Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Dogs of Babel, by Carolyn Parkhurst


Book 21

The Dogs of Babel was another book club favorite, and written by Carolyn Parkhurst, an AU alumna. I picked it up at the Library's Used Book Sale. The premise is that a lady was found dead in her backyard having apparently fallen out of her apple tree. She was discovered by a neighbor that heard her dog barking when he arrived home from work.

The death is ruled an accident, but the husband, Paul, starts to think it might have been a suicide. He determines that the dog is the only witness and decides to teach the dog to talk.

OK - so this is a book about crazy-grief. And a dog named Lorelei.

I liked the concept, but was not half-way through before deciding that the wife was a nutjob and the husband a fool. Then I got to the part about the criminally insane people using surgical techniques to get dogs to talk. Then Lorelei disappears and I don't care about what shocking thing might have happened in the next flashback because all I want to know is if the dog is ok.

She was. Mostly.

The conclusion was incredibly anti-climactic, but even if it weren't, I left the book feeling utterly disgusted.

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