The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
I want to start this post by saying that I chose this book for our Book Club. For several years I have passed this book in the book store and was intrigued enough to read the synopsis a few times, but never enough to have it join the books on the checkout counter that I was buying.
In Art of Racing in the Rain we have man and his dog, the proverbial best friend.This premise would be much like Shiloh or Old Yeller if it weren’t for one pressing distinction: this story is told from the point of view of the dog. Enzo and his faithful owner Denny navigate life together–first Denny’s marriage to the (at least from Enzo’s point of view) homewrecking Eve, the birth of their daughter, then the death of Eve and the ensuing issues her death causes.
Denny is a race car driver and he’s included Enzo in obsession to be a professional driver. Enzo and he watch hours of racing, sometimes even replays of his own races, to understand the “art” of the profession. This has resulted in a similar passion for Enzo: to become human. Enzo dreams about the day when Denny will take him behind the wheel, the two of them bucket-seat-to-bucket-seat in speedy bliss. When Denny does take Enzo on the track later in the book, the dog barks out his joy in a cliched “bark one for slower, bark two for faster.” (Many such sports related references and metaphors are played out here, but they falter–primarily because we are seeing this story through the eyes of a dog whose non-opposable thumbs do not offer him the insight into driving.)
Which brings us to an unfortunate truth about this book: as Enzo is an indoor dog, we’re privy to many of the details of Denny’s life–not those, however, that take place beyond Enzo’s perspective. This creates some issues with continuity and plot–we, too, felt entirely left out of the conversations. Because Enzo cannot speak, we are often left to let the humans act as voice-overs for his thoughts to have them make sense in their world. Enzo has learned about the world from watching the television that Denny leaves on for him all day–making him a Buddhist dog who enjoys watching the weather channel.
I won’t give away the end, but it wouldn’t be hard to guess. The book becomes alarmingly sensationalist as it plays out in the epilogue Enzo’s desire to be human and his Buddhist tendencies finally afford him an opportunity to interact with Denny man-to-man.
I have not read Marly and Me, but I can imagine this as a variation of that tale. I’m not much for the personification of animals–give me an honest essay about what a dog might think and you will have me riveted. This one won’t remain on my Kindle shelf too long.
