Rating: 
Summary: This book will make you think
Review: This book makes you think about our relationship with animals and what rights and responsibilities we have.
Rating:
Summary: As good as (Watership Down or Tolkien from a lover of both.)
Review: It breaks my heart that no one has reviewed this glorious work. I read it 2-3 years ago and am stirred just thinking about it right now. The title and premise are a bit off-putting--too tendentious and/or cruel? Be not deterred! This is a triumphant book, reminiscent of the best Dickens (and as witty.) The happy ending with a gorgeous thumping deus ex machina is beautiful. Our little terrier pup is named for one of the lead characters--Snitter. LOVE IT!
Rating:
Summary: A really heart-rending animal adventure/escapade
Review: The dogs escape from a Research Facility and
each animal has its own personaility/fears and
afflictions resulting from their captivity/abuse.
Not just for Animal Rights activists but for the
general public by virtue of the excellent writing
style of Mr Richard Adams (the author, also, I believe of Watership Down and of Shardik).
Thoroughly recommended (all 3 publications).
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the read
Review: I just recently finished this book and can say with much sincerety that Adams has created a wonderful piece of work in "The Plague Dogs." It's true that some of the dialogue is especially tough to get through especially being an American reader, but after a while I found myself going through it with a fair amount of ease once I was finally used to it. The best part of this book by far has to be the characters of Rowf and Snitter whom I found tremendously more interesting than any of the human characters. Their struggles and perception of the reality around them is quite remarkable. As far as how the message was presented I thought it was done quite fairly on both sides of the issue of animal experimentation. Finally, there's the ending which made the entire book worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as it wanted to be
Review: When Richard Adams wrote "Watership Down," he created a classic. When he wrote "Plague Dogs," I think that he wanted to create another classic; the front cover proclaims it to be the "real successor to 'Watership Down'." But, more on that in a minute.
"Plague Dogs" tells us the story of Snitter and Rowf, two dogs who escape an "Animal Research, Surgical and Experimental" (yes, AR.S.E.) station in England, and their search for freedom, survival, understanding, and happiness. I believe that the book was a strong protest against medical experimentation on animals, and the first section, where you read about the dogs in the research station, is truly horrifying.
"Plague Dogs" has many moments of transcendence, where the prose becomes poetic. It is also clear that Adams loves the region of England, Lakeland, where the story takes place. The level of detail, in describing the area, is incredible. It also bogs the book down, at times, and becomes, or seems, repetitive, after a while.
The other flaw in the book is the ending. This might be the miost glaring example of deus ex machina that I have encountered. In the last fifty pages, new characters emerge and drastically change the story, plus there is a plot twist that I just could not find credible. The result is what Hollywood sometimes does when they translate books into films: a tragedy gets sugar-coated and twisted into a happily-ever-after ending.
As to this book being "the real successor to 'Watership Down'," I don't buy that. I would nominate "Fire Bringer" by David Clement-Davies or "Blue Road to Atlantis" by Jay Nussbaum.
I will never forget Snitter and Rowf, nor my vicarious trip to the Lakeland region. Adams has moments of brilliance in the back. I just wish the ending was less flawed, and there was less unnecessary detail.
Rating:
Summary: A Reet Fine Blazer
Review: I didn't like this book at first. I put it down after about 70 pages and couldn't read anymore, and gave it two stars on my personal list. Nothing against the book. I just couldn't understand it. I'm an American, and the dialect the dogs were talking was really hard to understand- and I hadn't even gotten to the fox speaking Geordi. And one of the dogs was insane! It was too difficult to follow along as to what was going on.
A year later I picked it up again, and decided to give it another go, and plow through. Glad am I I did. Yes, the dialect is hard for Americans, especially the Geordi, which is the hardest English dialect for Americans to understand. And this edition is even dumbed down for Americans! But it's worth it to get through it. This was an amazing story, and once into it, I was enthralled. Adams paints beautiful images with his words, where you see clearly the Lake Country, though never having been there. Slowly you start to really care about the dogs, and experience life through their eyes. One wonders if perhaps Adams spent some time as a dog previously, after being a rabbit, for he writes so realistically from the canine perspective.
This book is not for the squeamish. The atrocities of animal experimentation are vividly described, as are a number of deaths, and worse. There were a number of times when I was shocked at the turn of the story, and realized that now this story was quite different from what I had up till then read. But this too, is part of the story- "It's a hard life for an animal."
There's definitely a message here. A few of them actually: the attitude of the press; the treatment of dogs by humanity; and the treatment of humans by each other. For Adams also writes very convincing human characters. These are the true inner-workings of the human mind. His style is somewhat breezy, Dear-Readerish, but not off-putting or pretentious. Rather, Adams creates an atmosphere where we feel comfortable to be in dialogue with him, at the same time eager to read the life of the dogs.
Rating: 
Summary: not necessarily enjoyable, but important
Review: This may not be an enjoyable book, but it's an important book. It is important because it touches on the horror of animal experimentation, which so contrasts with Western culture's professed love for domesticated animals. If you don't already boycott animal-testing companies, it will make you want to check the labels on all your products. You will want to write letters to your congresspeople after reading this book, and you will be glad that many corporations already have taken heed and ceased animal testing.It is difficult read for a number of reasons. The poetic writing style can make it confusing as to whose mind we are hearing, and the fact that one of the characters is quite mad can also add to the confusion. Add to that the dialect used by the characters, and you will have to concentrate to understand what is being expressed. The first half of the book is far more exciting and interesting than the second half, but it is important to stick it out to read the end. One thing that bothered me was the author's self-referentialism. He actually refers to himself and the book 'Watership Down' in the third person. And at another point, he breaks the scene to start speaking frankly to the audience as the author. For this reason, Plague Dogs seemed amateurish next to his other works. Because of its important message, I wish it could have been a better book.
Rating:
Summary: I marked this book with post-it's
Review: "Some say deep sleep is dreamless and that we dream only in the moments before awakening, experiencing during seconds the imagined occurances of minutes or hours. Others have surmised that dreaming is continuous as long as we are asleep, just as sensation and experience must needs continue while we are awake; but that we recall--when we recall at all--only those margins and fragments which concluded the whole range of our imagination during sleep; as though one who at night was able to walk alive through the depths of the sea, upon his return could only remember only those light-filtering, green-lit slopes up which he had clambered back at last to the sands of morning." This is just a touch of the poetic writing that Richard Adams uses to convey this beautiful story of two dogs. It is also a story about society. This is not an easy read. The reasons that this book was more difficult for me was because of the dialect that one of the dogs spoke with and also the British terms (new to me i.e. Lorry =vehicle, dust bins =trash bins), and the text is so rich it takes a slower read to digest it. I had to look up a few words, so reading this book expanded my vocabulary. Although the reading was slower, it was worth it. Very worth it. Once I was 1/2 way through I was thanking myself for keeping on, it was paying off. And by the end - I was very into it.
I have never read such a unique writing style. There is no way to describe it but to say it is art. I poured over the book with post-its marking the ingenious philosophical ideas that I'd loike to come back to to think about and discover my feelings about.
This was my third Richard Adam's novel and I am always amazed. I plan to read all of his books.
Great read. Highly recommended. Thought provoking.
Thanks for reading my review, did it help?
Rating:
Summary: Patience will be rewarded
Review: I just recently finished this book and can say with much sincerety that Adams has created a wonderful piece of work in "The Plague Dogs." It's true that some of the dialogue is especially tough to get through especially being an American reader, but after a while I found myself going through it with a fair amount of ease once I was finally used to it. The best part of this book by far has to be the characters of Rowf and Snitter whom I found tremendously more interesting than any of the human characters. Their struggles and perception of the reality around them is quite remarkable. As far as how the message was presented I thought it was done quite fairly on both sides of the issue of animal experimentation. Finally, there's the ending which made the entire book worth the read.
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