A Dog of Many Names
By: Douglas Green / Narrated By: Kelly McNair
Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
Tough but true-to-life… Reeeeally liked this one
I dunno, but I really don’t do the whole free audiobook thing in exchange for an honest review. MOSTLY. I mean, I was on Audiobook Boom, but I found I’d get twitchy fingers as I typed a review, desperately hoping not to hurt the feelings of someone, p’raps, getting their start. That said, however? Maybe it was cuz I’d been binge-watching The Dodo’s “Faith=Restored” for a pick-me-up after reading the global news. -OR- Maybe it’s cuz, when am I NOT THERE for an Animals Pick? Soooo, thanks to MindBuck Media (Hey, man: I ain’t responsible for the name…) for the Free Audiobook in exchange for an Honest Review. It was juuuuust what I was hoping for after watching vids of cringing and abused, desperately fearful animals blossoming after the hard work of restoring trust (We gotta earn it because some of us are toads… No offense to toads…).
The book opens with a German Shepherd, a good and faithful dog, being bred for puppies to sell and then is sold herself as the family finds themselves in dire financial straits. Uh-oh, thought I to m’self: Is this going to be another Chasing the Blue Sky— where Every. Single. Mistreatment of animals is going to be featured? Am I going to be wanting to blow my brains out by the end like I did with THAT completely hopeless journey?
Not by a long shot. This was a wonderful depiction of Every. Single. Experience a dog can have in this life, some good, some painful. Each chapter is of our canine protagonist with the name she’s been dubbed for that part of her journey. And author Douglas Green manages a stellar feat in writing without judgment, condemnation, simply characterizing the individuals here as what could be a highly empathic dog’s experience of humans in all their flawed glory.
The little girl who grows up, grows apart from her beloved companion, and the frazzled family in chaos make a truly poooor choice (Abandonment). A migrant family’s love, human companionship again, until THEY are taken away (Abandoned by humans again). A scroungy man who has and “cares” for a pack of dogs but who treats them brutally… even as he sees to their food, their veterinary care, doing what’s “right” even as neglect and callousness are part of our heroine’s new normal. Again, Green doesn’t judge, this is simply her current reality, a common experience for the least of God’s Creatures on this planet.
Does this sound like W. Bruce Cameron’s A Dog’s Purpose what with its many stories of the lives a dog COULD live, sans the Whole Death Thing? Well, in a way, but this is written sooo much better than Cameron, who states rather than shows, like, a LOT. We’re within this Dog’s body as it aches, within her as she is sooo sensitive to emotions, to actions, we’re within her as something primal awakens in her the longer she’s estranged from humans. Bravo, sir.
Kelly McNair does a really grand job, tho’ I was worried a bit in the first few minutes (Where I usually get m’ sense of the way things are going to come… only to be pleasantly/not-so-pleasantly surprised) as she does careful pacing and what seemed to be a bit too much drama. However, our Dog’s life IS dramatic, and her emotions/the way she senses the world IS dramatic. Plus, there were a MULtitude of characters to differentiate between throughout the saga that unfolds, and McNair does no juggling but is smooth between exchanges. My only quibble—okay, I googled her, and she never says she CAN do accents—is with the migrant family. McNair’s accent as Spanish is spoken is pretty abysmal. I mean, I admit, I’m a bad Hispanic in that rolling “r”s are beyond me, but even I can wince and cringe. -However- McNair does a spot-on “Siéntate” which is used quite a bit by the papa. All that aside, she had me truly invested in the story, truly feeling a whole heckuva lot of feelings, some not so comfortable. Brava!
Expect muuuuch better writing than Cameron, and do NOT expect to wanna open a vein as one would with Chasing the Blue Sky, so >phew<! If, however, you’re verrrry sensitive to suffering, well A Dog of Many Names isn’t particularly graphic; but it IS an honest depiction of what could be (And is in many places) the life of many a dog. Some brutality, not enTIREly sure of the age-group of the intended audience (Tho’ younguns might not be able to handle it; plus twitchy parents might be offended by dogs just doing what happens when there’s no spaying/neutering… just saying…). But? When all was said, when all was done?
My gosh…
Hope.
And that, my friend, is no mean feat…
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