The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (#109 in 2019)
Enzo is a dog, but his thoughts and feelings are very much like those of a human. Enzo knows English and tries his hardest to communicate back with his owner, Denny, a gifted race car driver. Enzo spends a great deal of time with his owner and learns about humans, relationships, and the sport of racing. Wise beyond his species, Enzo often likens the presence and control of life's challenges to racing cars: "That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny."
As a rule, I do NOT read dog books. I do NOT watch dog movies. I cannot handle sad stories involving dogs. I stopped watching This Is Us immediately when I saw a dog stuck in an enflamed house (no, I never finished the episode or watched the show again). I did, however, read this book off of a recommendation from @iamadrian and I'm so glad I did. First chapter... I cried. Last chapter... I sobbed. From the initial chapter, I knew it was going to be a sad one. What I didn't realize, however, was the extent to which a dog's perspective on life could shed so much insight or stir up such strong human emotions. Enzo views life like a case study-- he's always learning more about humans and how they interact. Unable to verbally communicate, Enzo watches much of life happen before him. He feels human emotions like love, anger, sadness, elation, empathy, and he tries to find ways to comfort his human family in their times of need. Enzo understands what his family says and he internalizes a lot of feeling. During this read, I found myself cozying up to my own dogs and looking deep into their eyes wondering what they're thinking about. I loved how Enzo's family would speak to him like a person, because I do the same thing with my dogs and sometimes wonder if I'm the only one.
If you're planning on picking this one up, and if you're as much of a dog lover as I am, be sure to grab plenty of tissues. With that being said, my dog story jar is full for at least the next year... unless if someone highly recommends a book that I simply NEED to read. 4.5 stars.
Do you talk to your pets like they're people? What personalities do your pets have?
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