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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89691.The_Dogs_of_Babel?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Dogs of Babel" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171163274m/89691.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89691.The_Dogs_of_Babel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Dogs of Babel</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/34061.Carolyn_Parkhurst">Carolyn Parkhurst</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9441908?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars 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 kill herself? And why? It's haunting, heart-wrenching, suspenseful, and bitter-sweet, but also warm, and romantic.
 
 Paul and Lexy are almost quite opposites of each other. He is very reserved and conservative; she is spontaneous and quirky. The two of them genuinely fall in love, but Paul learns soon that Lexy's spontaneity has its dark side. And then one day, he returns home to discover his wife has died after falling from a tree.
 
 The plot is an intricately and meticulously woven narrative that culminates in a superficially shocking conclusion. I say 'superficially' because its conclusion reminds me a lot of the film, The Sixth Sense. Many viewers were wowed by the stunning revelation at the end, but when you look at the film a second time, all the clues to solve the mystery were in plain sight all along. Every single apparently insignificant detail played a part, and this role was right on the surface for us to see. This, however, does not detract from the power of its ending, and the meaning that this holds for Paul, and how he will now have to go on with his life.
 
 I recommend this wonderful book to anyone who is prepared to go on a journey of the innermost expressions of the soul. You will not regret it. Another reviewer said this is the kind of book that stays with you, and it's true. I encourage you to discover why.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/366093?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Joseph's review
rating:
recommended 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 kill herself? And why? It's haunting, heart-wrenching, suspenseful, and bitter-sweet, but also warm, and romantic.

Paul and Lexy are almost quite opposites of each other. He is very reserved and conservative; she is spontaneous and quirky. The two of them genuinely fall in love, but Paul learns soon that Lexy's spontaneity has its dark side. And then one day, he returns home to discover his wife has died after falling from a tree.

The plot is an intricately and meticulously woven narrati...more

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message 1: by April

12/21/2007 07:17AM

I've been waiting for this review ... so glad you liked it that much.

(Psst, gift is finally in the mail!!)