I am going to be blunt and only vaguely hyperbolic: I hated this book. I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe it’s because I am a Formula 1 fan and found the racing metaphor a tad overdone, at least for my taste. Maybe it’s because I found all the characters one-dimensional and didn’t connect with their struggles. Maybe it’s because I found the rape allegation plot line poorly written and badly resolved. To expound on the ickiness of this plot line, at one point, before Annika dramatically recounts her statement on the stand, the author writes that Denny approached her at a cafe and said “‘[i]t’s all my fault; you did nothing wrong. You’re an attractive woman, and I understand my noting that attractiveness-even to myself–may have signaled to you that I was available. But, you know, I wasn’t available. I was married to Eve. And you were far too young.’” At the time of this meeting, she is seventeen, maybe eighteen–Enzo is unsure. When they first met and Denny apparently noted her attractiveness, she was fifteen. Maybe it’s because I am stuck on the ridiculousness of (spoiler) the dog Enzo being reincarnated as a human boy named Enzo. Is this a rule for incarnation, that you have to be incarnated as a human with the same name? Are dogs named Fluffy forever trapped as dogs? Maybe it’s because the entire plot felt unrealistic, such as Denny’s career progression. as probably for all of those reasons but regardless, I didn’t with the book at all.
I understand the allure of the story; “The Art of Racing in the Rain” highlights family, love, loyalty, hope, and the ability to overcome. It’s heart-wrenching (supposedly), with many saying they sobbed throughout the entire book. I just… didn’t get it. In the slightest. At all. At any point. But the point of this project is not to convince anyone that I am right and this book is awful, but rather to understand the impact this story had on the person that recommended it and how it shaped their perspective on the world.
This story embodies hope. Good triumphing over evil (good specifically referring to Denny, evil pretty much everything else). The incredible power of love–love between a parent and child, love between a dog and its owner. The story preaches patience, trust, and virtue, because everything will work out in the end. Indeed that is the greatest sentiment of the book–everything will work out in the end because good things come to good people.
The moral and message of the story is beautiful and I don’t mean to trivialize it with my dislike. The cynic in me wants to say that this belief and trust is unrealistic and unreasonable, but I admire the optimism that it espouses, even if I am unable to embody it. I think that readers that connect with this book are able to see the possibility of the world–its goodness, its inherent morality, and to believe that things will work out in the end. They are probably glass-half-full people. I unfortunately am not. I do believe that things will work out in the end, but this book and the way it was written made me feel jaded. But that’s me and this isn’t about me (at least not entirely). The student that recommended this book connected to it in a deep and meaningful way. When I asked them for a book title, they responded without the slightest hesitation. It’s difficult sometimes to see the value in something you dislike. But I’m glad that this project gave me the space and discipline to actively reflect on the books I read and try to see their significance on the people that recommended them.
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