The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Second book club book #11

This book's narrator is a dog named Enzo. Right away, that presented certain problems for me. I don't like animal narrators telling a person's story. Give me Watership Down rabbits or the crew in Animal Farm anyday. Those animals, living in their own animalistic world, can talk up a storm. In The Arts of Racing in the Rain, Enzo is in our world, and it's awkward.

First of all, the dog seems to already know everything. Secondly, he has humans so figured out that, in his head, he almost always acts like one without prompting. It comes off a big snobbish. Why would a dog -- or any single being -- have it all figured out from the start? It detracts, in my opinion, from the story of Enzo's family.

Denny, is a race car driver, gifted, and hopefully on the path to a successful career behind the wheel. Eve is his wife, a loving and practical woman. Eventually, Zoe comes along, an intuitive and patient child. Enzo is their dog. It's a family full of love. Then, tragedy strikes, and it all falls apart. Most of the struggle falls on Denny, with Enzo as his witness. It's such an unfair hand dealt to a single person, but Denny endures with an almost unnatural amount of stoicism. Enzo attributes it to his training as a racer. 

The family moves down the path of adversity, seemingly rewarded for their faith and patience. I didn't buy it.

The struggles are too extreme. The resolution comes too fast and all-at-once. The human element is uncomfortably absent, making certain moments feel too abrupt. Instead of walking beside the people in the story, you're running through tall grass with the dog.

While I get that Denny, having mastered racing in the rain, can now manage the rough waters of his life, I don't fully understand why I can't experience this revelation through Denny's eyes. Why must Enzo also have an 'aha' moment and somehow feel vindicated in his life choices?

This book bugs me, but it would be unfair to deny that it's a good, emotional story. I can see why it's so well-liked. I may be too much of a snob for it, but it's definitely a good, well-thought-out story, perfect for those looking for a heart-felt read. 

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

This book is a lot. A lot of characters with dual purposes. A lot of movement and action in a place that's hard to visualize. A lot of narrative changes which reveal information so far apart, it's hard to pull it together. I still don't totally understand the ending, but I get it enough to feel a little, "meh," about it.

A secret world exists right beneath our feet. It's a world that holds story -- all of it. People find this world because they're meant to, by going through the right door. While it seems that most people who make the discovery just go down and enjoy being surrounded by caverns upon caverns of books, a few enter with a purpose to fulfill. Zachary and Dorian are two of those people. Lured down by the discovery of two curious books, and aided by two locals of this underground world, the men must complete a journey full of fear, pain, heartache, and ultimately love. One that concludes rocking along the waves of the starless sea, which seems to be a living thing itself, on its own mission.

This synopsis leaves out a ton of characters and a lot of action. It's all difficult to explain and harder to summarize. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you. Suffice it to say, this is a book about love and creating the right situation for the love you're meant to have to grow. It also drives home how complicated it is to find happiness.

I almost feel like this is the kind of pseudo-philosophical story a developing writer creates before they really know anything about writing. There's a compulsion to put all your thoughts into the story without self-editing, to use a lot of metaphor, and to blur good concepts with an excessive amount of words. While I like the ideas toyed with in the book -- love, human connection, and the evolution of a person's story -- the setting really overcomplicates things. There's just too much to this book all around. The physical space and layers of time within the story somehow dilute the ending, which I feel should have hit with a more exciting punch.

This book is tough to recommend. I liked it, but I wish the story had pieced itself together better. There's definitely something here worth reading. An adventure is always fun. It just doesn't feel totally right to me.