The Art of Racing in the Rain Book Review


The novel we were given to read was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The main theme in this book was love, as it was represented through the characters within the protagonist’s family. The protagonists in this story are Denny Swift, a racecar driver, and his dog Enzo, who is the narrator in first person, and the book is seen in his eyes. This family lives in Seattle with two others at the start of the book, those being Eve, Denny’s wife, and Zoe, their child. The book starts off with Enzo having trouble with his health and making the claim that when he dies, his soul will transform into a new human. This family is hit with some challenges as well as some trouble from Maxwell and Trish who Enzo likes to call “The twins”. The conflict all starts when Denny gets accused of rape and The twins plot his demise.

This book would be a hard read for a kid as the story is told from a dog’s perspective and forces readers to use context clues and they’re own imagination. This writing style was very interesting and kept me entertained in the book. Little interpretations that Enzo makes that sometimes have deeper meaning to it are all over the book, for example “That which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me.” (Stein 198). This sentence could seem pretty confusing but after stopping and thinking about the words, Enzo is trying to express that he is a happy-go-lucky dog that is also trying to make everyone around him happy as well. Enzo makes the book a great read.

The main theme of love was shown through the Swift’s family in their ups and downs while they stayed persistent in living a happy life. When in court later in the book Denny is forced to pick whether he gives up or sacrifices more in his family to win in court and uses his love to persevere in the book, this is shown when Denny says “There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.” (Stein 277). This represents Denny’s perseverance and him telling himself to not give up in this battle for his family. Denny shows this trait many times in the book and shows a lot of character development.

I think this book is good for early teens and ages up to seniors because of the different types of messages people can receive from it like love which I mentioned or loyalty or maybe even some parenting lessons. At first the book can definitely feel weird to read because of the different writing style but it personally makes the book way more fun as you have to put context clues together as the reader. Give this book a try!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reading Reflection

     I haven't ever been the biggest reader, but ever since my education at u of d started I have found a love for writing. I'm personally someone who likes to come up with their own theories and thesis', and u of d's education has taught me how to express myself and prove my arguments. I think writing essays can be a way of showing your brilliance despite whether or not you are book smart or very good with math and etc.     I'm not the biggest fan of books unless it is something that interests me, for example back in elementary when we could read any book of our choice I would read and be interested in as much percy jackson as I could get. Definitely my favorite book series and really brings back a lot of nostalgia for me. I started to get into realistic fiction books around middle school which is still my favorite genre. It all started with the outsiders which was a book that I could relate to and never feel like I was bored or not interested in while reading....
Read more

Mr.Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Book Review

Mr.Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Book Review *SPOILER ALERT*  "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" by Robin Sloan combines old-world humor with the luxuries of the digital age. The world of books, codes, and secrets is explored in depth in Sloan's novel, She uses traditional books and modern technology to create a nice dynamic. The book is a fun look at how these two things that seem to be at odds with each other can live together in peace. The story introduces our protagonist and narrator Clay Jannon, a young man who comes across Mr.Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. The bookstore is very outdated and full of many older books that seem out of place in today’s society. The plot starts to show, after learning of a secret organization that relies on these books to read messages, Clay begins to wonder about the limits of tradition and the value of new ideas. Sloan has an interesting writing style and is always full of insightful viewpoints.  When Kat, Clay’s girlfriend tries to ...
Read more

Contemporary Literature Course Reflection

     I didn't sign up for Contemporary Literature and ended up in the class randomly, I didn't have much expectations not knowing what I was getting into. My favorite novel was Please Ignore Vera Dietz as it was the most relatable especially for the class that were in for young adult literature. My favorite project to do in the class was our daily reading minutes, definitely a unexpected one but you get to see what type of person everyone is through the books they have read and their worldview growing up. People who like to have conversation with their friends while reading or even watching a show would like this class as their are daily group conversations going into depth about our feelings on the book currently being read. Someone who can make the time to read every night should be taking this class but if you know that you can't do that I wouldn't recommended it.
Read more