Genre: Experimental Fiction
Page Count: 253
I remember reading a chapter titled ‘I am a dog’ in Orhan Pamuk’s brilliant novel ‘My name is Red’. In that chapter, Pamuk continues the underlying story by giving the narration to a dog, and make readers see everything through a dog’s perspective. Given Pamuk’s literary genius, that particular chapter, as well as the whole novel which included other chapters like ‘I am a corpse’, sparked a fascination for experimental novels in me.
While Pamuk is one of the great writers of our times, and ‘My name is Red’ is one of his most praised novels, and his prose along with his ability to construct and tell a story is truly literary, Stein’s novel, which is not one chapter but the whole book told by a dog, feels more comic than literary. However, although being mostly a comic novel by the contemporary standards, it is nonetheless an enjoyable read.
Enzo, the narrator of this novel, is a dog which is adopted by Denny, a professional racer, when he’s only a pub. Soon, they become best friends and start watching racing tournaments together on TV. While Denny goes away on his tours, Enzo stays at home, sitting in front of the TV watching racing cars for hours. Soon enough, Enzo just as intellectually aware of racing sport as well as what differentiates racer as Denny; unfortunately, he cannot race. When Denny marries, however, Enzo starts feeling jealous of Denny’s, now, divided affection; even more so, when they have a daughter, Zoe. But seeing how friendly these two new people are towards him, and how much Denny loves all three of them, they soon become family.
What happens next in the story is both heartbreaking and enlivening. Enzo continues to narrate the story and manages to build a perspective on life and human beings that no human would ever be capable of imagining. The premise of this novel is absolutely infatuating; given its uniqueness and appeal, one could write a great experimental as well as literary novel with this concept.
Animals have known to be wiser, proved both my science and through philosophical ideas. Dog, amongst other animals, is dear to us humans for its unmatchable loyalty and endless agility; Enzo, too, is such a dog. Yet through Stein’s explorative imagination, we see how Enzo, and thereby dogs in general, are also wise and caring as their owners. Stein remarkably persuades readers to attune themselves to the otherwise absurd idea that a dog is narrating a story, and a complicated one too, by consistently putting together certain cues, whether physical or psychological. I, for one, always found myself inside Enzo’s mind and rather intriguingly, watching the life events of Denny and Eve unfold. Such is the entertaining but also fascinating appeal of this novel.
Yet while Stein’s novel shines in the areas of imagination, playfulness, and heart, it lacks a literary depth like one found in Pamuk’s novel ‘My name is Red’. Sometimes it reads like novel written by someone who liked, equally, both racing and dogs, and was fascinated how racers could race even in rain; other times, it reads like a comic book written for children; and towards the end, when the novel gets hearty, it reads like a piece of literature. I would have liked more depth in terms of the idea execution and philosophical playfulness, for the premise of this novel has the potential for it. Ultimately, for people who have dogs, or ones who are eager to own one, or people who generally interested in animals, Stein’s explorative novel would surely fascinate you.
Ratings: 4/5 **** February 9, 2021_