Review of “The Art of Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog”
The Art of Racing in the Rain was a book that kept reappearing on my desk. I for one do not read books where the hero is a dog. We all know how that turns out and I wasn’t going to put myself through it, especially when my beloved four footed companion was nearly seventeen.
After about a year of this book showing up on my desk, I finally took it as a sign. Maybe it was something I needed to read. I knew my old girl was long past a normal lab life so maybe I could learn something.
I was prepared and had the hankies at the ready. This is a five hanky book, but it was comforting despite all the tears. There are laughs and smiles and yes the dog dies, but along the way we learned “racing in the rain” was the metaphor for skillfully navigating through life’s turns and surface conditions.
In the end readers are left with a sense of order and completion and I do believe Enzo will come back as a man!
I have recommended this book many times and often am met with the same reluctance I had, but literature prevails. Isn’t that why we read? To feel the feelings and experience life?
Now when I look at my dog, I really do wonder – what is she thinking?
For more on The Art of Racing in the Rain visit the official Website of author, Garth Stein at http://www.garthstein.com/arr/