A review by emleemay
There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

2.0

I didn't get it.

This is the third book I've read by [a:Meg Rosoff|93575|Meg Rosoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1215206380p2/93575.jpg], fourth if you count my failed attempt to start [b:Just in Case|209390|Just in Case|Meg Rosoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172700635s/209390.jpg|1201171]. What I've discovered to be most true about Rosoff's novels is that reading and liking one is far from a guarantee that you will enjoy the rest - or, in fact, any of the others - so I cannot offer words like: "if you enjoyed [b:How I Live Now|161426|How I Live Now|Meg Rosoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327870252s/161426.jpg|1132968] (etc.) this will be your kind of book". This novel is a million miles away from anything [a:Meg Rosoff|93575|Meg Rosoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1215206380p2/93575.jpg] has previously written, and generally quite different to anything I've ever read.

My brother gets annoyed with me because he says that I have to have a reason for everything. That I expect books to have a point, to make a statement, and to leave me with an important message that makes me think for a while afterwards. This is only partially true - I love a bit of fun nonsense like [b:Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging|402013|Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #1)|Louise Rennison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312509738s/402013.jpg|108471], but I think if a book takes on a subject like God and creation and the reasons for bad stuff happening in the world then there should be something important that the author wants us to take from it. To put it simply, I wanted more from this book. I don't think there was a hidden message and if there was I didn't get it.

There's always the chance that this book was too deep for me and that special metaphorical something-or-other went straight over my head. But, for me, this book was simply about an horny teenager who got the job of God because no one else wanted it... which would actually explain a lot. This horny teenager falls in love with a zoo-worker called Lucy, he has an assistant who can't stand him and a mother who has lost his beloved pet in a poker game. It's so ridiculously bizarre that I kept waiting for it all to come together and symbolise genesis or some interesting philosophy... or just, you know, something. I'm clueless as to what the point of this book was.

The novel seemed to try to be an odd combination of Monty Python-style blasphemy and [a:Douglas Adams|4|Douglas Adams|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1189120061p2/4.jpg]' humorous philosophy. The former I absolutely love and grew up on and was probably the reason that this book did give me a few laughs, especially near the beginning. The latter I still struggle to understand. Adams is the kind of author who I occasionally love to quote - about dolphins, creation, etc. - but really don't enjoy reading that much.

I decided to read this after I noticed it got a starred review on Kirkus that promised interesting questions like "if life were without flaws and no one ever changed or died, what role would God have?" And sure, it delivered the questions, but made no attempt to answer them... sorry, but I can come up with plenty of these questions myself. It's the discussions and possible answers that I wanted to read.

If you're looking for a bit of strange, British humour (yeah, I know Rosoff is from Boston, but she moved to the UK in 1989 and it looks like we got to her) and philosophy, then you might actually like [b:There is No Dog|10280563|There is No Dog|Meg Rosoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1305194556s/10280563.jpg|15181831]. But I, for one, would suggest you get your fix from an author who does it best and leaves a lasting impression - and I love him! - [a:Stephen Fry|10917|Stephen Fry|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208721007p2/10917.jpg].