I love to read, but I know you’ll agree when I say that it’s a lot harder than it should be to find time to pick up a book for leisure, especially with the 24/7 craziness that is college life. As an English major, when I’m not reading a classic novel or writing an essay, you better believe I’m with my friends, asleep, crying over my math GE, eating or doing some sort of combination of the above (except maybe sleeping among my friends). But no matter how busy I become, a good book always has a way of bringing me to it and forcing me to make time. These beautiful books, these books that demand our attention, are the ones that stick with us and deserved to be shared. Hopefully, with this book-a-fortnight series, your time will be thoroughly, terribly and wonderfully occupied. Without further ado, the book of the (every other) week:
Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain
“To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter everyday. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to.”
-Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
Yep, there’s a dog. You’re probably thinking, Oh boy, here it comes. What’s it gonna be this time, Marley and Me or All Dogs Go To Heaven? Hear me out; this 156-week New York Times bestseller is actually not about a dog at all—it’s about a man named Denny Swift (and his life, and yes, Denny does have a dog). But get this…the dog is the narrator. And he’s a dang good one, too.
The book begins with Denny, an up-and-coming racecar driver, and his dog, appropriately named Enzo, who is about to die. (I know, I know: dead dogs wahh wahh wahh. Just read it; you won’t be sorry). On the eve of his death, Enzo, the philosophizing Lab-terrier mix, recounts his life as Denny’s trusty companion. Enzo tells us of his firm belief in reincarnation (into a human), of his need for speed, and of all the tribulations he and Denny face together—among them are tragedy, lies, misunderstanding, what it takes to succeed and what it means to succeed.
Enzo shows us how painful it is to watch your best friend cracking and shattering and picking himself up again and again while you sit there unable to even speak. But, with the positivity and faith only a dog can have, Enzo continues to show both Denny and us how important it is to drive as fast as you can right at life’s face with hope and a friend at your side, because life is never going to be fair and none of us have very long, anyway. Stein expertly captures the spirit of a dog who is helpless, hopeful, realistic, and funny all at the same time. It is with the spirit and mind and life of a dog that Stein reveals the spirit and mind and life of a human, and all that being human entails.
So, do yourself a favor this fortnight. Read this book and ask yourself: What does it mean to be human? I hope when you find the answer that you’ll go after it—forever reaching toward it, forever hopeful, forever faster. Forever faster.
Check out our book review of Divergent–and 5 books to add to your reading list ASAP.