The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

 

Hello readers, in this blog I will be reviewing the book The Art of Racing in the Rain. I had watched the movie version of the novel on a plane and was immediately intrigued to read the book to compare the two.  I've just finished the book recently and I have quite a lot of opinions about it. 

Enzo, the golden retriever, is our narrator throughout this novel. He guides us through his life with his owner Denny Swift. Denny is a race car driver and mechanic located in Seattle and picked Enzo out of a litter of puppies on a farm in Washington. The book starts off with a silly warm mood as Denny takes care of little Enzo through his puppyhood. We quickly fast forward to a year later where Enzo is full grown and  the two of them are out buying groceries when they bump into a young woman named Eve. We soon get a glimpse of their romantic relationship through the eyes of Enzo. She started to appear more and more in their lives and before you know it they are married. At the wedding, we meet Eve's parents as they are well off and have a wealthy background. We see their personalities and character being reflected on Denny as Enzo calls them the "evil twins." They were not happy about their marriage as Denny doesn't have the qualities that they wanted for Eve. Despite the unapproval, they continue to live their life together as a married couple and gives birth Zöe. Everything seems to be going well, but that isn't until they run into financial issues and the often times where Denny is out of town attending a race. We see their relationship going downhill as time goes on and something terrible unexpectedly happens...

I really enjoyed the movie which is why it made me pick up this novel. But I did not expect the big difference of emotions I felt while reading the book. There were a couple of scenes in the book that made me question the author's storytelling. For example, when Enzo, a dog, witnessed intimate moments of Denny and Eve, he started to describe what he would do as a human. I thought this was quite odd and even got a little uncomfortable while reading. But other than some strange moments, I liked the book better than the movie. It gave a slightly different story but I think Stein's writing gave the story more emotions and it was better when you could interpret those emotions rather than visually watching them. I also enjoyed the ending of the novel better as it made me shed a few tears. I had related my own dog to Enzo and that made me pretty empathetic. Overall, I would rate this book a solid 8/10 golden retrievers. I recommend this book if you enjoyed novels like A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron.

Thanks for reading!
Helen





Comments

  1. This is a great book review, and it definitely convinced me to give this book a try. I will maybe also watch the movie!

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  2. This kind of made me think of a surveillance camera except as a dog. I could see how this book would make someone uncomfortable. Also, I feel like books usually go more in depth than movies, so they are usually better. That's probably why you felt the "big difference of emotions".

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  3. I already watched the movie, and I really enjoyed it. The book also seems interesting. I wonder if there are any glaring differences between the book and the movie

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  4. Great review! Dog books ending in tears are always good reads, especially told from the dog's perspective. Books from the perspective of a wholesome and loyal dog will definitely manipulate emotions differently than a typical book.

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  5. Helen, I usually won't read books of this genre, but this book seems interesting. Movies about dogs always seem to make me cry, especially if it includes a bad ending. I'm glad to see there are more books that exist outside of A Dog's Purpose, which is a very popular book and movie.

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  6. Hi Helen! It was great to read your thoughts on The Art of Racing in the Rain. It's always interesting to hear the perspective of someone who has seen the movie version and then read the book. I agree that Enzo, the golden retriever, was a unique and compelling narrator throughout the novel. Great job!

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  7. Hi Helen! I loved this movie as a kid and just found out that it was a book-to-movie adaptation. Your summary of Enzo's perspective as the narrator in this novel was wonderful. Stein's writing style seems very descriptive and enjoyable to read. Great review!

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  8. This book is written from a very intriguing perspective, and it makes me curious about reading it. Nice review!

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  9. Great article, Helen! I've never read or watched The Art of Racing in the Rain, but I did like the A Dog's Purpose books as a kid and since they seem to have a similar premise and also because I like books about dogs I'll put it on my list of books to read!

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