I typically don’t enjoy books, or movies, or TV shows about dogs because something bad always 
happens to the dog. The End.
And, I probably would not have read A Dog’s Purpose except it was among all the other fabulous goodies in my BlogPaws West schwag bag.
As you might know the best-selling A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron is a little different from the usual thousand-tissue dog story in that although the dog does die, several times over, he reincarnates until he finds his purpose in life, thus the name of the book.
Still, I can’t rave about this tome as so many others have because, as I read it, A Dog’s Purpose still puts us humans at center stage. Honestly, I’m kinda of sick of our self-serving species centrism. (Really, can’t we just get over ourselves?) And, in that regard, this book is just an unusual twist on that old canard.
How about this instead? A story line in which a human being who has inflicted untold suffering on dogs is reincarnated as a miserable reprobate who finds himself totally dependent on a group of rowdy, in-charge feral dogs that teaches him a thing or two about suffering and leaves him to die the wretched death he has reaped.
The hapless human is reincarnated again this time to learn from her (Our protagonist is a woman this time around.) canine teachers the true meaning of kindness and compassion. Her being evolves and ripens. She dedicates her next life, that’s right–she dies and reincarnates again, to being a kind of bodhisattva for dogs. Although she could attain enlightenment, she refuses, and instead commits herself to alleviating all the suffering of all dogs.
It’s a fantastic story. She joins with canine bodhisattvas in establishing the Great Golden Dog Temple. It’s dedicated to serving dogs and helping them to attain enlightenment if that is the path they’ve chosen for themselves. People who have abused dogs can, if they are sincere, find redemption at the temple by the only means of atonement available to their sorry souls: Committing untold lifetimes to selflessly serving dogs. Let’s call it A Human’s Purpose.
The Giveaway
How do I enter to win the giveaway?
Leave a comment to this post by midnight MDT, Thursday, October 7, 2010 and you will be entered into the giveaway.
A winner will be selected by a random number generator.
I will notify the winner by email and ask for their address. The winner will have 24 hours to reply. If they do not reply within 24 hours, I will notify the second person on the list created by the random number generator, and so on.
Due to shipping logistics, only residents of the Unites States and Canada will be entered into the giveaway.
What’s in the giveaway?
- A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron (My like-new schwag bag copy)
- Caring for Your Dog: Learn valuable information about how to care for your new dog in this resource guide by Found Animals
Good Luck!!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rod Burkert and ワンだぁワンコ, Kim Clune. Kim Clune said: Checking out: “A Dog’s Purpose”: Book Review and Giveaway http://bit.ly/b9EzLF (via @boulderdog1) […]
Sounds like a great book about the relationship between dogs and humans. The title mislead me a little and I would not have been interested in it, if not for this review.
Looking fwd to read it myself.
I was looking at that in a book store over the weekend. I don’t know exactly how I feel about all this dog reincarnation stuff (I did enjoy The Art of Racing in the Rain but more in spite of the reincarnation thing than because of it) other than I don’t believe in reincarnation for people so I don’t know exactly why dogs would get to reincarnate. It is interesting that the dog only ever reincarnates as a dog.
My TBR pile is way too tall for me to add anything to it so I’m not leaving a comment because I want to enter the giveaway. I might read the book you describe if you write it though 🙂
No worries about you book pile growing taller with ‘my book.’ LOL!
Ive been dying to read this book!
I would love to read this book (but would love to read your suggested plot line even more, I think)!
I would not have read this book without seeing your review. Now my curiosity is piqued … though I will keep in my your alternate story thread!
LOL! Mine is definitely a minority view!
I would not have selected to read this book without reading your review; now I AM interested in the book! If I win, great! If not, there is always the library 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Deborah, I think *you* need to write the book with the plot line you describe. Seriously. From what you (and Barrie) say, this sounds a lot like the Art of Racing in the Rain, which I liked very much but not enough to explore the concept a second time.
I got a copy of this book as a giveaway at BlogPaws but was not grabbed by it — and am now not particularly inspired to keep trying.
So consider this a comment that’s not in the running for a copy of the book but that is in complete agreement with your minority perspective.
I didn’t read the Art of Racing in the Rain but you and Barrie captured my curiosity so I read a few reviews and excerpts on Amazon. I’m not going to read it. Real life with a dog is heart wrenching enough. So in one book a dog reincarnates, and reincarnates until he finds his purpose which, of course, is to serve a human, and in the other the dog serves his humans and wants to reincarnate as one. That is just too much human worship for my taste. So, now I have an additional twist to my story line–after spending lifetimes perfecting the purity of her selfless service to dogs my protagonist attains her spiritual pinnacle—she reincarnates as a dog!
interesting, thanks for posting. Would like to read it!