The Dogs of Babel: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A most excellent novel
Review: Not quite the story that book jacket describes, The Dogs of Babel is still a fantastic story. It's more about the life of the two lovers before the wife dies, but the simple complexity of their relationship is touching. The end of almost every chapter made it impossible not to turn the page and keep going. This is one of my new favorite books.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, but very powerful
Review: I'll admit that the premise of this book sounds silly. Some weirdo Linguist sets out to teach his dog to talk so it can tell him if his wife's death was a suicide or not. Is he crazy? Desperate?
What I really loved about this book was the way things were written. This was good writing, and I really liked how the author put in all of these little whimsical incidents in the relationship between Paul and his wife Lexy that really showed that they loved eachother and were a good fit. I think that without those, Paul would be just another grieving widower, and Lexy would be a crazy woman who jumped to her death from a tree. By knowing all of the little things these two went through and did for eachother, it made their relationship something special, and so I felt for Paul and Lexy more than I would have if the author didn't do such a good job of portraying them as two people with a deep (a little bit odd yes,) love. I really wanted Paul to find out the truth, poor guy.
I also liked the twists in this book, there are only a few chapters left and I was like "What's going to happen next?" From the very dark to the light, to the plain weird, Parkhurst has constructed a story that will not leave you bored.
As for the animal abuse issues, I do think that they were very graphic and disturbing. But WITHOUT them I don't think this book would have the weight that it does. I don't think this book would make its readers feel. The dark side of animal linguists that Paul goes in to are an example of how desperate he really is.
The only thing I wasn't clear about was the book's title. So that bugs me a little that I can't make the connection there, but anyway I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: ORIGINAL PREMISE THAT DELIVERS
Review: People seem pretty heavily divided on "DOGS OF BABEL." I agree that the premise is more original than then delivery, but it is by no means bad. I enjoyed it very much. I won't categorize "DOGS OF BABEL" with something like "MIDDLESEX" or "MY FRACTURED LIFE," but I think it is just as good as "LIFE OF PI" and "ATONEMENT." It dares to be different. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But, more often than not.

Rating:
Summary: Exquisite novel of suicide, mental illness and grief.
Review: I was surprised at how beautifully this book treated the relationship between humans and dogs. Again, as another reviewer has said, why must an author avoid an unpleasant subject matter, such as animal abuse? Does that mean that no books should be written about child abuse or the Holocaust, for example? Anyway, the only thing "missing" from the novel was an examination of Lexy's past. I thought that was strange. But it was simply a presentation of a mentally disturbed person's symptoms, no explanations, and perhaps that is all right, after all. I felt so sad as I read the novel; it was almost like listening to sensitive classical music that is perfectly tuned to make us feel sorrow. And I also appreciated the writer's ability to turn the prose chilly, and frighten the reader, in the scenes with the animal abusers. There were moments when you condemned Lexy, and Paul, too, but by the end you were sympathetic to all the characters. They got under your skin - and that includes Lorelei, the dog. Wonderful book, cudos to the gifted author.

Rating:
Summary: A winner!
Review: THE DOGS OF BABEL by Carolyn Parkhurst

One of my favorite books read so far in 2004, Carolyn Parkhurst's THE DOGS OF BABEL is a slightly twisted tale of a grieving widower trying to reconcile the death of his wife. It's one of the more unusual books to come out in the past few years, taking the reader into a somewhat unbelievable scenario that involves dogs that learn to speak.

Paul Iverson is a middle-aged linguistics professor that has a successful career and a loving wife. When he calls home in the afternoon one day and finds an unknown man answering the phone, his life changes forever. He returns home to find his wife has fallen out of an apple tree in their backyard and is found dead. The police have declared this an accident, but something does not seem right to Paul. There are telltale hints all through the house that his subconscious perceives that his wife's death is not what it seems to be. The only witness to Lexy's death is their beloved dog, Lorelei, the one to discover the body.

And so begins Paul's obsession to teach Lorelei to speak. As a linguistic, he feels he has the know-how to train her to make human sounds and to tell the story of what really happened to Lexy. He takes a leave of absence from work, and lives and breathes this project to the dismay of his co-workers who now feel that he's lost it. His home shows the neglect Paul has begun to live under, the piled up dishes, the stacks of newspapers, and the disheveled look that he presents to anyone that may happen to come to visit his home. Paul's life mission now is to find out why his wife died, and he cannot rest until he knows the truth.

THE DOGS OF BABEL takes on a macabre turn, which will repulse many readers, dog lovers or not. The point of the book, however, is not to frighten or to offend the reader. The real story is the journey that Paul needs to make to accept the death of his wife. It isn't until he talks to a TV psychic that he finds out what he needs to know, and if the reader was perceptive enough, the clues were there from the beginning of his story. Paul unfortunately did not want to accept this knowledge, and continued in denial until someone helped him see the light.

I truly loved THE DOGS OF BABEL. A remarkably short book yet full of insight and packed with information on the love story that was Paul and Lexy Iverson, it will probably be one of my favorite books of 2004. It's not quite a love story, because it's told from a point of view of a mystery, but I personally saw this as a love story and a man's acceptance of the death of his cherished wife.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story
Review: When I first picked up the book, I had no idea what to expect, and the first few chapters where very interesting and drawed the reader in. But what happened next was a roller coaster ride of a mourning person's feelings and emotions in being left behind. I do agree that if you love animals that there is some parts of this story that will upset you. But the overall book is wonderful, and it reminds me of Lovely Bones, in the fact that it shows how people deal with death after their loved ones are gone.

Rating:
Summary: So-so.
Review: I read this book expecting it might live up to its hype. I was disappointed. The main characters are not sympathetic enough, and the part about the animal mutilation would have worked much better as a hallucination of the deranged narrator, who, sick with grief, tries to teach his dog to talk. As it is, the author tries to present it realistically, and it just isn't convincing. I got the feeling the author was trying hard to make a splash, too hard. I can't recommend this book, although it had a great premise.

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly original debut
Review: The thoroughly original premise of this book drew me right in, and after that I couldn't put it down. As a shelter volunteer I often ask "my" dogs - "What's your story?" The idea that you could conceivably find out by teaching a dog to talk is preposterious but oh-so intriguing, and in Paul's situation attempting it seems utterly necessary.

Like others, I did find the Lexy character somewhat unfleshed, but I think those readers who condemn Lexy for being unpleasant are missing the author's point, which is, mental illness can be subversive and yet comprehensive. Paul is wholeheartedly committed before he begins to realize something is very wrong, and by then he is reluctant to believe it for fear of what that means. In the end, Paul's somewhat desperate love for Lexy was enough for me to feel affection for her too, despite the faults that make her seem a poor risk for love. There are people like this in our own lives.

I'm a bit perplexed by the "animal abuse" comments. There are some graphic scenes and descriptions of dogs being abused, but animal abuse (and the resons behind it) shouldn't be a taboo subject for an author just because it makes the reader uncomfortable.

Rating:
Summary: Warning- Animal Abuse!
Review: I was extremely disappointed in and disgusted by this book! I felt misled by the book jacket description, and was horrified to discover I was reading a book about animal abuse! I found it very upsetting, and I would NEVER have purchased this book had I known that it would take such a twisted turn.

Rating:
Summary: Very moving book
Review: This is an excellent book that explores the relationship between a man and his wife (and their dog). In the beginning of the book we are introduced to the characters and their situations, but through the rest of the book, you truly get to know Lexy and the beauty and pain she had in her life. The book is painful to read at times- both in the dog stories and in Lexy's life story. But it is a good journey through Paul's grief and is very moving.