Helpful Score: 4
While reading the first third of The Dog Stars, I found myself wondering what all the hype was about. Then the book began to grow on me, as I got used to the narrative style and the story became more interesting. In the end this book proved to be an emotionally and intellectually satisfying read. Truly one of the best books of the year.
Helpful Score: 4
Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-dog-stars.html
The Dog Stars is the story of a post-apocalyptic world. Nine years have passed since a disease killed most of the population of the world and most of the natural life. A few survivors remain. Some are infected with contagious diseases and still attempt to live life. Some are infected and have gone feral. A very few are immune and the survivors.
Hig is one of the immune survivors. He has seen his life, his family, and his world destroyed. He lives with his dog at an airport. He flies an old 1950s Cessna and attempts to live some kind of a life. Most of his life is dedicated to simply surviving - food, provisions, and the fight again bands of invaders. Yet, he finds moments of hope and beauty even in this world - mountains and trees starting to come back to life, his attempts to help families living with the disease, his love for his dog, and his hope found in a random transmission caught on his radio. Hig shares his airport home with Bangley, an old soldier who loves guns and focuses on survival and protection.
One day, Hig decides to risk this life and pursue the hope that the radio transmission brought to him. The risk lies in the fact that the origination point of the transmission is beyond his point of no return with the fuel capacity of his plane. If he flies out, he will not have the fuel to return unless he finds a source out there. What he finds out here brings disillusionment, sorrow, and hope in different ways. But that would be giving too much away.
Post-apocalyptic novels are not my usual genre. Yet, I really enjoyed this one. The focus of the story is on hope, human relationships, and human emotions - all the makings of a good book. The writing style is succinct and sometimes fragmented. Yet, in this story, it works. It seems to reinforce the fragmented nature of Hig's life and emotions as the constant struggle to survive and hold grief at bay continues.
I am not sure I will seek out more post-apocalyptic novels, but I am glad I read this one.
The Dog Stars is the story of a post-apocalyptic world. Nine years have passed since a disease killed most of the population of the world and most of the natural life. A few survivors remain. Some are infected with contagious diseases and still attempt to live life. Some are infected and have gone feral. A very few are immune and the survivors.
Hig is one of the immune survivors. He has seen his life, his family, and his world destroyed. He lives with his dog at an airport. He flies an old 1950s Cessna and attempts to live some kind of a life. Most of his life is dedicated to simply surviving - food, provisions, and the fight again bands of invaders. Yet, he finds moments of hope and beauty even in this world - mountains and trees starting to come back to life, his attempts to help families living with the disease, his love for his dog, and his hope found in a random transmission caught on his radio. Hig shares his airport home with Bangley, an old soldier who loves guns and focuses on survival and protection.
One day, Hig decides to risk this life and pursue the hope that the radio transmission brought to him. The risk lies in the fact that the origination point of the transmission is beyond his point of no return with the fuel capacity of his plane. If he flies out, he will not have the fuel to return unless he finds a source out there. What he finds out here brings disillusionment, sorrow, and hope in different ways. But that would be giving too much away.
Post-apocalyptic novels are not my usual genre. Yet, I really enjoyed this one. The focus of the story is on hope, human relationships, and human emotions - all the makings of a good book. The writing style is succinct and sometimes fragmented. Yet, in this story, it works. It seems to reinforce the fragmented nature of Hig's life and emotions as the constant struggle to survive and hold grief at bay continues.
I am not sure I will seek out more post-apocalyptic novels, but I am glad I read this one.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this story about starting again in a new world. There's joy and heartbreak, excitement and serenity. I liked Hig's interactions with Bangley and especially with his dog Jasper.
Helpful Score: 1
Dark, sad, beautiful. This novel is beautifully written with spare prose. It takes place in a dreary post apocalyptic world. It is about morality, relationships, love of dog, love of family. At times it made me cringe, at times it broke my heart and made me cry. I highly recommend this book!
Interesting premise. Short sentences. Few adjectives. Few pronouns. Got irritated. Moved on.
Beautiful writing about the sad and horrific actions necessary to survive in a post apocalyptic world. Great descriptions of natural beauty in animals and landscape.
This takes place in a harsh post apocalyptic world where survival is the priority, a kind of kill or be killed mentality. It takes some getting used to the narrative style, but it is similar to The Road, where there is no proper punctuation, just a sort of running dialogue. Hig struggles with his memories, his humanity and emotions and converses frequently with his dog, Jasper. There is humor, hope and heartbreak, but in the end it left me sad.
I was very intrigued td The Dog Stars and was not disappointed. The post-apocolyptic story, although very popular right now, was done in an interesting manner. The character development and the use of man's best friend made it an endearing read. Peter Heller's writing style is unique and took a few chapters to get used to, but once the story captivated me, the writing style was no longer an issue. I am giving this book a solid 4 stars and sharing it with a few of my friends.
My rating system is as follows:
5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!
4 stars - Great book, but not a classic.
3 stars - Good overall, generally well written.
2 stars - Would not recommend based on personal criteria.
1 star - Difficult to read, hard to finish, or didn't finish. Wouldn't recommend purchasing or reading.
In accordance with the FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book I review was provided to me by the publisher, media group or the author for free and no financial payments were received, unless specified otherwise.
My rating system is as follows:
5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!
4 stars - Great book, but not a classic.
3 stars - Good overall, generally well written.
2 stars - Would not recommend based on personal criteria.
1 star - Difficult to read, hard to finish, or didn't finish. Wouldn't recommend purchasing or reading.
In accordance with the FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book I review was provided to me by the publisher, media group or the author for free and no financial payments were received, unless specified otherwise.
Sometimes we read books that we love so much we can't even explain in words why. This was one of those books for me. It's not really that the story line was particularly outstanding, but the writing. I don't give 5 star ratings freely, but this book...the writing...I loved it.
Since I can't express verbally why I love this book so much, I will leave you with 5 examples of the love.
"Is it possible to love so desperately that life is unbearable? I don't mean unrequited, I mean being in the love. In the midst of it and desperate. Because knowing it will end, because everything does. End."
"Nothing is designated anymore. If it weren't for Bangley I'd forget my name."
"There is a pain you can't think your way out of. You can't talk it away."
"Grief is an element. It has its own cycle like the carbon cycle, the nitrogen. It never diminishes not ever. It passes in and out of everything."
"Why don't we have a word for the utterance between laughing and crying?"
Brilliant!
Since I can't express verbally why I love this book so much, I will leave you with 5 examples of the love.
"Is it possible to love so desperately that life is unbearable? I don't mean unrequited, I mean being in the love. In the midst of it and desperate. Because knowing it will end, because everything does. End."
"Nothing is designated anymore. If it weren't for Bangley I'd forget my name."
"There is a pain you can't think your way out of. You can't talk it away."
"Grief is an element. It has its own cycle like the carbon cycle, the nitrogen. It never diminishes not ever. It passes in and out of everything."
"Why don't we have a word for the utterance between laughing and crying?"
Brilliant!
When something dramatic changes you and your life one needs to move on. That's exactly what happened to Hig when a devasting flu kills those he loves, most of his friends and most of the people in the world. Those who surive must be willing to kill to continue but Hig doesn't like to kill. Forunately he has teamed with someone who does. Bangley brings an arsenal when he moves in with Hig. These unlikely people find they must rely on each other to stay alive.
Hig has a real friend, Jasper his dog, who dies midway in this novel. Wherever Hig goes, Jasper does too whether it be scouting the perimeter of their area to hunting and fishing the streams nearby. However, when Hig loses his best friend he is willing to take a risk and travel to Grand Junction to discover the individual who answered his radio messages. What he finds is both what he hoped to find and what Bangley warned him he would find.
This dystopia reveals the chaos that might well exist if something so catastropic occurs in the world. The tale drew me in as I discovered that I really liked Hig and his dog. As a dog owner myself I could empathize with Hig, their conversations, and their life. And, I began to understand Bangley as the author reveals, bit by bit, his background and former life. Sad, poignant at times, and scary, I found this book an eye opening read. Well done and worth reading.
Hig has a real friend, Jasper his dog, who dies midway in this novel. Wherever Hig goes, Jasper does too whether it be scouting the perimeter of their area to hunting and fishing the streams nearby. However, when Hig loses his best friend he is willing to take a risk and travel to Grand Junction to discover the individual who answered his radio messages. What he finds is both what he hoped to find and what Bangley warned him he would find.
This dystopia reveals the chaos that might well exist if something so catastropic occurs in the world. The tale drew me in as I discovered that I really liked Hig and his dog. As a dog owner myself I could empathize with Hig, their conversations, and their life. And, I began to understand Bangley as the author reveals, bit by bit, his background and former life. Sad, poignant at times, and scary, I found this book an eye opening read. Well done and worth reading.
I was disappointed in this book. I kept waiting for something more to happen, and it never did. And I didn't like the ending.
Apocalyptic tail of survival and love in a desperate world.
This story is slow and subtle, but rich and well-developed. I just finished it and I already know that I will miss the main character and the stories of his experience.
This story is great! The book, however, is not. Beware what copy you get. There are gross printing errors...like only 1/3 of the pages being printed, so you can read the first half of the line and then have to try to guess who got shot at the end of the line.
