Rating: 
Summary: The Process of Dealing with Grief
Review: I can understand why THE DOGS OF BABEL is being compared to last year's hit THE LOVELY BONES. In it, the main character must deal with his wife's death and does so through the process of trying to teach his dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lorelei, "speak," as the dog was the last to see his wife, Lexie, alive. He hopes that Lorelei will someday be able to "tell him" how Lexie died. Throughout the novel, Parkhurst makes clear that it is not so much about teaching a dog to talk as it is about the difficult process of grief and the extremes people will go to to feel some sort of connection to the lost loved one, to feel some kind of closure to the event. One of the most important characters in the book is Lexie. Though not physically present, her spirit pervades the entire story. How did she die? Only Lorelei knows, and she's not talking. Or is she? Her husband must cope with Lexie's death and deal with loss, love, and healing throughout his journey to find the cause of Lexie's death. I'd recommend this book based on its premise: we all deal with grief in different ways and we all need a sense of closure to loss. In the end, the book left me with a tear in my eye and a greater understanding of the power of love.
Rating: 
Summary: The sort of book that stays with you, but not in a good way
Review: This book was one of those I had to keep reading, even though I didn't want to. The author is a great writer, but the subject matter left something to be desired. There were parts of it that absolutely haunted me, especially about the mutilated dogs. I wanted to know what happened, but I wish I had never read the book. I can't get it out of my mind. Don't read this book *especially* if you are a dog lover. The fact that the main character could even remotely identify with these dog butchers made it absolutely impossible for me to feel for him in the main story about his wife's death..which was a bit bizzare in and of itself, but a good story. My best advice is don't start reading this book, because you'll have to finish, and you'll probably be sorry you did.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent exploration of grief, mediocre characters
Review: As an exploration of the grieving process, this book works well. Clearly we can see Paul move through the stages of grief, and we go through the disbelief, the sadness, the anger and the resolution with him. I think that part of the book is quite believable and well done.What I didn't like was the character developent. To me, there didn't seem to be enough evidence as to why we should care about Lexy or mourn her loss. She was quirky, she was spontaneous, she was a free spirit! So what? She was also self centered, unstable, and annoying. If we are to be joining in with Paul's journey through grief, shouldn't we care more about the character being mourned? Paul was better developed and a more sympathetic character, but even with him I felt that there were too many loose ends. All in all, this was a decent read, and Carolyn Parkhurst has written a page turner. But I finished the novel not hungry for more and would hesitate to recommend it when there are so many better novels out on the market right now.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: I was very drawn into this book because of the surprising first page and was able to finish the entire book in three nights. Well written and not as preposterous as some reviewers have said. Sure, there is one strange part, but I didn't feel it took away from the book at all. When I put myself in the narrator's shoes, nothing seemed strange, just all part of grieving.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved the Dog!
Review: Carolyn Parkhurst has used a unique and interesting twist to explore the depths of grief and desperation. She demonstrates the desperate measures that desperate people will take. Paul Iverson is a desperate man. He is struggling with his wife's accidental yet questionable death. While he was away at work, his wife Lexy, climbed to the top of the tree in their back yard and fell to her death. The only witness to her death and the unexplained actions of her last day on earth is Lorelei, Lexy's beloved dog.
Paul attempts to unlock the secrets that dogs know and never tell.He embarks (no pun intended) upon the task of teaching Lorelei to talk. His desperate quest leads him to the unsavory people who conduct inhumane animal experiments to alter the physical features of dog's faces to enable them to form sounds similar to human speech. His foolish association with these people nearly causes him to lose the only thing that he has left to love.His search for the truth test his strength to accept the truth about his life with Lexy and his role in their destiny. He learns that he was not the only survivor, nor the only one that loved her. Lorelei is truly the strong character in this story.
Rating:
Summary: Maintaining Today Show Status Quo
Review: "THE DOGS OF BABLE" is a Today Show Book Club pick, it is endorsed by a top rated national morning television show that can not risk rocking the boat with the advertisers who pay millions of dollars for the host to smile and chat every morning. "CATCHER IN THE RYE" by JD Salinger which many consider to be one of the best book ever written would never be a Today Show pick because it would be too controversial. "MY FRACTURED LIFE" by Rikki Lee Travolta is considered by many to be the "CATCHER IN THE RYE" for our generation but I can guarantee you that it too will never be a Today Show pick for the same reason. It doesn't matter how brilliant a book is, to be a Today Show pick the book has to be safe. It has to be politically correct. It has to follow the proven formulas and adhere to the Martha Stewart disciplines of prim and proper. "THE DOGS OF BABLE" is a deserving Today Show Book Club choice. The writing is very well done and the story is amusing. The earth won't shatter, your life won't be changed, and most importantly the advertisers will be happy. Status Quo has been saved.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS ONE....
Review: I HAD "HEARD" A LOT OF GOOD REVIEWS ABOUT THIS BOOK SO I WAS QUITE ANXIOUS TO READ IT. ALL I CAN SAY AFTER COMPLETING IT IS.....I WAS UNDER-WHELMED!! THE ENTIRE STORY LINE IS JUST SO UNBELIEVABLE AND THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT SO WEAK I JUST BECAME BORED READING IT. BY THE END OF THE STORY I FOUND MYSELF REALLY DISLIKING LEXY. AS SHE PROVED TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A VERY SELFISH INDIVIDUAL IN GREAT NEED OF PSYCHIATRIC HELP.....AND THE IDEA THAT SHE TAKES HER LIFE BY FALLING OUT OF THEIR TREE......COME ON, IT'S JUST PLAIN SILLY! MY SAVING GRACE WAS THAT I CHECKED THE BOOK OUT FROM MY LOCAL LIBRARY INSTEAD OF PURCHASING IT. THANKFULLY, IT WAS ONLY A WASTE OF TIME AND NOT MONEY!
Rating:
Summary: Better than what i expected
Review: I have read some pretty bad reviews about this book.So when i picked it up at the library i was sceptical.I jumped in not expecting much,and came out suprised.True the whole dog speaking blah was out there,but it made the book unique.My only complain was it ended to fast.I felt let down by the sudden ending of the book.It was like the author just got tired of writing.
Rating:
Summary: Beware of 'Writers' with MFAs
Review: The Dogs of Babel is a surprisingly lame book. In any work of fiction, characters don't have to be likeable, but they must always be interesting. Here we are presented with two cardboard cutouts who simply don't ring true -- an inert, boring man wearily pining over the death of a completely flaky, irrelevant woman. Their vapid love story struggles so hard to be romantic and quirky that it verges on the absurd (let's drive hours to Disney on our first date and stay for days! Let's jet off to another city so we can wear masks! Yawn. Yeah, right). Coincidences arrive from nowhere and stretch the imagination to the breaking point -- The moment a TV is turned on, it blares the TOP STORY on the evening news, which happens to be the story the character is most interested in. Newscasters spout unintentionally hilarious cliches, as do the police. Other bad cliches and coincidences abound -- a new-agey, caring TV psychic, who just happens to answer the phone when she is being sought after, as well as a dog who manages to escape from a research facility, show up on a main character's doorstep, and -- how surprisingly coincidental! -- become involved in the plot years later. Besides the bad plotting and sadly drawn characters, the writing repeats itself, making sure the heavy-handed symbolism is SPELLED OUT IN CAPITALS so as not to be missed by anyone with an IQ greater than that of a cucumber. One can almost hear the author gleefully thinking 'This might be an interesting thing to happen. Let me see how I can shoehorn these characters into that situation!' rather than letting events flow, and having character and action become one. I could go on, but shall not, for fear of boring you as much as this novel did me. Want quality? Read 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' and 'Interpreter of Maladies,' two recent works written with style and depth. Avoid books like this, where the author smugly points out twice in the back cover pages that she has received university degrees from the places she studied writing. Once again we roll our eyes and learn that those with nothing to say must go get an MFA, so they can discover a 'voice.'
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: I enjoyed the book but never felt the urge to stay up all night reading. Parkhurst does a nice job with the narrative, but as another reviewer stated, I never felt much sympathy or empathy for the main characters. The book might have done a better job probing Paul's experience with grief. I did not feel that Lexy was drawn out to its fullest... in fact, I often found her trite and quite annoying. Maybe her battle with mental illness might have been exposed earlier - and with much more boldness. I will definitely check out Carolyn Parkhurst in the future. As to recommend this book??? I guess I would wait for the paperback.
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