Day: May 10, 2016

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Rating: 4.2/5

So, I’ll be honest here, had I seen this title in a stack of books, I wouldn’t have picked it out. No, I am more into realism; the kind of writing that makes you ponder deeply and consider the questions and truths inherent
in the mundane activities of our day-to-day existences. However, this book was on a reading list for a book club I had recently wanted to join, so I thought, why not try it? After all,you can’t really judge a book by it’s cover, right? 😉

This book is written from a dog’s perspective; a perspective that I found myself drawn toward. Now, I acknowledge animals as beings worthy of love, care and respect, and I am aware of the science behind a lot of them being quite clever. However, Stein has written this book with a poignant sensitivity that left me emotional. I found myself cheering for Enzo’s (the dog’s) character throughout the 336 pages. I saw the world that we humans inhabit through the eyes of a non-human who strangely enough, imbibed human-like qualities without seeming at all far-fetched or pretentious. Stein takes a beautiful story of an ambitious race car driver and his family and infuses elements of tragedy, mystery, forgiveness, compassion, tenacity, wisdom and triumph, all while staying true to his characters. Stein has obviously done his research quite well, to the point where he has seamlessly been able to allow the reader to relate to Enzo with his heightened dog-senses-and-sensibilities. The metaphors and race-car analogies have been carefully adapted to both acknowledge the reader’s ability to grasp complex information, without sounding too uppity, and at the same time, successfully educating the reader.

A must-read if you’re looking for a light book that is sure to cheer you up.

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Ma raison d’etre

This is the excerpt for your very first post.

I can’t remember when I began my romance with the printed word; it could have been as early as 2 or 3 years old. My mother is a teacher, so a lot of credit is due to her for encouraging a yearning for learning. My father, an avid reader, always made sure we made routine visits to big bookstores as children, allowing us to pick freely from stacks of well-loved titles. Over the years, and after having done one of my majors in English, I realized that books (alongside travel), offer an investment in oneself. This investment must be self-motivated, and if maintained with enough zest, can provide for a well-balanced understanding of our world.

And as a result, such is my motto:

“To read, to read, to read and not to yield.”

(with credit to Homer’s Ulysses)

 

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