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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Red Dog -Louis de Bernieres,
This review is from: Red Dog (Hardcover)
This is bound to become a classic, like "The Snow Goose". De Berniere has captured a disappearing Australia - frontier Western Australia in the not-too distant past.Like many good novels in the last decade ("Dirt Music","Cloud Street" "The Shark Net"), it is set in Western Australia. It is a story for all ages, told in simple, unfussy narrative. It does not idealise the dog, its friends or enemies. I am suprised that it has been dismissed by some as a "children's book". I cannot imagine why. Any dog lover would be delighted by this novella. I just hope it's not made into a film. It's a narrative that can only live on the page. It can be read in a few hours, but its effect will last for years. John MacKay, Sydney Australia
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charming,
This review is from: Red Dog (Hardcover)
Louis De Bernieres has written some marvelous literature. "Red Dog", is a wonderful true story about a dog that befriended a good portion of Australia, and has been memorialized with a bronze statue as well as other books. Faithful readers of this author will likely be disappointed if they expect another sweeping novel. This short story does not appear to have been planned, as it unfolds with crisp episodes in the remarkable life of this canine. It is extremely unusual in that the book has been illustrated with what appear to be etchings. Illustration has sadly become the domain of primarily very expensive, limited edition, small press books.This is not a child's book, perhaps for young readers in Junior High, but not for young children. This is a book about adults and how a remarkably charismatic canine changed their lives. This is not a fairly tale, it includes the realities of very trying circumstances and the people who pioneer the way in this extremely difficult environment. When it gets hot in the USA warnings suggest certain groups stay indoors. When it gets hot down under, warnings are issued for gas tanks that are prone to explode when exposed to the sun! I think it is great that an author who has established himself as an accomplished literary writer would have the courage to step well away from what has worked for him repeatedly. I was reminded of some of John Steinbeck's work that centered around animals, both his own and fictional. If John Steinbeck can make the change I believe it is safe for other accomplished authors to explore unfamiliar genres, and they do not deserve to be punished for doing so. This is especially the case when the results are so worthwhile. I was going to give this 4 stars but I stepped it up to 5. The book was punished and I wanted to even out what is a brief but entering read.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A nice tail (pun intended) about a red dog and his human friends.,
This review is from: Red Dog. Louis de Bernires (Paperback)
Personally I was lost on what to think about this particular book of Bernieres. I am an avid fan of Bernieres and have gone through all of his books in a sip, either loving them to the death or tossing them away (I am particularly talking about the Partisan's Daughter) yet this book left me unsure of myself.First of all the brilliance of Louis de Bernieres' writing seemed to be absent from this one, it sure wasn't The War Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, much less witty and a lot more direct. Leaving nothing to the imagination (well of course aside from the story but there was another quality with Don Emmanuel) it was truly writing like it should be told to a child on a bedside. Sure that doesn't make it less notable but it usually lacks wittiness when it lacks maturity. And I was looking forward to some wittiness that'll make me smile and giggle on my own for no apparent reason. But I cannot go on denying the fact that it is a lovely and heartwarming story that like it is so common in Bernieres' work lets you in on another culture that you did not know that much about, this time, Australian. A dog's relationship with humans could not have been told better. And you still cried and laughed without getting bored throughout the book. It's not a huge or heavy book that will take too much of your time, it's a very nice book to relax, to take your mind off of things and to connect with life again but it's not an excellent book.
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