Rating: 
Summary: A good start with a sinister ending
Review: I bought this book as a result of hearing the author on NPR and my love of dogs. Listening to the comments it sounded like my kind of book. However, the commentator did remark that it was not a book for young readers, hinting at the sisister conclusion.I actually liked the first half of the book, but it seemed that somewhere around the last third or so a decidedly dark side emerges and I think its fair that prospective readers should be aware of it. The book is well written and the plot is well thought out. Several other reviewers have compared this book to THOSE LOVELY BONES and its a ligitimate comparison. There are some similarities as to the flow of the book and the underlying evil that is the basis of the plot. Half way through the book I would have recommended it. By the end, I'm not so sure. For some reason, the conclusion just didn't work for me. The enchaniting Lexy of the first part of the book turns in to a deceitful person by the end. I'm very leary of these "perfect relationships" and maybe that's one of the things that bothered me about Lexy and the narrator. Perhaps their relationship was too perfect. And it was certainly too perfect for the husband to recognize Lexy's intentions. For a book club, it's probably a good choice because it raises many topics for discussion. There is a lot of symbolism in the plot with the masks. Even the thing with the square eggs which started the relationship. Eggs are not square. The attempt to change them is very symbolic in terms of the entire plot. When Lexy and the narrator first meet, she doesn't want to end their first date, but yet she ends the relationship by her death. All this makes for great discussion. But I believe the basic message is that you have to accept people and animals for what they are. Lexy was not going to change. Her husband should have seen that. Dogs don't talk and the narrator should have seen that also. Life is the way it comes. When you try to change the basic building blocks of life you screw up big time.
Rating:
Summary: Give the dog a bone...
Review: Like many others, I read this book with high hopes and great expectations. Then, I actually read it. I agree with many others that the writing style and pacing were very good, but the story structure completely undermined it, for me. I've read a few mentions of "contrived". I couldn't agree more. I did enjoy that she chose Lorelei to be a Rhodesian Ridgeback (since we have one) - but a breed especially known for NOT barking!
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly Original, Fresh and Incredibly Imaginative
Review: I look forward to other books by Carolyn Parkhurst. I am hooked for she is an amazing new talent. Her writing is so authoratative and no-nonsense while at the same time being sensitive and poignant. Paul Iverson has lost his beloved wife, Lexy in an apparent accident. Their dog Lorelei was the only witness; so being a linguist by trade, Paul is desperate to teach the dog to talk, or at least communicate with him more effectively so that he can make sense of the strange "clues" that Lexy left him. I don't believe this novel is a true mystery, although it is continuously surprising and darkly haunting. It is a novel that most accurately describes the facets of love and grief. At it's core, this beautiful story is about finding meaning and it tells us that we are not always what we seem, that we are masked from one another, even from the ones we love the most. Perhaps that is where the mystery of this story lies. I read this book over the weekend in two large sittings. Parts of it were disturbing, but also very insightful and wise. I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting grief
Review: The Dogs of Babel is simultaneously difficult and easy to read. Paul Iverson is mourning the death of his wife-somewhere in his soul, he knows she committed suicide, but his mind can only skirt around these thoughts. A linguistics scholar, Paul decides to teach his wife's dog, Lorelei, to speak. Lorelei was with Lexy, Paul's wife, the afternoon of her death, and Paul hopes Lorelei can tell him what happened. Paul's search takes him into a nether world of psychics and animal cruelty as he abandons all semblance of a normal life. In the end, Paul confirms to himself what he knew all along, and is able to begin to reclaim his life. "The Dogs of Babel" has some upsetting references to animal cruelty and Paul' extreme grief is open to the reader. This novel may not move you to tears while reading, but the sense of longing and mourning will stay with the reader for awhile.
Rating: 
Summary: No other book quite like this one!
Review: This book was enjoyable although not what I expected. It was similar in mood to The Lovely Bones. Somewhat dark and painful. There was the one chapter that I see other reviewers here mention, that was very disturbing, on animal abuse, but faint hearted people just need to skip that one. It is worth it to keep reading. I enjoyed this book very much. I like to come across something new and different. I recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Understand the Hype
Review: I don't know where I read that this book was going to be this years "Lovely Bones" but man was that off the mark!Yes both books deal with grief, but that's about the whole scope of it.
I was so intrigued by the premise of this book I couldn't wait to dive into it. Paul Iverson is a lingusitics professor whose wife dies when she falls out of a tree in their back yard. Their dog, Lorelei is the only witness to the event, and Paul believes that if he can instruct her to speak, he'll get the answer to a gnawing question: Was the fall accidental or on purpose?
Where the "Lovely Bones" worked for me and this didn't is in "Bones", the main character witnesses her family and friends grieve about her. Here, Paul is the one grieving and yet it's only when another party comments on his disheveled appearance or messy house we're given clues to his state of being.I suppose we're supposed to glean from his desperate attempt to get the dog to talk it's a way to cope?
The book shifts between past and present recounting the courtship and marriage leading up to the event in the tree with his wife bobbing between fits of impulsive happiness to hair pulling, table clearing tantrums.This guy didn't think she might have a problem? This is balanced with Paul attempting to teach the dog the English language, and a quickly resolved subplot of a sadistic fringe group that practices horrible experiments on canines in an attempt to get them to speak.
I missed it. The only thing or creature I should say I felt anything for was the dog, but animals in peril, like children are easy button pushers for me. It's clear Parkhurst has a vivid imagination, and is technically a gifted writer, but the only message I got from the book was to hug your dog today.
Rating:
Summary: Not sure why they call it a mystery...
Review: While the prose of this book was quite nice, the subject was far more suited to a listing of 'Science Fiction' than mystery. Yes, there was a death. And yes, the circumstances of the death were questioned by books hero. Just because a main character doesn't understand the circumstances of someone's death does not make a book a mystery. It was a good read, and I would recommend it to those of you with an open mind, but don't expect anything resembling a mystery, as you won't find it within these pages.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful and Captivating Read
Review: Carolyn Parkhurst paints an astonishing picture of love, love lost and survival. Paul Iverson had a beautiful life with his wife Lexy and dog Lorelei. One phone call and his life is changed forever. Lexy is found dead in their backyard after apparently falling from the large apple tree and the only witness is Lorelei. How did she get way up in that tree? Why? Did she really fall? Paul struggles with so many unanswered questions and with learning to move on through life without his wife. He begins to experiment with Lorelei to try to get answers. Many stories and past studies that Paul finds have shown that dogs have been taught to talk. If this could work with Lorelei maybe he could finally get the answers he's been looking for and get some closure. Aside from trying to pry the answers out of Lorelei unsuccessfully, Paul begins to take notice of strange clues around the house. After many years of marriage certain items that have always been in the same spot now are not and then there are the weird phone calls as well. Paul starts to realize things are not always what they seem and begins to get closer and closer to figuring out the events that took place on the last day of Lexy's life. Parkhurst tell this powerful and astonishing story in a beautiful poetic style. This novel is captivating and mysterious enough to grip the reader's attention until the very last page.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing book
Review: Powerful, moving, emotional. Get the Kleenex out. I can't stop talking about this book. I read it in 4 hours flat. Didn't get up once! AMAZING.
Rating:
Summary: A cruel book!!!!
Review: This is a well written book which explores the mind of a tormented man who has just lost his wife .BR> I really enjoyed this book until about half way through when animal cruelty invaded it. It was disturbing and shocking to read about cruel experimentation on dogs.
The story had its merits and there was no need for the author to destroy it with animal cruelty. WHY WOULD SHE GO THERE???
This book is not for people who love dogs or for that matter anyone who has a heart.
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