Sight Hound

[LWolf]

a first novel by Pam Houston

I bought it in November at our local literary festival. I attended an evening where several authors did readings from their works. She's a history professor and has published plays, essays, and short stories. She read some from an unpublished work in progress, and I found a wicked sense of humor, along with characters that were attractive in their realistically flawed human-ness. So I bought a copy of her first novel, published in 2005.

I had a lot of other reading to do, so it sat there until Sunday, when I started reading. The first few sections were a little disorienting; this book is written from multiple perspectives. One situation seen through many eyes, experienced in different ways by many. Including the family pets.

The protagonist is a woman who has survived a lifetime of dysfunctional relationships, whose most positive relationship has been with her Irish Wolfhound, who is the bedrock of her life. The event involves the long journey through the dog's cancer.

The book is a semi-autobiographical; a fictional account of the life of the author's real wolf hound.

Dog lovers beware; read with a box of kleenex at hand. I finished the book before work on Wednesday; showed up to work with red, swollen eyes.

While there is grief, and loss in the story, it's truly a story about joy, and more of the tears are for joy than grief. The author says that it turned out to be a book about faith. Not traditional religious faith, but faith of another sort.

I highly recommend this one to any who struggle with relationships, and to those who will recognize unconditional love at work.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. Ok, you've encourage me and I'll try again.

I read a great review for this book and bought it. AS you say, trying to get into it is a little difficult. When I started a chapter and then realized it was from the dog's perspective, I just wasn't prepared and found it disjointed and jarring and I ended up putting it down and never picking it back up.

But, you have made me motivated to give it another shot.

[LWolf]

2. That part was hard.

Jumping around from character to character, to see the same story played out through so many eyes.

In the end, the story feels "wholer," if that makes any sense.

To be honest, I liked the dogs' perspectives the best. The author is obviously an authentic dog person. She recognizes how much smarter and better dogs are. ;)