Customer Reviews

The Labrador Pact: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Crises of faith are not new subjects for fiction. But what's surprising about Matt Haig's novel, THE LABRADOR PACT, is the protagonist undergoing that crisis: a dog. Not just any dog, but Prince, the eternally faithful companion of the Hunters, a family in crisis. Prince knows that it's his job to preserve the integrity of his Family at all costs, thereby helping to maintain the integrity of all human families everywhere.

Prince's family, however, seems bound and determined to test the abilities of their Labrador. Adam and Kate, the father and mother of the Hunter clan, have been married for years but find themselves drawn by desire to new neighbors, figures from the past who suddenly turn up in their relatively comfortable lives and wreak havoc with the sanctity of marriage. Then there's Charlotte, a 13-year-old Goth girl whose desire for freedom clashes tragically with her father's fears for the safety of his little girl. And there's Hal, whose plans to ace his A levels and go on to university might be permanently derailed by his tendency to experiment with drugs.

What's a lowly Labrador to do? In Prince's case, every new, perplexing turn of events in his human family raises more questions. Why do humans behave as they do? Is it really possible for a family dog to preserve the sanctity of the nuclear family? Prince and his fellow Labs certainly think so --- at least at first. Prince's mentor, a golden Lab named Henry, introduces Prince to the finer points of the so-called Labrador Pact --- a solemn vow that places Duty foremost and offers its adherents their Eternal Reward: "If we protect human Families on earth, we will be united with our own in the afterlife." But as Prince grows increasingly entwined with his humans' fates, he begins to question everything, not only his Family's peculiar behavior but also Henry's motives and his own unflinching belief in the Pact. Again, what's a lowly Labrador to do?

Haig's previous adult novel published in the United States, THE DEAD FATHERS CLUB, was a clever, insightful retelling of the story of Hamlet from the point of view of a contemporary child. Astute readers will recognize Haig's affinity for Shakespeare in THE LABRADOR PACT as well, but they will also observe the author's nearly uncanny ability to use a naïve narrator to shed surprisingly sophisticated light on adult concerns and relationships.

Fiction about animals can tread an uneasy line between fantasy and sentimentality. Matt Haig toes that line brilliantly, resulting in a novel about animals that not only sheds light on that most sacred of all relationships --- the one between man and dog --- but that also offers a keen, clear-eyed outsider's insight on human foibles, good and bad. Readers fortunate enough to inhabit Prince's point of view for a while will walk away from THE LABRADOR PACT humbled, thoughtful and deeply affected --- and with a whole new perspective on their own relationships with man's best friend.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

One of the most frustrating endings of all the books I've read! The book was, to me, mildly interesting for most of the book. As the book tells you up front that the dog is put to sleep at the end, I was curious enough as to how a good, caring dog like this Labrador obviously was could be driven to do something so bad that he would be put to sleep, so I read the whole book, but I'm sorry I did.

SPOILER ALERT
The dog did nothing more serious (as far as the humans know) than try to defend himself from another dog who was trying to kill him and accidentally biting one of his family when they tried to separate the dogs. And for that, this beautiful dog is put to sleep. It made me wish I'd followed my first instincts and quit reading much earlier on.

Labrador Pact starts with the ending but you SO WANT the book to end differently. All along you are hoping something will change.
Prince is the family dog doing his best to uphold the "Labrador Pact". You really want Prince to succeed in his mission.......which as you learn is not an easy task. I can usually figure out some "stuff" in books but this one really throws some zingers in there.
Enjoyable book overall (but I don't know ANYONE who liked the ending). I almost wish authors would give readers multiple choices of how the book ends..... It's my first book by Matt Haig & it won't be my last.

I really loved this book! I am a big fan of dog-lit, and this certainly is one of the more inventive stories about a dog and his family. This is a story of a family, as told through the eyes of their Labrador - a Lab with a sacred mission and philosophy to protect his family. There is so much to say about this great book, but I daren't given away any of the exciting happenings. It is just a really great book, and fun to read.

I defy any dog lover not to adore this book. But get your hanky out! The ending is sad but heart warming. Dogs love you unconditionally.

I did purchase The Labrador Pact, wish I had not, honestly considering throwing it in the trash. Which is something I have never done with a book.
If you love your dog, and dogs in general do not read this book.
Hate to even give it one star.

Overall, I must say that I did enjoy the book. Not as much as I've enjoyed others.. but reading this novel wasn't entirely a waste of time. It was really sad to me to know what was coming in the end since it was the beginning, but it set the book up very nicely. I can't imagine there being a more suitable start to this novel.

The rest of the book moved quite quickly, when I was reading it (at the time, I was also immersed in other books, like Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon by Nick Trout). The bungee jumping scene near the end was particularly riveting, as was the reveal that the friend and mentor of Prince, the canine main character and narrator (which is another thing I found frustrating, but I'll get to that momentarily), had come to such an ugly end at the hand of his neurotic owner. But that all lead to a most-irritating end! It was too abrupt, with too little fight on the dog's part, even though Labradors are known for being docile.

Getting briefly to the canine narration, I have to say that I have some serious conflicting feelings. While I do believe that dogs are infinitely smarter and have more awareness than we humans give them credit for, I seriously doubt they have the kind of consciousness and cognition to tell a story like Prince. I know that it was a work of fiction, aimed possibly at an upper-high school age range, but I tend to gravitate more towards fiction about dogs (or, more than that, non-fiction about dogs written by their owners, like Jon Katz's book Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm) which don't blatantly anthropomorphize them like this one did.

Like I said, this novel was not an entire waste of however many days to put down. In some spots, it was quite the page-turner, but I would not read it again, and probably will not read anymore Matt Haig books.

This book was fantastic. You really felt like you could understand where this labrador was coming from. You could see what he was looking at and you really felt like you were right there in the book. This is a well written book. It will make you laugh and cry. And maybe even look at your furry friend with a whole new outlook!

I just finished this book last night and I have to say I was very disappointed. Like the other reviewers I was very unhappy with the ending. That said, it was an interesting concept.

I suppose the best description of this book is "magical realism." Where else do you find a perfectly normal environment and story along with dogs who not only talk to each other, but who plot and plan and manipulate the humans around them?
Despite the animal characters, this is not a cute book for intended for children, but instead a very adult novel. It lacks the fuzzy-wuzzy curse that often infects books written from an animal's point of view. (This is a good thing!)

Haig's writing is good, rather spare and elegant, which matches his dramatic subject matter: a family falling apart via self-neglect despite the heroic attempts of their pet labrador to make it all better. Haig's characters are well drawn and interesting, and you can track their progress up and down through the novel...which gives you a sense of anxiety or impending doom, largely because of how powerless the dog is from the reader's standpoint.
When I first put this novel down, I found myself impressed by the book, and as I've mulled it over, I've decided it was a more gutsy and serious little literary and imaginative experiment than I at first thought.

Read this, but be aware that it bears more resemblance to 'Trickie Woo parties with Blood and Buck' than it does to 'Lassie and Nana babysit the kids'....