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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
This book was so beautiful and so confusing. I loved the man and his dog story, but even more I loved the look into the mind of a wonderful human being denied life for too long.
It felt like I was holding my breath the entire time I read this book. So beautiful, yet so graphically wretched. The descriptions are vivid and the language is stunning. Details will spoil the story for someone just setting out on this voyage into an ocean of sadness and love. Man loses family, man finds dog, man finds self, man and dog understand life. That's all I can say but I'll sob over this one for a long while. A favorite quote from the book; man and dog are caught in a traffic jam as people gather around a swan who has been hit by a car. "I think of the jackdaw, did you see the jackdaw? We passed it in the queue to pass the swan. Its beak was cracked open, its brains squeeged out. Why didn't anybody stop for the jackdaw? Because the swan looks like a wedding dress, that's why. Whereas the jackdaw looks like a bin bag. Because this is how people measure life."
"There is no season such delight can bring, as summer, autumn, winter, and the spring." This quotation from W. Browne graced my package of tea as I started this novel and set a certain tone. From beginning to end, through happiness and sadness, thank goodness for the loyal and seasonless friends we have in our lives, especially those with four paws.
This book is a punch to the heart. Amazing for a debut novel. Sara Baume confidently narrates in the second person -- lonely misfit Ray talking to his equally maladjusted and occasionally vicious dog One Eye. This should be gimmicky and annoying, but it isn't, because you know that the dog is the first "person" Ray has ever confided in.
Ray's life has been truly awful -- brought up alone by a father who never wanted him, not allowed to go to school, and soon frightened of interaction with anyone, he grows up isolated and unable to communicate. His father is now dead and his only company books, until he acquires One Eye.
The dog is the only living being he has ever had a genuine relationship with. Gradually he tells the dog the story of his life; a traumatic event midway through the book forces him to leave the house he's lived in all his life to go on the road with One Eye. From then on it's clear (if it wasn't already) that there's not going to be a happy ending, and in the devastating last section dark secrets come out, with Ray literally carrying the baggage of his past actions with him. So good.
Ray's life has been truly awful -- brought up alone by a father who never wanted him, not allowed to go to school, and soon frightened of interaction with anyone, he grows up isolated and unable to communicate. His father is now dead and his only company books, until he acquires One Eye.
The dog is the only living being he has ever had a genuine relationship with. Gradually he tells the dog the story of his life; a traumatic event midway through the book forces him to leave the house he's lived in all his life to go on the road with One Eye. From then on it's clear (if it wasn't already) that there's not going to be a happy ending, and in the devastating last section dark secrets come out, with Ray literally carrying the baggage of his past actions with him. So good.
This linear thinker had trouble staying engaged. My sister would LOVE this book.
This book was captivating and a slow, satisfying reading experience. I savored and shared sentences and phrases throughout. There was a steady progression of realization of Ray's personal history and a very uncomfortable awareness of the darkening of his story as he and One Eye traveled around in an attempt to stay safe. That trip bonded them even more to one another but also showed the fragility and vulnerability that put them both at some much risk. I had to stay away from the book sometimes because I just had such a sense of foreboding and didn't want to face what I feared might be happening. It has now been several days since I finished the book, and I am still feeling uneasy about so many things. This is simply related to the power of the plot and fact that I came to care very much about these two misfits; reading means I have to accept the way things go even if I don't like it.
Incredibly poignant. I want to review just enough to remind myself d the story but not enough to spoil the mood for anyone else reading it. There is no dialog to speak of and so the narrative is firsthand from our 57-year old parentless man and his companion. They live by the sea in England and life is curious. Extremely touching relationship.