The Art of Racing In The Rain

The story returns to Sydney for the moment. All is well. She's older for sure. She's slower and weaker, but she still has a good life (I believe). A former client from work, who has become a friend, loaned me her copy of "The Art of Racing In The Rain", giving it rave reviews. She knows me as a dog lover of course, as we often talked about Sydney while I was working for them. They also are dog lovers, with a beautiful Golden Retriever, who goes by the name of Tatry, who became my friend too. In fact, we had worked for them years ago, when Tatry was a little girl, so we have a history. It's odd. Sometimes I associate jobs I have worked on by the dogs who reside there, more so than the people.

I could say that I thought this was the greatest book ever, but that would not be true. I personally did not think the story flowed very well at times, and personally I would have focused more on the life of the dog, but as I said, I often remember the dogs more favorably than the people I meet, so I'm probably not the best judge. The beginning of the book had me hooked for sure; "Gestures are all I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature. And while I occasionally step over the line into the world of the melodramatic, it is what I must do in order to communicate clearly and effectively."....."And that's why I'm here now waiting for Denny to come home - he should be here soon - lying on the cool tiles of the kitchen floor in a puddle of my own urine. I'm old. And while I'm very capable of getting older, that's not the way I want to go out." Wow! I'm not a dog, and yes, I do have a tendency to credit dogs with human emotions, so to me, this really put me in the dog's mind and set my mind for the rest of the story. Unfortunately, for me, the story didn't live up to it's beginning. I think if the book could have been longer, and explored the story more thoroughly, it would have worked, but the brevity made it seem like filler to me, bridging the beginning and ending of the book, but not as well as it could have. The ending, like the beginning, was worth reading the book, which by the way, is a quick easy read anyway. "I force myself to wag my tail, and I really shouldn't have, because the wagging jostles my bladder and I feel warm droplets of urine splash my feet. "It's okay, boy," he says. "I've got it." He cleans up my mess and tears me a piece of pancake. I take it in my mouth, but I can't chew it, I can't taste it. It sits on my tongue limply until it finally falls out of my mouth and onto the floor....I don't want to force him to take me on a one-way visit to the vet. He loves me so much. The worst thing I could possibly do to Denny is make him hurt me....he reaches down out of instinct; we've been together so long...The touch of a man. My legs buckle and I fall.... He turns off the fire under the frying pan. He places his hand over my heart. The beating that he feels, if he feels anything at all, is not strong."
How many times have I laid down with Sydney, my head on her chest, listening to her heart murmur? Will she go in a similar fashion, slowly growing weaker, all the while trying to please me, until her body finally fails? The selfish part of me hopes so. I don't relish the thought of having to make the decision that her life is no longer worth living. Today, she is doing well. No she can't run like she used to, a slow trot is the most to be expected. Her hearing is questionable, though she does seem to hear things she wants to. Fortunately, she does seem to still see well, and her sense of smell is still there. Medication has seemed to alleviate a lot of her joint pains, and she doesn't seem to struggle when getting up as much any more, and she still has a lot of love to give and certainly much more to receive. I doubt she has these fabulous thoughts in her head, it's actually preposterous, but I'll keep my fantasies anyway. She can dream of being reincarnated as a human, and I will continue my dream of being reincarnated as a dog.

Would I recommend the book? Absolutely. If you made it through this post, or any of my posts for that matter, you probably have an affinity for our canine friends, and if that is the case, you will enjoy the book.