The Dogs of Babel: A Novel
3 journalers for this copy...
From the Publisher
In Paul's fantastic and even perilous search for the truth about his wife's death, he abandons his everyday life to embark on a series of experiments designed to teach his dog Lorelei to communicate. Could she really give him the answers he is looking for?
In Paul's fantastic and even perilous search for the truth about his wife's death, he abandons his everyday life to embark on a series of experiments designed to teach his dog Lorelei to communicate. Could she really give him the answers he is looking for?
Paul Iverson comes home one day to find the police in his backyard. His wife is dead because of a fall from an apple tree. What happened? Did she fall accidentally or did she commit suicide?
As the days pass, Paul finds the books in their bookcases rearranged and other clues that just don't seem to add up. The only witness to the event was their dog, Lorelei. Paul, a linguist by profession, decides to try to teach his dog to talk in order to find out what did indeed happen.
Interspersed with the trials of trying to teach his dog to communicate is the Iversons' love story. Lexy, Paul's wife is one weird person. She is up and down in her moods and she makes death masks for grieving people. Paul wants desperately to find out what happened.
Paul eventually mistakenly and stupidly hooks up with a secret society that performs terrible operations on dogs in order to let them produce human sounds. This puts Lorelei in grave danger.
This book is about profound loss and the grief one goes through when a loved one dies. I enjoyed the story for the most part but found I didn't like or even empathize with Lexy and indeed did not even understand her feelings. I just plain didn't like her. But I did feel for Paul and the path he must tread.
As the days pass, Paul finds the books in their bookcases rearranged and other clues that just don't seem to add up. The only witness to the event was their dog, Lorelei. Paul, a linguist by profession, decides to try to teach his dog to talk in order to find out what did indeed happen.
Interspersed with the trials of trying to teach his dog to communicate is the Iversons' love story. Lexy, Paul's wife is one weird person. She is up and down in her moods and she makes death masks for grieving people. Paul wants desperately to find out what happened.
Paul eventually mistakenly and stupidly hooks up with a secret society that performs terrible operations on dogs in order to let them produce human sounds. This puts Lorelei in grave danger.
This book is about profound loss and the grief one goes through when a loved one dies. I enjoyed the story for the most part but found I didn't like or even empathize with Lexy and indeed did not even understand her feelings. I just plain didn't like her. But I did feel for Paul and the path he must tread.
Paul Iverson calls home one afternoon from work and a police officer picks up his phone. He hurries home to find that his wife has fallen out of the apple tree and died. The only witness is their dog, Lorelei. Did Lexy fall or did she jump? The police mark her death as an accident but Paul isn't so sure. He takes a leave of absence from work as a linguistics professor to see if he can teach Lorelei to communicate what she saw.
As Paul works with his dog, he also explains how he met, fell in love with, and married Lexy. We also learn about her darker side and the moods that would grab her. Paul's friends start to worry about him, with good reason because he's become reclusive and obsessive about getting Lorelei to communicate with him.
This novel does a great job of explaining how loss can affect both man and animal. I found it quite interesting that at the start of the book, when Paul was grieving the most, Lexy was painted in a more positive light than later in the book as Paul works through his grief.
While I enjoyed the story telling through grief and loss, there were some decisions by Paul that made absolutely no sense to me and seemed to only be added to the book for shock value. I think the book could have made do without that.
As Paul works with his dog, he also explains how he met, fell in love with, and married Lexy. We also learn about her darker side and the moods that would grab her. Paul's friends start to worry about him, with good reason because he's become reclusive and obsessive about getting Lorelei to communicate with him.
This novel does a great job of explaining how loss can affect both man and animal. I found it quite interesting that at the start of the book, when Paul was grieving the most, Lexy was painted in a more positive light than later in the book as Paul works through his grief.
While I enjoyed the story telling through grief and loss, there were some decisions by Paul that made absolutely no sense to me and seemed to only be added to the book for shock value. I think the book could have made do without that.
This book is back with me :)
My mom, AceofHearts, passed away from breast cancer on September 17, 2013. Aside from being one of the best people I know, she was an avid reader and took immense pleasure in Bookcrossing, her book club, and reading many great books.
Before she passed, she showed me all of her owed books and the books she wanted to give away as RABCKs, making sure that I would send everything on should anything happen. This book was marked for ciloma as a RABCK.
Sent today.
Before she passed, she showed me all of her owed books and the books she wanted to give away as RABCKs, making sure that I would send everything on should anything happen. This book was marked for ciloma as a RABCK.
Sent today.
This arrived safely yesterday. I had an out of town guest and couldn't get it logged until now. I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your Mom. Prayers and blessings to you and your family.
