That Just Happened!

 Rooke, Leon.  Shakespeare’s Dog: A Novel.  Thomas Allen Publishers (2003). Originally published 1981.

 A tour de force of inventive wit “Shakespeare’s Dog” is the eccentric and high-spirited story of William Shakespeare and how he came to bed and wed Anne Hathaway. Told from the point of view of the Bard’s dog, this astonishing novel of comic bliss, hailed as a triumph of language and an amusing delight.

From the Publisher’s Website

I can’t believe that all of the contenders that year, this book was picked as a winner.  Really.  This book is written from Shakespeare’s dog’s perspective.  If this is what my dog is thinking then I am super glad he can’t talk like Hooker does in the book.  Sometimes it seems as if Shakespeare understands him and sometimes he does not.  It really didn’t add anything to the story and it seemed a little contrived.   What totally blows my mind is that this was made into a play.  For the stage.  I mean, what exactly did they make a play about?  A dog sniffing around cursing?  Shakespeare’s imagined conversations with his canine companion?  I have a feeling this play would be worse than the slow death I experienced at Death of a Salesman (and I’m not talking about the main character).

I feel like I can now curse out someone quite thoroughly in a Shakespearean way and I know about 15 different words for vagina.  Educational?  Maybe.  Practical?  No, well…maybe.  I really just could not get into this book.  It took me a few tries to get past the first chapter and once I had I wondered why I even bothered?  I mean, this is something I would expect the Giller Prize committee to have commended (oooh snap!)  not the Governor General Award committee.  Perhaps it was just a really bad year for literature.  I don’t know. 

Not worth the time, I can’t even pick out a theme really.  Perhaps survival and relationships.  I never thought I would ever be giving out this score, but this book really did sucketh.

I read this novel towards my personal Governor General Award Winner for Fiction Challenge.