Reviews

Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis

dom1976's review against another edition

5.0

Two drunk Gods decided to make a bet, give dogs the intelligence of humans and see if they can find happiness. What happens is some turn on each other violently, some are selfish and cunning. One dog Prince becomes a poet and some of them are threaten by him. Majnoun after being attacked by some of the pack, is taken by a couple and has a deep relationship with Nira, the human who took care of him. All trough this book, we learn what happens to the 15 dogs and discover if they truly are happy. A brilliant book that makes you think.

pagesofash's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

rainonmetsunami's review against another edition

4.0

really good and majnoun :(

koreykit's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.5

readingwith_mia's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

tttriish's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

3.5

estherdb's review against another edition

4.0

Cool book, interesting premise. The book makes you ponder life and what makes us humans human. It was fascinating to try to see our world (and how we interact with our pets) through the eyes of "intelligent" dogs.

I liked the "poems for dogs", it was fun trying to find the name of one of the fifteen dogs in the poem. However, sometimes I felt as though they were forced on my, they sometimes were a little off within the text, blocking the flow. But - as a literature graduate - I really loved the idea of poetry/literature (both creative uses of language) being so defining for intelligent beings.

An element that bothered me at times was how "childish" Alexis' interpretation of the gods was. The whole bet (why Toronto? Why only these 15 dogs?), the parts with the Fates

Spoiler

I am not buying the "the life threads were TOO entwined for me to clearly cut one" and "let's just add the life of the other two to the third one, which coincidentally turns out to be the dog's life thread"
crap

and the deus ex machina moments

Spoiler

gods in dreams, Apollo making Prince blind and deaf...

. I guess the gods' parts were adding some comical element to the book, but the novel would been richer to me if these parts would've been toned down a little.

All in all, a really interesting novel. Fun and quick to read. Funny, yet heartbreaking

Spoiler

Alexis makes it clear to you right from the start that this is not a Disney movie plot, and seeing that I have a really hard time dealing with the deaths of animals in books or films, this book was truly heartwrenching at times. Poor things, except for Benji. Annoying little beagle

.

adamstristan's review against another edition

read for school. it was okay

canadajanes's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent and well written, but sad. Felt pretty melancholy when I was done.

jonlaw's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0