Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of The Red Scarf, by Kate Furnival

The whole time I was reading this book–which, for the record, I enjoyed immensely–I kept wondering what I would say about it in this review. Normally, I don’t do that. I just read a book, like it or don’t like it, and write about it afterwards.

But The Red Scarf required more than the usual suspension of belief on my part. Now, in my view of the world, all fiction requires the reader to first agree to suspend belief up to a point. The author gets away with one significant, underlying implausibility. After that, everything has to be fairly consistent within the world that the author creates. Even sci-fi and fantasy have their rules. Look at Terry Pratchett’s Disc World series, for example. He’s created a world with its own rules of physics, its own geography, etc., etc. And he stays within those rules.

The Red Scarf isn’t that far off from the real world as we know it, and it wasn’t internally inconsistent, but the implausibilities kept yanking me out of the story. Still, it was quite entertaining. The basis of the action is the friendship between Sofia and Anna, who are trapped in a Siberian labor camp in 1933. Both are slowly dying, but Anna’s health is particularly bad. Sofia then escapes too easily (or why wouldn’t she have done it sooner?), makes her way through the Siberian forest too easily, finds the village where Anna’s childhood crush resides too easily, gets taken in by the village too easily, and falls for the man she thinks is Anna’s beau while being manipulated (or not) by the local gypsy and continuing to worry about Anna. Everyone is more or less good, or trying to be good, or good with a dark side.

Yet while the events in this book seemed extremely impossible, Furnival is an entertaining and skilled storyteller. She was also kind to animals. One dog meets his demise in an act of bravery, but the animals–mostly horses–fared well, aside from the occasional horse being tired and skinny after a long journey. So this book is SAFE for animal lovers. Just don’t expect to find it entirely believable.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of The Shadow Catcher, by Marianne Wiggins

This is an astonishing book.

Marianne Wiggins writes beautifully, yes, but she also knows how to tell a story — or two stories, as is the case here. There were several “oh, wow” moments for me as I read The Shadow Catcher, and that doesn’t count the couple of deus ex machina coincidences. By time I came to those, I was willing to suspend belief to a far greater degree than normal, simply because Wiggins had drawn me in.

Ostensibly about renowned turn-of-the-20th-century photographer Edward Curtis, the book is really about America, family, setting values, honesty, integrity, and the unforeseen consequences of our actions. Mostly it’s about honesty. The story begins with a novelist named Marianne Wiggins who has written a book about Edward Curtis. He, in turn, was not what he appeared to be, and neither were his photographs. Wiggins-the-character suddenly receives a call that her father is dying in a Las Vegas hospital, which isn’t possible because he’s been dead for 30 years. The two story lines weave back and forth, with the occasional intersection. As emphasized by a disclaimer, this is not a history of Edward Curtis, although some of his photographs are included. I don’t know the extent to which Wiggins-the-character shares her history Wiggins-the-real-person. There is that disclaimer again, but there are also family photographs and a referrence to family history in the acknowledgements.

It doesn’t matter. This is a superb book, and you should read it. As for the animal characters, there are none. There are several references to horses, however, which are greatly loved by one of Curtis’s in-laws, and there is a reference to a single incident of a horse in trouble. So I am declaring this book is SAFE for animal lovers.

Now, go get your hands on a copy.* You haven’t read anything like it.

*As of last week, Amazon.com was selling the hardcover for half the price of the paperback.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of The Last Summer (of You and Me), by Ann Brashares

This was sad. Brashares is the author of the young adult series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and The Last Summer was her attempt to break into adult literature. Instead, this was like a young adult book in which 15-year-olds who were allegedly 21 through 25 dealt with sex, illness, grad school, and real estate. And it really wasn’t very good. The least interesting character, Alice, is the main point-of-view character. Her love interest, Paul, is self-absorbed and self-righteous. Her sister, Riley, is the most interesting character in the book and yet remains a cipher throughout.

Also, this is one of those books underpinned by an insane lack of communication. Look, if you know someone well enough to sleep with them, you know them well enough to say something like “I’m sorry, I’m not at liberty to tell you what’s going on because it would break a confidence, but it isn’t about us, and I care for you and will be back in touch soon.” And then get back in touch quickly, like a grown-up. Of course, this approach would wipe out 95% of all romance novels, but that genre is being superseded by chick lit, so it’s no big loss.

Anyway, The Last Summer is SAFE for animal lovers. Riley frets about some captive dolphins and loves to watch wild ones. Alice does catch-and-release with crabs, except she may or may not have forgotten to release a few in her last bucket. I was scanning by that time, so I don’t really know. And I’m certainly not going to reread the book for that detail.

Having trashed Brashares here, I will say that I can see why she’s done so well as a writer for young adults, and I wish her continued success, which I’m sure she’ll have.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez creates a dreamy magic in this classic. My personal opinion is that everyone should read it, because it’s that good. But to get the animal lover concerns out of the way, I’m declaring One Hundred Years of Solitude to be Mostly Safe for animal lovers. There are references to hunting, cockfights, and various animal deaths, but none of that is shown. Instead, the animals are part of the magic, living in the town of Macondo alongside the Buendia family. At one point, when the Buendias are experiencing a wave of good fortune, the farm animals become extremely prolific. Another time, birds burst into the house to escape the severity of a heat wave. And small children are cruel to bugs and frogs. But in these and other instances, Marquez tells without showing. The animals are part of the background of every day life in Macondo and, as in real life, we learn a lot about the various characters from the ways in which they behave towards animals.

Marquez writes vividly and beautifully. Sometimes this book reads like a fever dream, with hallucinogenic quality. At other times, it feels incredibly real. And it’s never predictable. If you haven’t read it already, go out and find a copy now. It’s that good.

Saturday Miscellaney

Eddie is doing great. The place where the feeding tube went into his neck is completely healed, and there isn’t even a scar, just discolored fur, in the form of a black spot surrounded by gray:

He’s happy and energetic, and except for the difference in the shaved spots, there’s no sign there was ever anything wrong with him. But it’s going to be a while before his fur is all the same length:

So … yesterday the Washington Post wrote about soul singer Sharon Jones and her band, the Dap-Kings. I decided to check them out on YouTube, and they are amazing. Amy Winehouse “borrowed” the Dap-Kings for one of her albums, but even with them behind her, she’ll never be as good as Jones. Turn up the volume and enjoy! And not only is Jones a powerful singer, she’s also a talented pianist.

For something completely different, check out Where the Hell Is Matt? , which is one of the hottest YouTube videos circulating right now. It will make you smile. Enjoy!

Silly Stuff Questions for a Hot August Afternoon

Do people send more of these links around in the hot weather?

First, since this site is oriented toward animals, we have to ask: is this going too far? (Don’t worry, it’s cute.)

Second, is this couple going to have a $700 water bill for the month? They will if their toilet-flushing cat is left unattended.

And finally, what would fonts talk about if they could talk? And would they include Zaft Dingbats in the conversation?

Yeah, it’s a short post. But if you click on the links, you should get several minutes of entertainment.

Does the Dog Die? A Brief Review of The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I liked this book. It’s sentimental, formulaic, and unrealistic. But it’s sentimental without being mawkish, it’s formulaic without being completely predictable (see Sophie Kinsella for that), and it’s unrealistic without being silly. So yeah, I liked it. In fact, I loved it. And I’m going to recommend it to my book group on my next turn to suggest, though I hope we end up choosing Letter from Point Clear, which I reviewed below.

This book is entirely SAFE for animal lovers, because aside from a fleeting mention of nameless cats, there are no animals in it. Instead, it’s about women, with a few men tossed in for dramatic tension. In the story, the Friday Night Knitting Club meets at Walker and Daughter, a New York City yarn store owned by Georgia Walker. Georgia is a single mother and a pillar of strength, but not an annoyingly perfect pillar of strength. In fact, she’s pretty interesting and hasn’t had the easiest life, but she’s kind and generous and open. While she isn’t happy about the circumstances that left her to raise her daughter, Dakota, alone, she’s managed pretty well, in large part thanks to her friend, Anita. Anita can be described in much the same way as Georgia, except she’s had an easier life (money always helps), and she’s older. Anyway, there’s lot of friendship and female bonding and working out of problems and growth, with some sadness and joy at the end. The reviewers who compared it to Steel Magnolias were right. Except Steel Magnolias annoyed me, and this book didn’t. If you want a pleasant diversion that has more substance than the usual chick lit brain candy, this is the book you want to read. Enjoy!