Customer Reviews

The Last Days of Dogtown

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As you might suspect from reading the other reviews and descriptions, this is a historical novel set in the early 1800s in a small, dying town outside of coastal Gloucester, Massachusetts. After reading The Red Tent, then Good Harbor, one can really see that Diamant shines in historical fiction. Thankfully, though, Diamant does not attempt to make another book in the mold of The Red Tent. It is its own story, told in a much different manner. As a matter of fact, at times it does not feel like a story at all, but a collection of pictures of people (and some dogs) tied together by their common geography. We see birth and death, struggle and success, hatred and love, poor and rich, sin and virtue, faith and faithlessness. It is a complicated mess of stories mixed together with Diamant's beautiful grasp of the English language. She shows her ability to paint a masterpiece of truth and reality on a canvas of words, harsh and genuine words. Her most compelling narratives were those relating to the prostitutes of the town. She has a gift for allowing us to enter the hearts of her sinners. After all, we are all sinners.

Don't come to this looking for another Red Tent. And don't pick it up if you like a smooth, concrete plotline. But if you would like to be lost in another world for awhile, have your worldview challenged, and be left with many questions, then crack it open and dive in.

So many times you read articles in national publications touting a book as one of the next big hits for the upcoming season and they turn out to be duds!

Well, this time I took a chance on Anita Diamant's newest novel "The Last Days of Dogtown" and it proved to be the real deal. I truly loved this book, as it was a throwback to so many novels of old. Today authors feel they have to go on for 500+ pages and at the end you have no true feelings for the characters of the book. But, in a mere 260 pages Diamant has provided us with many, many characters who are basically set forth in their own chapter of the book and you feel the need to keep constantly turning pages to see how the affairs of Dogtown turned out.

Diamant starts us out with a question from one of her main characters, Judy Rhines, a question as to why there was so little blood on a suicide victim, and from there introduces us to the main characters of the book in the very first chapter. Thereafter it is a story of those characters that compel us to keep on reading as she intertwines both the current state of that individual with stories of the past that help fill in some of the blanks that are in Dogtown.

It is not until almost at the very end that Judy finds out why there was so little blood, and this revelation came as a complete shock to me. For some reason I never saw it coming, nor did Diamant ever really dwell on that issue again for over 250 pages. Instead she kept us going with stories of so-called witches (Easter Carter) and evil relatives (Tammy Younger and Mrs. Stanley). From the few blacks who inhabited Dogtown we saw how that even in the so-called free North there truly was a stigma upon being black, with the local minister not wanting to preside at a funeral of the last black inhabitant of Dogtownuntil subtly coerced by Judy Rhines.

This book has brought forth characters that I will remember for a long time such as Easter Carter, Judy Rhines, Oliver Younger, John Woodsman a/k/a Black Ruth and many more. One of the more memorable chapters for me was a short passage about a local dog called Greyling. While not a total outcast in Dogtown, Greyling was not born to the town and never ascended to the top of the dog world, which was OK with him. He had his place and he knew it and liked it. Makes one think of our own towns and how difficult it is for newcomers to become part of a community.

In the end, this is just a lovely book that could have been any town in the US. It is a story that could be repeated in Boom Towns gone dry, Gold Rush villages, on little towns that just happened to be on the outskirts of a larger town, etc. It is a story of both the death of a town, as well as a story about those who "escaped" and made better lives for themselves. It is a story that will stay with me forever.

Blaine DeSantis

North of Boston, in the early 1800s, Cape Ann is a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic and home to Dogtown Common. Between Sandy Bay on the coast and Gloucester Town on Gloucester Harbor, Dogtown is a dying village. Ironically, author Anita Diamant begins her story with the death of Abraham Wharf by his own hand in 1814. The villagers show respect and some grief for Wharf in the spacious parlor of Easter Carter.

The party of mourners includes Judy Rhines, Easter's closest friend, and twelve-year-old Oliver Younger, accompanied by his peculiar Aunt Tammy, often called a witch and ill-humored as well. Others in the company are Ruth, a black woman who dresses in menswear; Mrs. Stanley and her son, Sammy; Mary, the grieving sister of Wharf; and those who come out of the cold for liquid hospitality.

Diamant paints a picture of rural nineteenth century with a gray palette. An occasional bright passage illuminates her word canvas with pale sunshine hues. For the most part, life is cruel in Dogtown. From Boston to Gloucester, whispers of witchcraft, poverty and idiocy abound when the little village is mentioned among knowledgeable persons. Of course, none of the rumors are factual. But legends become volumes when tongues wag about townspeople. Roaming packs of dogs have made the village their home when the fishing and farming industries dry up. Greyling, one of the more fortunate strays, makes a home with Judy Rhines.

One by one, secrets kept for generations within the families of Dogtown become truths known by others. Oliver has had a miserable childhood with Aunt Tammy after his parents die. Tammy persecutes him publicly and humiliates him daily. He is one of the bright rays of sunshine crossing Dogtown. With the help of Judy, whom he trusts, the paper that sets him free from Tammy is a secret no longer kept. Each member of the tight community has darkness they wish to remain hidden.

Diamant's earlier successful novel, THE RED TENT, was a tale of reality for its characters --- structured lives in a remote setting. THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN, though far removed in place and time, tells of a people oppressed by poverty, illness, ignorance and racial inequality --- realities of their own. Reaction to this book, though lukewarm at first, warmed with a passion to read to its conclusion.

Judy Rhines, a spinster (though not of her choosing), is the center of the novel. The others interact through and around her, as she nurtures their physical and emotional upheavals with compassion and sensitivity. When her needs are met by a shadowy character, she rejoices only to be disappointed by rebuff. How she is sought after for help and how she responds are threads that blend the gray palette into a watercolor of lives given meaning. Though not a quick read, this book based on a pamphlet from history is a meaningful study of the early New England character and a good literary piece.

THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN is not triumph over tragedy, but an opening of the human spirit to the possibility of loving.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

This book tells the story of "Dogtown", a small village in the early 1800s that is slowly dwindling away. The village is made up of lots of eccentric and interesting characters, including prostitutes, widows, freed slaves, and single women.

The premise of the book sounded great, and I fully expected to love this book (especially after reading and loving The Red Tent). However, I was very disappointed. The biggest flaw (in my opinion), is something that many "historical" fiction books seem to be plagued with these days: a historical setting with characters straight out of modern times. Really, except for the year written in the beginning of the book, this book could've taken place in 2005 New England. The characters did things/said things that just wouldn't have been done during the early 1800s. There's very little "history" in the book. I'm finding this flaw is affecting more and more books that are supposedly historical fiction.

Another flaw of the book is that it skips around a lot, not only between characters but between years. Several times I had to go back and re-read a section to figure out the chronological order of things that were happening. It's such a short book (261 pages) to cover 15+ years with so many different characters.

All that being said, it is a short and light read, so it goes fast.

My first exposure to Diamant was the book The Red Tent, which I really enjoyed reading. This book is similar to The Red Tent, in ways of mixing in a little fiction, folklore, and history. However it wasn't as engaging to me as The Red Tent. It left me with a feeling of "hmmm" after I was finished. The Last Days of Dogtown tells the story of the people of Dogtown. Often poor and ridiculed, Their day to day lifestyle consists of trying to eat and/or work. This book is interesting because it tells of a time that we are not familar with, and it makes you think of how times have changed now.

I was able to finish the book rather quickly and reccommend it.

Early 1814 begins the end of an era in a remote village in Massachusetts, its slow passing mourned through the intimate details of fading lives, Diamant's compassionate paean to this distant time and place filled with the wonders of relationships where few words are spoken but much communicated, the bonds as deep and quiet as a long winter waiting for spring. Few of the residents of Dogtown are young, none possessing class or wealth, simply a collection of hardscrabble lives cobbled from an ungenerous earth, a bare-bones society that exists on nature's remnants. It is the author's disposition of these characters that is memorable; save a few ignoble souls, most are simply unfortunates, loosely forming a society destined for obscurity.

Judy Rhines is one of the more significant characters, a woman who has spent her years in servitude to others, finding at last a place among the inhabitants of Dogtown, a spinster who meets her own needs and asks for little; "Even my dreams were full of being told to clean a mess, or haul some more water, or stir a pot." Judy cherishes the friendship of Easter Carter, an older woman who might easily have worn the mantle of "witch" for her healing gifts so near Salem, a burdened history not far removed from Dogtown's poverty. Judy happens upon a short, but forbidden romance with a local man, Cornelius, their mutual comfort cut short by the threat to Judy's reputation and Cornelius's life. Then there is Black Ruth, a freed African come recently to the village on a private mission, her youth tormented by the loss of her mother at birth and her soul hardened by the harsh days of her existence. There are others, kind folks who have not been destroyed by their circumstances, reaching out to one another in innumerable small deeds.

Dogtown is in its last days, slowly decaying, spiraling into the past, no one left to tell the stories of one generation to another. The author writes with precision of those who go unnoticed in any society, revealing the scattered dreams of the dispossessed, endowing them with the dignity of survivors who clearly recognize the randomness of their fates. In their mutual love and real charity, these characters are larger than life, a microcosm of a world where suffering is familiar and a moment of nature's incredible beauty is transcendent for all the lack of human comfort. The depth and subtlety of this novel is an unexpected gift, Diamant proving herself a keen observer of humanity in all its excesses, from the obscene to the sublime. Luan Gaines/2006.

WOW!!

Just finished the Last Days of Dogtown and I'm overwhelmed and very appreciative of the gift Anita Diamant has given to me and all who read this remarkable book.

I am reviewing the CD version of the book. Congratulations to whomever selected Kate Nelligan. Kate so realistically portraying so many diverse characters. Check it out, if you haven't heard it, yet. It takes a CD or so to get into the "idiom" of the townspeople, but it is well worth learning. I'm a firm believer in the oral tradition of storytelling. A different part of the brain processes oral words from that which does the written word.

The Last Days of Dogtown is full of stories of people that don't often see the light of day. The "downstairs" people. The people who build the railroads and don't become land barons. The people in the movies who are serving and begging. The majority of the planet's people.

(The main trajedy of Hurricane Katrina was how it blew away the pretence that people don't get left behind to die by those who are better off.

The oppressive poverty endured by the last residents of Dogtown was palpable. I could taste it and smell it. At first, I wanted to run and hide from it. The first CD was hard for me because I resisted identifying with any of the characters. I didn't want to suffer like they were suffering.

But Anita hooked me with Cornelius's story. Hard as his life was, he didn't give up. I must say that Ms. Diamant's male characters are much more fleshed out than I remember from her earlier books. These are men I wanted to know and men that I cared about. Even the SOB's were interesting and real enough that they "belonged" in the story. I could understand their racism and classism as attempts at self preservation, not just blind, stupid acts.

Of course the women were the most real and the center of the book. I have no problem with heroines and think that we need more "herstory" than we have, anyway. I don't think I've ever read a more tender portrayal of poor hookers. We usually see and read about those who want to "get out" or those who succeed in finding a way to thrive. Not in Dogtown.

The book shows the misogyny shown to women who struggle to survive with so little: called witches or whores. The hard life of any women who chose to live alone, is clearly represented. Even when dead, there was not much forgiveness from the "Hireling Priests". Not very many choices for uneducated women who wouldn't/couldn't find a man.

Same for the black folks who wanted to live a "free" life. Hadnt' thought about the bounty hunters who could kidnap a black person and sell them into slavery in the South. I loved the way the minister was blackmailed into leading Cornelius's funeral. And Ruth's having to pass for a man and then living alone with and like a dog says it all.

This book is a very powerful statement of how racism dehumanizes everyone. This is still partially evident in the way many black folks in my neighborhood in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia still look at the ground when they pass me, a white person, at the store or in the street.

The stories of the Dogtown people are probably not that different from the rest of us. Looking for someone to love us as we are and not for what we can do or bring home is what many pine for, but few seem to find. To succeed in the search requires that we be who we are at the same time we are appreciating the gift of the other, when they take off their armor and open their heart to us.

I read this book first, then found The Red Tent. I enjoyed both of them very much. Diamont is a brilliant writer of multi-layered fiction that is more complex than it might appear at first.

She avoids the traps so many writers of historical fiction fall into: the tendency to overload with historical detail, or of creating characters that are contemporary to us, but placed in a historical context. In her books, the history is simply the backdrop for the experiences of human beings whose lives fit into the time and place. Both these books opened doors into lives that would otherwise have been opaque to me, and illuminated my own life in the process.

I wonder if the reason that those who were disappointed by Dogtown after reading The Red Tent is because there was something in The Red Tent that particularly resonated for them--and they were seeking the same resonance in Dogtown. Both these books resonated for me, and drew me into the world they created. I am looking forward to reading more of Anita Diamant's work.

I eagerly started this book, having loved The Red Tent, but was very disappointed. It was difficult to even finish the book. As I read I found that I didn't even really care about many of the characters, due to the fact that they lacked development. As I finished the book I was simply glad to be done, but felt none of the satisfaction I normally feel upon finishing even a "good" novel.

This beautiful novel is written with sensitivity and the author has a distinct way of capturing human emotion and feelings. I can almost feel the cold and the heat, smell the flowers and feel the pain and loneliness of the characters. This book can take one back to a time and place in their own lives, one locked in memory, but forever changed.

The novel is quite unique from The Red Tent. The mark of a good author is one that can write without shadows of their previous works. I have become a fan of Ms. Diamant and cannot wait to read more of her books. What a storyteller!