Book Review (Final)

Art of Racing in the Rain review

The novel Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, is a very decent book to say the least. The concept of the book is good and I really like the idea of the book to be told from a dog's point of view as he follows the life of his owner who he clearly loves. The book follows Enzo a dog as he follows Denny as he explains his life from a dog's point of view and he explains the trials of Denny and his family. The trials include, an exciting story's between Denny and his wife and how they get along, all the way to how Denny deals with his In Laws. Enzo follows Denny through the book as he deals with all these problems and Enzo tells the story from what he can gather from these circumstances.

I like the idea of the story being  told from the viewpoint of a dog, but I think the dog is biased towards Denny. Enzo’s experiences with Denny,Enzo proves to love Denny so much “I close my eyes and listen vaguely in a half sleep as he does the things he does before he sleeps each night."(8,). Enzo is so close to Denny that everything that he does is something that Enzo believes in throughout the boo. He really sides with Denny and always seems to take his side because he is a loyal dog. I have never heard of or read something with the narration of an animal. It's very different, a new thing, and a cool thing to see a dog’s view point of human actions. Readers get to hear a voice from something that normally can’t talk. I've always wonder what goes on in a dog's head. And now readers ges to see what a dog is thinking and get a new viewpoint. Which is of personal interest to the reader.

Theme makes for an overall good novel.  The overall theme of the novel is if you believe in something then do it. Throughout the story Denny in particular has his mind set on a variety of different goals, all goals he eventually achieves, such as racing, or getting Zoe back. Denny never gave up even though that was an easy option. He made sure he kept at it. Enzo says  “You need to watch the drivers around you, understand their skill, confidence, and aggression levels, and drive with them accordingly. Know who is driving next to you. Any problems that may occur have ultimately been caused by you, because you are responsible for where you are and what you are doing there” (91). Denny is a very determined guy and he works for everything he needs to accomplish. It is proven with his racing and in his life because he is a hard working and determined guy to get the job done. This quote is explaining how a lot of people are trying to get in the way if Denny's life, but he just has to watch them and keep pushing forward in order to beat them. Just like the racers Denny races against. This is a great theme because it teaches a good lesson to readers, people tend to give up if it is too hard, teaches them that your dream can become a reality if you put the work in and work harder enough to do these things

Last reason the book is good because of character personalities that lead the readers to react emotionally. Denny is a good and honest guy who works hard. He does not have everything that people want but he is a good dad and a good husband, good employee who works hard, “In racing, they say that your car goes where your eyes go. The driver who cannot tear his eyes away from the wall as he spins out of control will meet that wall …Simply another way of saying that which you manifest is before you” (89). Denny looks at his life the way he looks at racing where his heart desires that is where he will be., Maxwell and Trish the Twins, awful people so readers wish them harm, the readers also would not like them in this book. Because of the fact that Denny is portrayed as being so good in the novel people want him to succeed, and people that wish him harm to do poorly. I think overall it is a good book because it gives readers something to look forward to, cheering on a character and want that character to do well, want things to end well for them or don’t want enemies to succeed. You hope it backfires on them, and that the good guys to be fine. It keeps you guessing and reading, which makes it a good book.

    Overall good book, page turner, not a thriller but it did get you wanting to find out what came next in the story line.This story had a lot of ups and downs and incorporated the use of a dog in a interesting way. The story is told from the viewpoint of a dog it is something new, try it out, because its not something you get often.