Through the Dog's Eye: The Art of Racing in the Rain

Rarely does peer pressure work on me, but I am swayed when it comes to reading. Sooner or later if enough people talk about a particular book, I feel I must read it just for social/ cultural references. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is/was one of these books (as well as Twilight, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Water for Elephants). One of my co-workers had really enjoyed it and she had mentioned it to me several times and then I kept seeing it at large box stories (i.e. Walmart and Target). Finally, while trying to decide on a gift for my grandfather for his birthday, I picked up the book and figured: what the heck. I'll see what he thinks and I'll get it out of the library and read it at the same time. It'll give us something to talk about if nothing else. I thought the idea of a dog narrating the story was a bit gimmicky, but I decided I could deal with gimmicky to see if it actually worked for the story and I knew that my grandfather was a big enough reader that he's usually open to at least trying something new.

The Art of Racing in the Rain left me wanting... but not necessarily in the I-gotta-have-it sort of way. I just felt like the author had something good going and he spoiled his opportunity with throwing in enough heavy conflicts that the story felt a bit muddled. I realize life doesn't always throw one challenge at a time, but sometimes the joy about writing and reading is that elements may be added or left out and this is up to the author (and maybe the editor too) and it's important for writers to remember this lesson. It can be annoying when a writer doesn't give enough conflict, but it can be equally annoying when an author includes so much that the main threads of the story tangle together, rather than winding together to form a cohesiveness.

What were the strong points of the story? The narrator, Enzo, the most loyal and loving dog, has thoughts and questions much like any person, but there's enough dog personality to be cute-- i.e. playing the "dumb animal" card by intentionally chewing/peeing on certain things. The main character, Denny, drives and teaches about European cars for a living. The story also starts at the end of Enzo's life, so he's very contemplative and is able to give us a more objective look at Denny's life (and his own life too) because he can only influence the large characters subtlely by his actions. This perspective is one of a character with nothing left to lose, and thus it feels genuine. Also, the last strong point? It has plot... but maybe a little too much (is that possible?).

What doesn't work? The overwhelming conflicts. While the book has a lighthearted style, with Enzo pondering various trivialities of life, the conflicts suddenly become very serious. The mood/tone is awkward with the agenda and it's not like the tone is so different that we should take something away from this absurdity (i.e. A Clockwork Orange).

The first conflict is that Denny falls in love with Eve and this puts Enzo below Eve on the pecking order. The next conflict is that Eve gets pregnant and then has a daughter with Denny which unsettles Enzo because he doesn't know what to expect. Denny & Eve name their daughter Zoe. Enzo isn't so sure about the whole pregnancy process at first, but during the pregnancy he and Eve begin to understand one another and he helps her through the process while Denny is off driving with his work. Once baby Zoe enters the picture, Denny, Eve, Zoe and Enzo are the epitome of happy-- except that Denny is gone a lot because of his work. This brings on the next conflict: Denny's absence and Eve's unexplained "episodes". It's obvious to the reader that something is seriously wrong with Eve, but she's in denial and she pretends not to worry about it so as not to bother Denny.

With Eve's sickness and finally with her relenting to see some doctors, we find out that she has brain cancer. Eventually this denial ends up killing her. (No I wouldn't consider this a spoiler- because there are more conflicts to come!) In the meantime her parents have convinced Denny to let Eve and Zoe stay at their house to take care of both best-- citing Denny's travels/work as their reason. In reality, they've intentionally positioned themselves to become Zoe's legal guardian once Eve passes, especially because they aren't fond of Denny and they think their daughter married below her station. But don't worry... because if you were afraid that there weren't enough conflicts-- get ready for another one-- one that will potentially mean that Denny won't be able to leave the country and it will potentially keep him from winning the custody suit over Zoe...

Would I suggest this book? Yes, but with reserve. I had to laugh but when I talked with my mother about the book, because she suggested that anyone planning to read it should read the first few chapters and then stop, because it deviates from the charming beginning and this charm only reappears sparingly. Simply enough: it's a tease. The reader gets a taste of how great this author can be with his narrator's wit, but then he goes a different direction and it becomes a bit frustrating because the reader keeps hoping this charm will come full circle, but it only comes about 270 degrees... feeling like he simply got tired of being witty and he decided to cut out the wit and only focus on the story. Simply enough it feels as if two different authors wrote it; This should serve as a warning to aspiring writers about the dangers of losing motivation or losing the big picture when writing. Overall, I hate to be so hard on Garth Stein, but I've got a be a bit skeptical because I can't say that he's really earned his hard won fame just yet-- at least based on this sampling of reading.