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A review by estherdb
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
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
crap and the deus ex machina moments . 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
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.
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
Spoiler
gods in dreams, Apollo making Prince blind and deaf...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