Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Maybe it's because I am a dog lover, maybe not, but I found The Dogs of Babel to be an extraordinary story. Here's how it goes: Lorelei, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, being the only witness to his wife's fatal fall from an apple tree, Paul Iverson believes that if he can teach her to talk than he will discover whether it was truly an accident. As the story unfolds, you learn not only about the methods Paul tries in teaching Lorelei to talk (which are non-surgical, thank you), but also about the intense relationship that he and Lexy, his late wife, had.To shake things up more, there is a secret club of people, if you can call it that, who believe in surgically enabling a dog to speak. They perform grotesque surgeries, attempting to alter dogs' throats in order to allow them to speak. Unfortunately, many are killed during these horrible practices. For me the description about this club and the poor dogs involved was the most heartbreaking part, of course I am an animal lover, remember. As for this book being similar to The Lovely Bones, I did not find much evidence of that. And this didn't make The Dogs of Babel a disappointment to me at all. Overall I found the book to be a rich story about life after loss and the healing process, as well as how creully some people chose to treat animals for the "benefit of science."
Rating:
Summary: A Great Summer Read
Review: This is a wonderful book and a GREAT debut for Carolyn Parkhurst. First, (if it matters to you) this is a fast & easy read. The writing style flows well and doesn't get in the way of the story. Second, I haven't read any reviews that branded this book in any way a dark comedy or science fiction. If that is what you are looking for...this is NOT the book for you.
If you are looking for a novel that is touching and tragic but can make you smile and appreciate true love (for man and dog!)...READ THIS BOOK!!!
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: After all the rave reviews of this book, I could hardly wait to read it. Some reviewers had even compared the novel to "The Lovely Bones", which was, I thought, truly a literary delight. I was so very disappointed!
The beginning of the novel is a bit strange, but promising. A learned linguistics professor who takes a sabbatical in order to teach his dog to talk? The premise stretches the "willing suspension of disbelief" almost to the breaking point, but I persisted in hope of a terrific read.
The purpose of the professor's experiment is to try to discover the details of his wife's death, to which only the dog was a witness. This must be where critics get the comparison to "The Lovely Bones"; both novels deal with the living trying to come to terms with a death. In my view, here is also where the comparison ends.
Of course, Parkhurst doesn't waste our time with too many tales of talking dogs; the novel is really about Lexy, the professor's wife, and their marriage. A thread of interest to dog lovers is the dog's part in their lives together and their relationship. I found the characterization of the dog to be the most credible in the book, and this aspect was covered with depth, warmth and meaning.
Lexy and Paul could have been be very complex characters. She is an artist with a history of depression; he, a "geek" with a bad marriage in his past. When they meet, ther possibilities for exploration of their pasts, their personalities, and their new relationship could have sucked the reader in and delighted him/her for many hours...had they been done well. As it is, the reader is left with a sense of having been cheated. Parkhurst has only skimmed the surface of the many possibilities here.
Perhaps the implied likeness to "The Lovely Bones" spoiled it for me, but when I remember this novel, all I will recall is what was missing. For example, in "Bones", the deceased's passing is viewed from many aspects, as is her life. She describes scenes on earth from her perch in heaven, but shows the reader events, motives and personalities from varying points of view. One event will be probed by her father, another by her sister, still another that reveals the nature of her parents' marriage. Her own personality is revealed in many different ways; for instance, the ways she views heaven. One also has the gratification of some sense of resolution in "Bones". People come to terms with each other and with death.
None of this happens in "Dogs of Babel". Everything is viewed only through the eyes of the geeky professor. While he does turn out to be a sympathetic character (I'd even like to get to know him), his viewpoint is very narrow. Where are Lexy's thoughts in all of this? Why didn't Parkhurst treat us to some depth of feeling and perspectives? Why not a chapter or two narrated by Paul's friends or colleagues, instead of the simple description of their behavior as told by Paul?
By book's end, the only thing that is resolved is how Lexy died. We don't really know what went on inside her head. We never discover exactly why she died. Indeed, she is as much an enigma at the end of the novel as she was in the beginning, the only difference being that we now know a little bit (a very little bit) about her.
Those who love dogs will love parts of this book. Those who love mysteries will love parts of it. If you like psychological studies of human behavior, your interest may be tweaked a bit. I can't imagine anyone who would enjoy this novel as a whole.
Don't waste your money, or buy this one used.
Rating:
Summary: I had to say something...
Review: I don't usually go to the trouble of writing a review for the books I read. I'd rather people read them and make up their own minds, and I rarely have insight that might be helpful to other readers. But this book touched me so deeply that I had to say something about it. The combination of joy and despair, charm and depth, and the ability to amuse you and break your heart at the same time is very rare. This book has it. I can't remember the last time a novel made me cry. It wasn't Paul's grief that touched me (though it did) as much as Lexy's, because I can identify so deeply with the elation of life while at the same time being in so much pain. I don't want to overdo it here - I think you get the point. I highly recommend this book, but it's not for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book IS a Dog
Review: This is truly one of the most dreadful, depressing books I have ever read. I did not like any of the characters and thought they were two dimensional at best. And maybe it's because I am a dog lover that I just could not stomach what happened to Lorelei. This book left me depressed for a couple of days after I finished reading it - because it's horrible and because I actually bought it in hard cover. I am an electic, avid reader and fairly sophisticated about my reading choices. However, I'd like to burn my copy of this book. I give it minus stars.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Novel
Review: I purchased this novel on a whim at a book store one evening - talking dogs, what a riot, I told myself. I have to read that. What I found, houwever, was a horribly tragic tale that kept me constantly wavering on the edge of tears. I started it around 10PM and, despite telling myself I was going to bed early, could not put it down until 2AM when I'd read to the last page. The tale of Paul and Lexy is charming, playful, and fun. This story, however, starts at the end of the relationship - with Lexy's death - and works its way backwards through their relationship. These bright moments - memories of their past relationship - shine like brilliant sunlight in a book tinged with the darkly intense despair of loosing a loved one. (This provides just enough to keep the reader hanging in there and following Paul's quest to discover what happened to his wife - a book focusing purely on the events after her death would have been simply too sad to bear.) Paul's approach at coping - trying to teach their dog Lorelei to talk, so she can tell him what happened - is a unique one to be sure, but it's one the reader can relate to under the circumstances. A mysterious death, with no witnesses? What would any of us do? In today's desensitised world, this is a book that provokes strong emotion. And, though it be sadness, it is worth feeling just to know you still can. To read this novel is to grieve with Paul, and, perhaps, recover with him as well.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read in years
Review: A beautifully well-crafted tale of loss. In exploring a relationship that has ended in tragedy, I found it brought to life both enormous joy and sorrow. A short read at 260 pages, I nevertheless had to put it aside several times because it was simply too much for me in a single sitting. While it occasionally had a twist that bordered on the absurd, those twists were so carefully crafted into the integrity of the story that I found them impossible not to embrace. I heartily recomend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I wish I had read the online reviews first (even though most of them are positive), because after reading many newspaper and literary reviews, I was under the impression that this book was completely different. I read it in one day, yet halfway through I found myself saying, "Is this ever going to get to GOOD?" I agree, many of the events in the book are highly disturbing: my stomach wrenched, my heart beat unsteadily. But at the end of the day, I was lead to believe (not only by the reviews I had read but also by the inside flap) that this book was somewhat of a dark comedy/thriller about a man's fascination with linguistics and his quest to teach his dog to speak (or communicate). I was prepared for a gripping scientific thriller filled with pages filled with his work and progress with the dog -- how maybe his hard work would come to some fruition. Instead I found a weepy, emotional, depressing account of the life Paul Iverson had with his emotially disturbed dead wife. Blah blah blah. Moreover, though Ms. Parkhurst is a talented writer, I do not believe she should have attempted to write this book from a man's point of view. At times it read too feminine, too dramatic, too emotional and too sensitive to be written from a male's first person perspective. By the end of the book, I felt exhausted and haunted by this tale -- and not in a good way.
P.S. Any dog lover will be horrified at some of the happenings in this book. Be prepared.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking, honest prose.
Review: I read this book in one night--I couldn't put it down. It has got to be one of the most amazing books I've ever read (and I've read plenty). The overarching sadness and the search for answers to love and loss is captured in near perfect prose, and I sat in bed sobbing as I reached the end. The premise is beautiful and the writing clever and as magical as the masks the dead woman creates. Paul's grief and yearning is palpable. Lexy's emotional rollercoaster is frighteningly real. Some criticize the book's plot or turns as "unrealistic," but I find it's the near fairy tale quality of the story that enables the writer to convey the jagged truths and heartaches of the story. Lexy lives in a world of myths and legends, she grew up listening to horrifying children's tales. This book is a modern fairy tale, or as near to American Magical Realism as I've found--and isn't it in the nature of the fairy tale or the tales of Grimm to convey a lesson or moral through a magical ensemble of characters? Paul's search is for the truth of Lexy's death: was it an accident, or did she kill herself? What sense does either option make? What sense is he to make of the aftermath--the emptiness, the grief, the uncertainty of his world? Anyone who has watched a loved one suffering from depression, or from self-doubt, anyone who has lost a loved one and asked why? why? why? will find the book agonizing, but also strangely soothing. Can't we all identify on some level with the widower, alone in the darkness of an empty night, reaching out to a stranger and desparately seeking for answers to the haunting questions we are so often too frightened to utter?
Rating:
Summary: Not what it seems
Review: If you read the reviews of this book, you might be forgiven for thinking you'll get a laugh out of it. I mean, come on! A man trying to teach his dog to talk so the dog can tell him what really happened the day his wife died of a freak accident. Sounds more like a fairy tale, right? Wrong. It's a morality play, a story that probes the deepest recesses of grief, marriage, relationships, and all that lies beneath the surface of the ties that bind.
Don't miss this spectacular debut novel. In fact, buy a signed first edition; it'll be worth something 20 years from now.
|
