8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Maddening, July 5, 2008
The Hamilton Case is one of my favorite books, and The Lost Dog had enough faint traces of what was so captivating about that book that I found it completely maddening to read. The author weaves into a bland and vague love story endless ruminations of visual art, with which she has apparently become captivated. There are glimpses of the brilliance of The Hamilton Case, but overall it is insanely boring to read, and the expression "dancing about architecture" kept popping into my mind as I waded through this thing. I think the author may have suspected as much herself, hence the dog. The only reason I stuck with this book was a ridiculous compulsion to know if the poor thing turned up. I can't help but think that was the point of his disappearance, to manipulate us to endure page after page of undeveloped and unlikable characters and their feelings about a world of self-absorbed pretension. In my case, it worked, but although I made it to the end, I have rarely finished a book with such a feeling of disgust.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
But what happens to the dog???!!!, May 18, 2008
The latest novel by Michelle de Kretser, The Lost Dog, is a story about life, the modern world, and its imperfections. It is part love story, part mystery, and also a social commentary of the modern world. Its origins lie in an incident familiar to de Kretser, as in 2001, her dog, Gus went missing while staying at a farm.
In our story, Tom Loxley is a professor writing a book on Henry James. He takes his dog with him to a small "cabin" in the Australian outback to focus on finishing the project that he seems incapable of completing. The retreat is owned by Nellie Zhang, a semi-famous artist who has a past that is questionable, and that slowly unfolds to the reader throughout the book. Tom's emotional and physical attractions to Nellie comprise one of the main storylines of The Lost Dog.
Several other plotlines are present in the novel, including the story of the search for the dog. The past lives of Tom, Nellie, and Tom's mother are all woven together to provide the framework of de Kretser's story.
Michelle de Kretser is an author who was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Australia at the age of 14. The immigrant experience serves as a touchstone for several of the themes present in the novel. Important themes that are explored are the modern world, progress, aging, art, and family.
The thing that is most impressive about de Kretser's writing is her use of the metaphor. A description of Tom's father is one example: "He was an umbrella, tightly furled. Springing open, he might gouge flesh from your fingers."
The author is much-praised for her writing style. Her second novel, The Hamilton Case, received the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (a recognition for the South East Asia and South Pacific region). Her prose is masterful , and the novel well crafted. She makes use of a popular-of-late device, the unreliable narrator. The story has twists and turns that allude to Henry James, the focus of Tom Loxley's expertise.
The only problem with the novel may be that it is too masterful to be pleasurable, yet this may be a desired intent of the author. The characters are not lovable, but you will keep turning the pages, if only to find out, "WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DOG???"
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dreadful book, January 16, 2009
I found this book tiresome and annoying. The only interesting relationship is that between Tom and his dog, and even that one goes around and around endlessly in a kind of fog. Poor Tom is so static and ineffectual he gets on one's nerves--sort of like all those pathetic Henry James non-heroes who are paralyzed by timidity, guilt and endless belly-button contemplation. And Nelly, with her outlandish clothing and incomprehensible behavior, never becomes the least bit sympathetic or believable as a person.
But the most annoying thing of all is the self-consciously clever use of language, including metaphors that are so strange that they slow the book down immeasurably while the poor reader tries to figure them out. This is "sensibility" raised to the point of the ridiculous. The only reason I read it is that I didn't have anything else to read at the moment.
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