The Dogs of Babel

published	June 7th 2004 by Back Bay Books
first published	2003
binding	Paperback
isbn	0316778508 (isbn13: 9780316778503)
pages	288
description	The quirky premise of Carolyn Parkhurst's debut novel, The Dogs of Babel, is original enough: after his wife Lexy dies after falling from a tre...more [close] The quirky premise of Carolyn Parkhurst's debut novel, The Dogs of Babel, is original enough: after his wife Lexy dies after falling from a tree, linguistics professor Paul Iverson becomes obsessed with teaching their dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lorelei (the sole witness to the tragedy), to speak so he can find out the truth about Lexy's death--was it accidental or did Lexy commit suicide? In short, accelerating chapters Parkhurst alternates between Paul's strange and passionate efforts to get Lorelei to communicate and his heartfelt memories of his whirlwind relationship with Lexy. The first 100 pages or so bring to mind another noteworthy debut, Alice Sebold's brilliant exploration of grief, The Lovely Bones. Unfortunately, the second half of The Dogs of Babel takes too many odd twists and turns--everything from a Ms. Cleo-like TV psychic to an underground sect of abusive canine linguists--to ever allow the reader to feel any real sympathy for the main characters. Parkhurst's Paul Iverson can certainly be appealing at times, and his heartbreak is often quite palpable ("...for every dark moment we shared between us, there was a moment of such brightness I almost could not bear to look at it head-on."). But his mask-maker wife Lexy--Paul's driving inspiration--is a character whose spur-of-the-moment outbursts, spontaneous fits of anger, and supposedly charming sense of whimsy (on their first date, they drive from Virginia to Disney World, eating only appetizers and side dishes along the way), become so annoying and grating that it's hard to believe anyone could ever put up with her, let alone teach their dog to speak for her. Despite its cloying tone, The Dogs of Babel marks a notable debut. Parkhurst possesses a wealth of inspired ideas, and no doubt many readers will respond to the book, but one hopes that the author's future efforts will be packed with richer character development and less schmaltz. --Gisele Toueg [close]
date added	02-10-07 edit book

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Wormie rated it:

03/31/07

Read in June, 2006

recommends it for: anyone who likes good writing and can forgive a plot flaw

The writing style is sweet and sensitive, the emotion real, and the story compelling. Dr. Paul Iverson, professor of linguistics, comes home from work one night to find his yard filled with police. His wife, Lexy, has fallen from the apple tree in their yard and died. The death was declared an accident and Paul, was left alone to nurse his grief.

In the days to follow, Paul notices some oddities around the house. Lorelei, the couple’s Rhodesian Ridgeback, was the only witness to the accide...more The writing style is sweet and sensitive, the emotion real, and the story compelling. Dr. Paul Iverson, professor of linguistics, comes home from work one night to find his yard filled with police. His wife, Lexy, has fallen from the apple tree in their yard and died. The death was declared an accident and Paul, was left alone to nurse his grief.

In the days to follow, Paul notices some oddities around the house. Lorelei, the couple’s Rhodesian Ridgeback, was the only witness to the accident. Paul decides that he must use his skill as a linguist to teach Lorelei to communicate so that she can tell him what she saw and solve the mystery of Lexy’s death.

Parkhurst’s novel is anything but a mystery. It is a story of love and of coping with loss. Paul narrates the novel bouncing back and forth from present to past. He shares the story of his and Lexy’s romance. How they met and fell in love, and how her death left him broken.

Parkhurst descriptions are palpable. Paul and Lexy’s love is sweet, at times nauseatingly so. Paul’s grief is gut wrenching and often truly painful to experience. The novel will make the reader laugh and cry. It doesn’t hammer us with plot detail; but slowly unwraps like a silky fabric releasing emotions from its soft folds.

Communication is a major theme in the book. Paul, as a linguist, favors the power of language; Lexy, an artist, is often better able to communicate through her art. Lexy’s inability to communicate effectively through language often leaves her frustrated and depressed. These differences in style often lead to misunderstandings in their relationship.

Parkhurst makes all this work. She has an intriguing story. She writes poetically with feeling. She infuses symbolism in her writing: the biblical references to the Tower of Babel and the apple tree in the Garden of Eden, Lexy’s masks which both hide and reveal truths, square eggs which alter the appearance but not the substance of a common item. She addresses fact and faith, honesty and deception, and love and resentment. I loved this book….until…
…

For some reason, in the middle of this wonderful novel, Parkhurst made a sharp turn and detoured into several chapters of a freakish, sci-fi storyline. This wonderful story of emotion and grief is replaced with an action-mystery about a secret society of men performing horrific experiments on dogs in the name of science. This side story was so out of place with the quiet beauty of the rest of the novel. It distracted me from the beauty of the novel, and I almost didn’t want to finish the book.

Including this sub-plot in the book, in my opinion, was Parkhurst’s fatal flaw. When I finished the novel, I was quite disappointed. I spent a few days trying to understand why this horrific sub-plot was included in the novel, and what it added to the story that otherwise would have been lacking. I came up blank. It was only in preparation to write a somewhat scathing review, that I realized that overall The Dogs of Babel is a beautiful novel. If I could have skipped several chapters as I read, I would have been raving about this novel and about Parkhurst’s writing.

The inclusion of this bizarre sub-plot breaks the flow of the novel, and I must only give a 2 star rating to the book. However, for the most part I loved Parkhurst’s style and sensitivity, and would like to give her and her writing four stars, perhaps five. So I find myself in the odd situation of recommending this book, even though I can’t give it a better rating. I do think that Parkhurst’s writing is wonderful and should be experienced, but I think that in this debut novel she became a bit too ambitious, and tried to pack a bit too much into the story. ...less

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3 comments

Erin rated it:

05/24/07

bookshelves: done

Read in April, 2007

This book, in a word, stinks. And now I shall tell you why.

The main character marries a woman named Lexy. Lexy is terribly mysterious, and vibrant, and creative, and such and so on. Okay, whatever, she dies by falling out of an apple tree. Now that I have been browbeaten with the symbolism, let's go to a flashback so Parkhurst can work up some sympathy for this dead chick. By having her suggest that they take a spur of the moment trip to Disneyland! Which I hate! Which should be firebombed!...more

Like this review? yes (10 people liked it)

3 comments

Joseph rated it:

12/16/07

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: anyone

Ah, where do I begin reviewing this book? Let me start by saying that this book is not about what it's promoted to be. It's marketed as a book about a grieving widower who tries to teach his dog, the sole witness to his late wife's death, to talk. And yes, this book is about that, but it is not solely about that.

This novel is an intense exploration of one man's profound and painful experience of grief - especially when it's over a mysterious death. Did she die accidentally or did she kil...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

1 comments

Susanne rated it:

06/03/08

Read in March, 2007

Lorelei is no siren for Lexy.......

According to German legend, there was once a beautiful young maiden, named Lorelei, who threw herself headlong into the river in despair over a faithless lover. Upon her death she was transformed into a siren and could from that time on be heard singing on a rock

In this sad and deceptively complicated novel, Lorelei, the family dog is the only witness to the tragic death of Lexy Ransome....... And the question remains..... was it suici...more Lorelei is no siren for Lexy.......

According to German legend, there was once a beautiful young maiden, named Lorelei, who threw herself headlong into the river in despair over a faithless lover. Upon her death she was transformed into a siren and could from that time on be heard singing on a rock

In this sad and deceptively complicated novel, Lorelei, the family dog is the only witness to the tragic death of Lexy Ransome....... And the question remains..... was it suicide or was it an accident?

Paul, the husband of the deceased and a linguistics professor, in his grief, grabs onto his only hope, the hope that by teaching the dog, Lorelei to speak, he may finally know what really happened that on that dreadful day.

Lexy was a troubled young woman, an artist, a maker of masks, and a wearer of many masks, thus concealing her addled life, where passions seemed to imprison reason.
Paul's behavior, on the other hand was primarily rational and controlled.
Lexy's enigmatic nature and "free-spirited" flights help the reader to see how masks were a great metaphor throughout the book.

It is not Lorelei that holds the secrets! Lexy is the keeper of the secrets! Lexy's troubles begin early in her childhood and continue into adulthood, as she struggles to veil them and channel them into various artistic pursuits.

But all is not well in the persona of the `unmasked' Lexy and after a particularly disturbing outburst, Paul is left to grapple with the unsettling emotional state of his beloved wife and the guilt he feels at having fought with Lexy the day before her death.

Lorelei becomes an unwitting victim in the crusade of Paul in trying to teach her to vocalize intelligibly. The idea that a `Cerberus Society' or anything close to it exists is at once both shocking and disgusting to any lover of animals and their welfare. What happens there is difficult to digest and is clearly the misjudgement of Paul.

But, Parkhurst's novel is catchy, clever and keeps the reader involved and deeply moved on many levels. It is easy to come to really care about her well crafted characters!
And....in the end.....we finally learn Lexy's secret.
...less

Like this review? yes