Pinawa Public Library
www.pinawapubliclibrary.com
The Biblio File
December 18, 2017
Don’t forget to stock up on books for the holidays! The library will be closed for the last week of December and will re-open on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. (Then will be closed for the day and evening on Thursday, January 4, 2018 for floor waxing).
Our very own head librarian has read and recommends Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis.
“After ignoring Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis for two years, I finally read this book. Initially it did not appeal to me and although it won the 2015 Giller Prize, it made the journey from New book shelf to the Adult Fiction shelves in the Library with little fanfare. When Fifteen Dogs took first place in the 2017 Canada Reads CBC competition, I decided to give it a try. A 160-page award-winning paperback was worth a look and not a huge investment in time if I didn’t like it. To my surprise, Fifteen Dogs is actually about 15 dogs and was a great read! Hermes and Apollo, two gods of Greek mythology, begin this novel with an argument about whether animals would be happier or worse off with human intelligence. To test their theory, they grant intelligence to 15 dogs in a vet clinic in Toronto. The dogs subsequently break free and live their lives. As they struggle with their new thoughts and feelings, their story is both entertaining thought-provoking.
A happy coincidence for me was that I read Fifteen Dogs while on a visit this summer in the High Park area of Toronto, the setting for most of the book. Dog walkers are everywhere in the park and surrounding streets. Many shops along Bloor offer a bowl of water on the sidewalk at their entrance and permit customers and their dogs inside. On daily walks with my sister and her black lab I couldn’t help but look at these real dogs differently. What were they thinking? In High Park we wandered along the trails where the fictitious dogs of the novel took shelter and passed restaurant and picnic areas where they scavenged for food, bringing the story to life for me. However, you don’t have to travel to High Park to enjoy this book and I’d encourage anyone to try it.”
New DVDs: Vera set 7, The Hunger Games – Mockingjay part 1 and 2