Customer Reviews

Lad: A Dog

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I generally hate clichés like "kids of all ages," but it just really suits this book. I first discovered Albert Payson Terhune and Lad in seventh grade, much to the chagrin of our school librarian. She had to eventually temporarily ban me from checking the book out any further so that other kids could read it. In those days I did not realize I was reading about a long dead author and the most famous of his dogs, nor did I realize that the stories actually were taking place in the early part of the 20th century.

None of that mattered to me then (or now for the matter). I was drawn into the world of Lad and Terhune every time I opened those pages. Eventually, I managed to read most of his works and came to truly admire Terhune's writing, even though I have since read that he considered himself to be a hack.

It's now many years later, and there is still magic in these books for me. I have several of the books waiting for the day my very young daughters (a two year old and a four year old) are ready to read books that don't have pictures on every page. In fact, I've got a backlog of books I want to share with them, but I'm willing to bet we start with Lad.

If your children have any interest in animals in general or dogs in particular, you must get this book, and all of Terhune's other works if you can find them, for your children. Sure, the language may be a lttile strange at times, but your child will still love this book all the same.

The best dog book ever written. A simple but striking story of fidelity between a man and his dog. Originally a tribute to Lad and the many other dogs who shared Terhune's estate, it is now a tribute to the ethical reality of Lad's life.

You can still visit a portion of the Terhune estate in Wayne, New Jersey. The Place (house)is gone, but the grounds remain. You will see Lad's grave marker, along with the grave markers of many other dogs made famous in Terhune's books. You can visit the shore of the lake and stroll the grounds. You can feel Lad's eerie presence as he lives over and over again the stories from the pages of Terhune's books. Or perhaps he is still there. Look -- is that ...

Albert Payson Terhune was always quick to disparage the quality of his own writing. He considered himself a hack writer and his humility was deep and genuine.

Mr. Terhune, however, grossly underestimated himself. As "Lad: A Dog" shows, his genius was in his ability to make his readers care deeply about his subjects. "The Place" becomes your home, and Lad your beloved hero.

This book is not to be missed. It is thoroughly entertaining, and packed with selflessness and the purest of love.

"The Place", by the way, is now "Terhune Memorial Park", and is a wonderful place to visit, with the dogs' graves still intact there.

This was the first book I read by Albert Payson Terhune - after which I was on a quest for all the others I could find. I was a kid then. Now, a LONG time later,I recently picked up Lad: A Dog once more and it wasn't like picking up other things from the past - I was drawn into it, completely. I wish I hadn't stayed away so long! It is good to come back to The Place. It doesn't feel like reading a "kid's book". This is for everyone, all ages, there's sweetness, there's action, too. And so many things to think about. There was only one Lad, but I think all our dogs have qualities we may be overlooking. Mr. Terhune had wonderful insights about dogs and only wanted us to appreciate them more. These are shining, exceptional books, and Lad : A Dog is definitely the one to start with if you haven't read these works yet.

Tense, touching, wonderfully told. Lad is a dog I want!! Read it, you'll love it! Me and my mom cried at some points it was so good! Please buy this good book! It not trash or a waste of money! Its a keeper!! Its worth more than it costs its so good!! Please, please buy it. You wont be disappointed. Too bad you cant rate it higher. If you could rate from 0-100, I'd rate it 100\100!! Again please buy it!!

I first came upon this book when I was about ten years old. Now an adult, I still read it on a regular basis, and am addicted to Terhune's adventurous and beautifully written stories about his heroic collie dogs. If you love dogs, trust me, you will adore this book! Lad, the main character in the novel has to face danger and foes in every chapter, and displays to his master and mistress his loyalty and devotion to them. Even someone who is not into dogs will give this masterpiece a rightful place on their bookshelf. Five stars is not a high enough rating! Also recommended are two out-of-print books about Lad: Lad Of Sunnybank and The Further Adventures Of Lad. Albert Payson Terhune is one author I would like to meet and tell him that his works are excellent and he is probably my favorite author.

I first read Lad: A dog, when I was eleven. The story touched me and over the years I often thought of Lad and his WWI era world. It was not until tonight (Oct 27 04)at the age of forty-four that I reread the story of Lad and once again found myself happy and sad as I turned the pages.
A wonderful book.

I can first remember having this book read to me by my mother. This was in 1950. The book, in reality a collection of short stories about a wonderful dog named Lad, are loosly connected. This book had quite an impact on me and has stuck with me throughout the years. Reading this, and other Terhune works, always brings the young boy out in me. I guess being a life long animal lover, particularly dogs, helps, but being a life long lover of books certainly does not hurt either. Yes, the language and syntax is indeed from another era, but for me this is a plus as I enjoy this sort of thing. Yes, there are some sad parts to this work, as in other Terhune books, but then that is sort of like life, isn't it? I cannot imagine an animal lover not enjoying these books. Perhaps here are some, but I doubt it. I am very glad this work is still in print as we would be much poorer without it. So many of our old stories are being lost now, it is nice to see that some of them are surviving. Highly recommend this one for both young and old. This is an excellent one to either read to your child or start your child in his or her interest in reading.

This is one of those stories that draws you in, creates vivid pictures in your mind, and stays with you forever. We read this book 7 years ago, and I still think of it often. I can't wait till our sons are old enough to read it.

I don't think I can really do any justice to writing about Lad, or the story. The writing is wonderful, the characters are engaging, and the dog is the most memorable dog I've ever read about. The end is very sad, so be prepared for that.

I read this as a young boy (probably around 10) in the 1960's, as part of a children's book club (I also loved 'Three against the Wilderness' and 'Coral Island'). Until I got to the end of this book I hadn't realised that Lad was born over 100 years ago (1902), so the footnote at the end describing Lad's death was quite a shock, even though I couldn't really expect Lad to live to over 500 in doggy years. It's a testament to the quality of this book that it has never been out of print since being first published in 1919.

I'm sure the stories are embellished a bit for story-telling, but the simple tales ring true. In each chapter, Lad has a separate adventure and generally emerges a hero. One can't help thinking that a certain fictional collie called Lassie, `the world's most famous dog' who was created in 1938, was rather inspired by the real Lad. Because the stories in Lad a dog were originally serialised in magazines, they do tend to repeat a bit (not unlike the routine of dog-owning really, so that's OK). Terhune, Lad's owner, was a full time wealthy person, who bred collies for fun, and Lad was his first and favourite. This book is a celebration of Lad's life, and being a 'true' simple story it reads well. It is a reasonably easy read for older pre-teen kids and above (Amazon states 6 and above). The book chapter titles are: His Mate, "Quiet", A Miracle or Two, His Little Son, For a Bit of Ribbon, Lost!, The Throwback, The Gold Hat, Speaking of Utility, The Killer, Wolf, In The Day of Battle, Afterword. The book has aged well, probably as it is set in the timeless countryside, and descriptions of life there aren't dissimilar to that of our family's rural village life today. Do read the Amazon review by the way, it's quite good.

You can still visit Lad's grave at Terhune's 'Sunnybank', although as he was buried at 'his favourite spot', his tombstone is laying in mud now. It reads "Lad 'Thoroughbred In Body and Soul' 1902-1918". It's in Wayne, New Jersey, if you're passing. Sadly Terhune's house was demolished in 1969, although a memorial park was set up around Lads grave (see math.ttu.edu/~wlewis/terhune.html).

The success of this book led to a series of books, but I only ever read this excellent one. From anecdotes by the likes of literary giant James Thurber, I get the impression that Terhune was more than a little anti-social, but this book is about his dog Lad. Plus collie dogs, and his second wife mentioned in these stories, were his passion. So a must for doggy fans, which probably just about includes every boy on the planet. It's also nice to know that rough collie descendents of Terhune's dogs from "Sunnybank Kennels" live on today.