Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by shoutaboutbooks
Dogs and Monsters: Stories by Mark Haddon
4.0
Most of us probably know Haddon as the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, a staple in school libraries and a rare children’s book that’s survived my biannual bookshelf unhauls. Though I own a copy of his 2019 novel, The Porpoise, Dogs and Monsters was my introduction to his adult fiction and, long story short, I loved it.
In these stories, Haddon expertly weaves mythology with modernity, exposing the perennial flaws and failings of human nature. Though most of my favourites from the collection are the ones based on myth (shocking), these are the minority, with most stories being grounded in more recognisable times. From private boarding schools, to research facilties and fallout bunkers, motifs of patriarchy, injustice and animalism rise again and again.
STANDOUTS:
• The Mother’s Story: The first story in the collection reframes the Minotaur myth in feudal/pastoral England, and we see a father’s cruelty meet its match in a mother’s devotion. It offers a peaceful new ending to Pasiphaë and Asterion (renamed Paul, objectively quite funny).
• D.O.G.Z: At first this story seems to be a retelling of the goddess Artemis’ transformation of Actaeon (Haddon switches to the Roman version, naming the goddess as Diana), told in visceral detail from Actaeon’s POV. As this comes to its brutal close, the story morphs into a rumination on the hunter’s dogs - now imbued with their master’s ‘glimpse of the divine’, and what that means for their descendents.
• The Wilderness: A v Black Mirror entry in the collection. Rescued by a stranger after an accident, Tegan wakes up in a remote, high-security research compound. As she discovers things about the facility she shouldn’t have, she’s left wondering whether she’s been made a test subject or if she’s finally losing herself to the grief she was trying to catch up to.
In these stories, Haddon expertly weaves mythology with modernity, exposing the perennial flaws and failings of human nature. Though most of my favourites from the collection are the ones based on myth (shocking), these are the minority, with most stories being grounded in more recognisable times. From private boarding schools, to research facilties and fallout bunkers, motifs of patriarchy, injustice and animalism rise again and again.
STANDOUTS:
• The Mother’s Story: The first story in the collection reframes the Minotaur myth in feudal/pastoral England, and we see a father’s cruelty meet its match in a mother’s devotion. It offers a peaceful new ending to Pasiphaë and Asterion (renamed Paul, objectively quite funny).
• D.O.G.Z: At first this story seems to be a retelling of the goddess Artemis’ transformation of Actaeon (Haddon switches to the Roman version, naming the goddess as Diana), told in visceral detail from Actaeon’s POV. As this comes to its brutal close, the story morphs into a rumination on the hunter’s dogs - now imbued with their master’s ‘glimpse of the divine’, and what that means for their descendents.
• The Wilderness: A v Black Mirror entry in the collection. Rescued by a stranger after an accident, Tegan wakes up in a remote, high-security research compound. As she discovers things about the facility she shouldn’t have, she’s left wondering whether she’s been made a test subject or if she’s finally losing herself to the grief she was trying to catch up to.