sitting on my "to-read" shelf for too long and I've decided to sit down and read it. I watched the movie first and figured it would be pretty close with the book and I was right. I could pretty much determine what happened next. Although some things were a bit different, it was basically the same as the movie. At times I felt myself getting bored of the book, but I pushed through it and ended up crying like a baby at the end of it.
I read this as part of a humourous session in a book club. I'm not an animal lover and didn't enjoy all the descriptions of dog excretions. I didn't finish the book but I cried more than I laughed. I was impressed with the author's war
Writing skills. He was able to make the ordinary, mundane,interesting.
Writing skills. He was able to make the ordinary, mundane,interesting.
medium-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
This book was really sweet. I laughed, I cried, I love it!
Not sure why I read this book, but I found it at a thrift store and remembered it being popular a few years back, so figured I might as well. It was an okay 1-sitting read, but I really had a hard time empathizing with the author and his family, who seem like they might honestly hate their dog for most of the book?
He seems to relish in the use of the choke collar (which, for some reason, wasn't used just for training but was literally used Marley's entire life?!!) and the amount of times they came home to find this poor dog covered in his own blood from panicking but still failed to provide adequate safe housing or protection for him is ridiculous. In each scene like this, they're more upset about the house being damaged than their dog being injured and scared.
They go back and forth between being horrified of how their dog's behavior is and being oddly proud of it? And they also have a weird obsession with animal breeds dictating behavior, which is... not exactly reasonable. I know this is a popular take, but any dog owner who has had a few good mutts will tell you that any dog is a good dog if they have a good owner. the idea that there's some magic in a certain breed that makes them more vicious or loyal is dumb - basically astrology for people who treat their pets as accessories.
The end was also really uncomfortable. The way they decide that another dog is their dog reincarnated and leap at the chance to replace him gives me bad vibes.
The writing was decent, but the content of this was.... yikes.
He seems to relish in the use of the choke collar (which, for some reason, wasn't used just for training but was literally used Marley's entire life?!!) and the amount of times they came home to find this poor dog covered in his own blood from panicking but still failed to provide adequate safe housing or protection for him is ridiculous. In each scene like this, they're more upset about the house being damaged than their dog being injured and scared.
They go back and forth between being horrified of how their dog's behavior is and being oddly proud of it? And they also have a weird obsession with animal breeds dictating behavior, which is... not exactly reasonable. I know this is a popular take, but any dog owner who has had a few good mutts will tell you that any dog is a good dog if they have a good owner. the idea that there's some magic in a certain breed that makes them more vicious or loyal is dumb - basically astrology for people who treat their pets as accessories.
The end was also really uncomfortable. The way they decide that another dog is their dog reincarnated and leap at the chance to replace him gives me bad vibes.
The writing was decent, but the content of this was.... yikes.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced