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Dreamers of the Day
by Mary Doria Russell (Goodreads Author)
by Mary Doria Russell (Goodreads Author)
This is a wonderful novel, though I'm going to have a hard time evaluating it rationally, which I will explain in a moment.
It is the story of a 40-year-old schoolteacher who never married and has just lost all of her family to the great influenza. The novel follows her as she travels to Egypt during the Cairo Peace Conferences and meets some of the most famous people of her day, including Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence ("of Arabia"), and Lady Bell Gertrude. She blossoms and finds her own independence and personality in this glittering setting, begins her first love affair, and for the first time begins to live life on its own terms.
It's really a pretty good book. But what made it leap from "good" to "amazing" for me was Rosie. Rosie is the main character's long-haired dachshund, a dog she rescued at birth with a blue dapple and a crooked tail. Russell's insights into what it is like to live with a dachshund, and her obvious affection for the breed. Her treatment--and her characters' treatment--of Rosie is what really made the book for me.
The locations, personalities, history, and adventure we are very rewarding. The ending was a bit strange. But I was willing to forgive a lot of that excellent dachshund.
It is the story of a 40-year-old schoolteacher who never married and has just lost all of her family to the great influenza. The novel follows her as she travels to Egypt during the Cairo Peace Conferences and meets some of the most famous people of her day, including Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence ("of Arabia"), and Lady Bell Gertrude. She blossoms and finds her own independence and personality in this glittering setting, begins her first love affair, and for the first time begins to live life on its own terms.
It's really a pretty good book. But what made it leap from "good" to "amazing" for me was Rosie. Rosie is the main character's long-haired dachshund, a dog she rescued at birth with a blue dapple and a crooked tail. Russell's insights into what it is like to live with a dachshund, and her obvious affection for the breed. Her treatment--and her characters' treatment--of Rosie is what really made the book for me.
The locations, personalities, history, and adventure we are very rewarding. The ending was a bit strange. But I was willing to forgive a lot of that excellent dachshund.
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Quotes Brittany Liked
“House-training, I must tell you, is a formality that can elude young dachshunds for some time; this is particularly true in climates that affront their sensibilities with outrageous meteorological insults. Rain, for example, or a startling gust of wind.”
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
“Dachshunds have their own agenda and can be stubborn about seeing their plans through to completion. What Rosie lacked in consistency, she made up for in enthusiasm. Most of the time when I called her name, she sprinted back, her long ears cocked and flying like a little girl's pigtails. Each encounter was a glorious reunion, even if we'd been parted for only a minute or two. I had never felt so loved.”
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
“Abandon a dachshund and upon your return, you may well be confronted with a small token of her displeasure. This, for the dachshund, is an undignified but necessary form of training. Eventually, you will learn your lesson, which is to take you with her everywhere. When you have finally accepted this, you will be generously rewarded for your good behavior by a jaunty, joyful companion.”
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
“The dachshund is a perfectly engineered dog. It is precisely long enough for a single standard stroke of the back, but you aren't paying for any superfluous leg.”
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
“When it comes down to it, I don't have much in the way of advice to offer you, but here it is: Read to children. Vote. And never buy anything from a man who's selling fear.”
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
― Mary Doria Russell, Dreamers of the Day
Reading Progress
| 05/12/2011 | page 16 |
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6.0% |
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Hayley
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May 14, 2011 02:52pm
I read her book "The Sparrow" years ago and found it very well done, but so depressing that I didn't pursue any more of her work. I take it this one was not a tragedy?
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It had sad moments, but it wasn't nearly as upsetting as "The Sparrow." Also, there was a very happy dachshund!
