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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This relatively short novel took a surprisingly long time to get through!!
Definitely a polarized audience: you either love it or hate it, basically.
I really liked the ending, and feel like I would have dissected it during my English degree, but otherwise it was a bit over my head. Perhaps if I knew more about "apologues" [i.e. 'a moral tale usually dealing with animals'] or Greek mythology I may have found this more satisfying? Not sure.
Definitely not one for the book-club circuit, I would say that for sure.
Definitely a polarized audience: you either love it or hate it, basically.
I really liked the ending, and feel like I would have dissected it during my English degree, but otherwise it was a bit over my head. Perhaps if I knew more about "apologues" [i.e. 'a moral tale usually dealing with animals'] or Greek mythology I may have found this more satisfying? Not sure.
Definitely not one for the book-club circuit, I would say that for sure.
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3 stars for the strange, surrealistic viewpoint of understanding the human mind through dogs, a man's best friend. It is both enlightening and painful to read how these dogs attempt to grabble with consciousness and how the suffer for it, how they live through it.
For us as readers we must decide if living is inherent suffering or inherent learning.
For us as readers we must decide if living is inherent suffering or inherent learning.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If there were 16 dogs. It would be too many dogs. If it were 14 dogs. It wouldn't be enough dogs.
15/15 possible dogs
#FreeMajnoun
15/15 possible dogs
#FreeMajnoun
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
dark
emotional
sad
Super sad and deep and all that but I can't get over the author's weird focus on mounting and fucking and re-explaining what it means to them in so many different situations? I feel like the extra time would've been best spent explaining the dogs' new understanding of the world instead.
The poems explanation was very cute though.
The poems explanation was very cute though.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finished this alot faster than I ever expected to but the pages kinda just flew by.
It's a unique look into human nature and the essence of being human. Looking at it through the eyes of a dog gives a beautiful simplicity to the most complex of human characteristics but a wonderous complexity to the most basic.
I found the beginning of the dogs journey into humanity was written in a way that lets it apply to anything. I could find parallels with immigration and struggling to find identity in a new country or sexual orientation and how you present yourself or see yourself within a group of what's supposed to be like minded people. It's a very open ended and inviting way to begin a book that can easily reel you in. As the dogs aged and passed and lived through their hardships the book changed and I found that it's message became narrowed and became simply about being human. The ending with Prince is what took this book to 5 stars for me. I found it very beautifully written and it didn't read so much as a book but more like a solid block of a poem or song, and it became so easy to read and almost glide through.
I have read The Hidden Keys by Andre Alexis and enjoyed it but still wanted a little something more from it. It did however perfectly capture the feeling of Toronto and the city I grew up in. This book didn't exactly capture that same feeling of the city partly due to it being from a dogs perspective and partly because of the stories content, but I found it's writing to be significantly better and more engaging. This book has made me more interested in reading the rest of his Quincunx series.
It's a unique look into human nature and the essence of being human. Looking at it through the eyes of a dog gives a beautiful simplicity to the most complex of human characteristics but a wonderous complexity to the most basic.
I found the beginning of the dogs journey into humanity was written in a way that lets it apply to anything. I could find parallels with immigration and struggling to find identity in a new country or sexual orientation and how you present yourself or see yourself within a group of what's supposed to be like minded people. It's a very open ended and inviting way to begin a book that can easily reel you in. As the dogs aged and passed and lived through their hardships the book changed and I found that it's message became narrowed and became simply about being human. The ending with Prince is what took this book to 5 stars for me. I found it very beautifully written and it didn't read so much as a book but more like a solid block of a poem or song, and it became so easy to read and almost glide through.
I have read The Hidden Keys by Andre Alexis and enjoyed it but still wanted a little something more from it. It did however perfectly capture the feeling of Toronto and the city I grew up in. This book didn't exactly capture that same feeling of the city partly due to it being from a dogs perspective and partly because of the stories content, but I found it's writing to be significantly better and more engaging. This book has made me more interested in reading the rest of his Quincunx series.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes