#4 of 52 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Note: essentially spoiler-ish post follows.

As a dog lover, I knew this would be a great read. While my dogs aren’t nearly as…rambunctious as Marley, I smiled at all the familiar stories and sympathized with the rest.

First, the parts of the book I didn’t enjoy–sounds silly, maybe, but I didn’t care for the parts that had to do so much with the author. I know this is part memoir/autobiography, I guess, but I really went into this wanting to know about Marley’s life foremost. But the worst part for me was reading all about the Grogans’ adventures in (in)fertility…it was such a personal thing, and seemed odd, juxtaposed against the zany antics of the family dog. But the thing that really got me was having to learn about John’s–how do you say–performance anxiety. Too much information!! Also, I’m glad to know that Jenny’s sexy little sailor outfit worked like a charm, but really, John Grogan, that is quite enough. yikes.

Anyway, all the TMI aside, I found this a very endearing book. Apparently there is a kid-friendly version, Marley: A Dog Like No Other (sans sexy sailor outfits); maybe I should have read that instead.

I had a feeling this would have a bittersweet ending, and boy, did it ever. I ended up in tears for the last several chapters. It was difficult to read, in parts. I don’t want to think about the day when I’ll be faced with the same choices, the heartbreak.

It really is an interesting thing, to love a dog. They can’t love you back–not with the human concept of love, anyway. But in a sense, they show something like love. Affection, certainly, and of course loyalty. I can’t imagine my life without my constant companions by my side, and reading this book just reinforced my love for them. Immediately after I read the last page and closed the book–still in tears!–I went over to my pups and gave them kisses.

(By the way…my next read will absolutely be a fluffy romance novel because I have had two tearjerkers back to back, and I can only take so much. A girl’s got to laugh, you know. Marley would agree.)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 5:53 pm and is filed under 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Bookworm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.