Customer Reviews

Sight Hound: A Novel

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Animals bring out the best in most people, fostering a capacity for affection and tenderness that might otherwise remain inaccessible. Such is the case with Dante, an Irish wolfhound. When Dante loses a leg to cancer, he exhibits an almost Ghandi-like tolerance for pain, inordinately sensitive to the emotional needs of his owner, Rae. Dante's calm acceptance of his fate is critical, for he has much work to do with his human. While Rae covertly watches her pet, eyes darkened by the sadness of his imminent suffering, Dante gets along splendidly on his three remaining legs.

Rae has known love before, each time believing this man is the one, but all leave eventually. In every instance, Dante is there to soothe his human, to comfort her and fill the empty spaces, his soulful eyes speaking volumes. Rae has enjoyed many friendships over the years, a decent income from work she loves and a ranch in one of the most beautiful spots in Denver, Colorado, God's country, where she can withdraw from the world when necessary to frolic with her animals and enjoy life on the land. Rae has pursued a career as a playwright because she is fascinated by the way people fail to listen to one another, including herself, the way most follow their own agendas: "History is a starfish that grows an extra arm no matter how many times the original limb is severed."

As the story evolves, each new chapter is written in the first-person voice of those who know Rae, lovers, confidants and friends who offer differing perspectives into the mind of an ambitious, sensitive and talented woman, her history complicated by fears and personal failings, the comfort of Eastern religions and an innate willingness to accept life`s challenges with her best friend, the noble Dante, at her side.

It is Dante's task to help Rae bridge a paralyzing fear of his impending death, to accept love in all its forms and live each day in gratitude for the bounty she enjoys. Quite a task. But if any dog is up to it, Dante can pull off this assignment. Through the passage of time and natural disasters, like the wildfires that raged through Colorado threatening to decimate the landscape, the devastation of 9/11 and life's inevitable ups and downs, Rae and her eclectic assortment of friends and pets move from one year to the next, all watching Dante, waiting for the inevitable. Yet, on the ranch, everything speaks to nature's cycles, birth, death, rebirth. It is a land of many lessons and perhaps why Rae is so at home in this country.

This is a love story, after all. The love of a woman for her dog, Dante, and that dog for his owner, a love that sustains them through a series of painful operations, that transcends time and place to teach Rae and the other humans a vital lesson: love conquers fear. People lover, dog lover, by description, Rae would have to be a Virgo, an earth mother, Dante her intransigent spirit guide. Luan Gaines/2005.

SIGHT HOUND by Pam Houston is hard to describe. Parts are funny, and if you own a dog, they're gut-busting, because you've had similar experiences with your pets. Parts of the story are emotionally wrenching, as when the heroine, Rae struggles to find the right mate. Who hasn't done that? Parts of it are beautiful, such as the descriptions of the Colorado ranch where Rae lives. Parts of it are fantastic, as when Houston paints the world through the eyes of family pets, who believe they are on earth to help RAE achieve her chosen goal, to find a nice human being to sped time with. Parts, unfortunaely, are unconvincing. There are a couple of characters who don't feel real.

SIGHT HOUND is a tough read. Houston writes from several peoples' points of view, and then from a couple of dogs' perspectives. Thus the reader gets the story by seeing a particular event from many angles, as if putting together a picture puzzle. For someone with the patience to keep reading, the reward will be a complete picture of plot and character development. But it takes several chapters before the story starts to come together.

But in a sense, that's what makes SIGHT HOUND work.
Houston is carefully portraying the madcap life we all seem to be living in the early 21st Century, spiritually, politically, romanticly, socially, and professionally. The story's main character, Rae, is trying to cope with a career, a succession of male friends and their issues, and the illness of a special pet. Houston shows us Rae's process in the fragmented bits and pieces our lives become. Because a reader can recognize something of him or herself in each character's point of view at a particular moment, it's fairly easy to develop the discipline to keep reading. Then suddenly, the book will not be laid aside until the story comes to its conclusion. This is very real-life, and in its own way satisfying.

I would recommend SIGHT HOUND for the serious reader, who likes unusual plot lines and depictions of the odd moments in life. In the end, that's what I liked about the book.

One of the best things about Pam Houston's writing is how she manages to unearth the preciousness in the imperfect. A three-legged dog, an "unstable" actor, a seemingly cold veterinary surgeon - the heroes of Sight Hound are not the most likely candidates, but each is rendered wholly and convincingly real. The woman who brings them together, Rae, has her own flaws as well, the biggest of which is perhaps a willingness to place too much trust in the wrong people, although she balances that with an equally strong knack for finding the right ones. The bond between Rae and Dante, the wolfhound and title character, is as deep and true as any human love, perhaps more. In the end, what makes this novel satisfying is the same thing that makes all of Houston's work so powerful. She makes us realize that ultimately it is our flaws, our willingness to be human, to risk, to make mistakes, to screw up, to be vulnerable and laid bare that open the door to the most meaningful moments in our lives.

This long-awaited first novel from writer Pam Houston does not disappoint. With candor and a balance of pain and humor that we've come to expect from Houston, Sighthound is a journey that will leave you deeply touched and changed. The novel is written from multiple points of view, and everyone gets to speak including the narrator Rae, her family of dogs, her quirky yet lovable actor husband, two veterinarians and Rae's diverse community of friends. Sighthound takes the reader on a wonderful journey of hope and courage, and I was left feeling like even the painful moments in life can bring us joy. It's an engaging read that takes a lot of emotional as well as structural risks, and they all pay off. A wonderful story of love and hope and connection with others! I can't wait for her next novel.

There is much to like about this book, but it is not ultimately as satisfying as it might have been. First, the many good things.

If you like dogs, know one, have one, would like to have one, then what's likeable about the book is the homage it pays to dogs and what they can do for people. For folks very rooted in empiricism, it may be a little over the top, because the dogs are given complex consciousness, understanding, and generosity. But for dog lovers, it can be fun to imagine that degree of complex thinking in our canine companions. The dogs are hard not to love.

The writing is light and funny. Great turns of phrase, irony, hyperbole, even jokes. So it's an amusing read.

The story touches on some poignant themes, especially the illness of the main dog character, an Irish wolfhound named Dante. There are two important aspects of this theme: the refinement of veterinary medicine through Dante as experimental treatment subject; and the emotional growth of Dante's owner Rae as she comes to terms with loving and losing her beloved Dante through illness and death.

Another appealing theme is Rae's progress through faulty love affairs to finally emerge with enough self-love to recognize a good love match when it comes her way. [Dante is given as much credit for this outcome as either of the human protagonists, and that's another bit of dog homage that may appeal to doglovers but might leave the uninitiated cold.]

Now the not so good aspects of this novel.

Another reviewer here made the point that there are lots of characters who speak and tell the story and that it can get confusing. I didn't share the confusion but I couldn't get interested in all the perspectives because some of the characters were not developed enough for me to care what they thought of things. They seemed like extraneous filler.

And that leads me to agree with yet another reviewer here that the voice and language or each character were not distinct. Several characters blended right in with each other so that it seemed to be the same perspective offered despite the different names assigned to the narrative.

Finally, the book had a good beginning and strong ending, but the middle part didn't seem to go anywhere. There is a suicide midway that doesn't seem related to other things going on in the book. There is a hockey player character who is too exaggerated to be either interesting or convincing. A drought that the main characters must endure conveys respect for nature and the characters' nostalgia for the beauty of the Colorado landscape. But because not all of the characters are well developed to be important, the novel reads like good, strong bookends holding up a library of only mild interest.

That said, I still recommend the book for the positive qualities I mentioned above, because it has moments that are moving, and because it is entertaining.

I almost never read fiction, but I always read Pam Houston. I found this book in an airport, and that was the most refreshing moment in a long day.

Houston's genius lies in her use of humor, which is as subtle and intelligent as the humor of one of her mentors, Toni Morrison.

This is a story about losing someone you love to cancer. By writing about her pets as if they were human, Houston has made the tragedy universal, touching, and appealing.

Each chapter is written from the point of view of a different character, and each dog and each person who speaks is equally intriguing. Anyone who likes Toni Morrison or William Faulkner will not be confused.

I think Houston is one of the great writers of our times. Like many great writers, she is so good that the current intelligentsia seems to be trying to ignore her. I guess cowboys and mountains and dogs and great laughs aren't supposed to be chic, but I was yearning for something good to read and I found it.

A wonderful heartfelt story about the power of the human-animal bond between a woman and her dog. Houston is able to tell the story from different perspectives without ever losing the pulse of the story. As a dog lover and a professional who works with dogs doing animal assisted therapy, I felt she captured the relationship issues very well. This was a 24 hour read for me because it was SO compelling.
Kate Nicoll, MSW of Soul Friends

"Sight Hound" is the story of the last years in the life of Dante, an Irish wolfhound, and Rae, his love-starved human. Dante has spent his life teaching Rae how to live bravely, allow good things into her life, and accept pain; now, with his dying, he will teach her his final lesson. The story is narrated in alternate vignettes by Dante, Rae, and the people and animals who share their lives: Rae's husband, housekeeper, friends, and other pets.

Houston's voice is evident in the style of this first novel, and her strengths - language and a sense of life's poetry - are well-displayed. Each vignette, ranging in length from two to ten pages, is poignant and well-crafted. But as a novel "Sight Hound" is incomplete. The plot - Dante's illness and eventual death, and the concurrent evolution of Rae's personal relationships - is too simple and unstructured to support a full-length novel, and the incidents that embroider it seem disconnected and incidental.

"Sight Hound" is a quality book, worth reading for its craft as well as its message of faith and hope. But in all this beauty there is little of suspense; it lacks the power and drive of a true novel.

I must admit, I didn't know what I was getting into when I purchased this book, but having grown up with Irish Wolfhounds and knowing how truly unique they are, I thought it was a safe bet.

Boy, was I wrong. Houston's characters are utterly unlikeable (with the possible exception of one of the dogs, Rose). Far more unforgivably, NONE of them are particularly easy to empathise with.

One would think that literary technique of incorporating more than ten narrating characters into the story would provide greater depth, but at root, you're left with a bunch of characters who are infuriatingly similar.... Houston forces her trademark wordy, cynical, self-absorbed, neurotic turns of phrase into each character. It's almost as though you aren't really reading about a bunch of different characters, but the same one each time, only in a different disguise.

While the main character's flightly mannerisms might have been endearing if she were the only flake in the book, this story is chock full of whiners. All the more irritating, the only "villian" in this story is drawn with such a broad brush that you almost wonder if an entirely different writer constructed him.

Sight Hound was terribly disappointing for me. Its a real shame. Having struggled through the slow death of two wolfhounds, I know there's a great existential struggle to be captured in the right novel.

This ain't it.

What could be more off-the-wall than a dog who quotes Buddha and eats his dinner off a stainless steel fork with a tea towel under his chin? That's Dante, the title character in "Sight Hound," Pam Houston's long-awaited new novel. And his human mom, Rae, described by her boyfriend, Howard, as "sexy and round...bigger around than anyone I ever dated, not fat...looks like she was meant to have babies." There are no anorexic heroines in Pam Houston's fiction--only a pickup-truckload of complicated, quirky, appealing humans and animals. Each character gets his or her say in "Sight Hound," as they deal with the dramas of everyday life. Darlene, the live-in ranch manager and housekeeper, and Dr. Evans, the veterinarian, are particularly well-honed and likable. It's a very thoughtful read, told in Houston's straightforward manner, and will make you notice and appreciate more about the animals and people in your own life. And, as is so often true with Pam Houston's writing, it'll make you like yourself a little better, too.