Independent+Novel+Study


 * The Art of Racing in the Rain** Journal Entry #1 Cecilia Liu Dec.3/10 Pages 1-44

I found this book through a blog post by Chevy Stevens, a Vancouver Island author. She raved about the book and encouraged everyone to read it. At that point I wasn’t very interested by the book but Erin convinced me that it was really good and I’m glad I chose it now. The book is told in the point of view of a dog named Enzo. Enzo isn’t just a regular dog who spends his days chasing his tale or digging holes. He spends his days learning. Enzo tells the story of his life and his opinion or the world around through a dog’s eyes. The book starts off with Enzo in present time waiting for his owner, Denny Swift, to come home. Enzo is pretty old now and he thinks he is holding Denny back and wishes to “…set him free.” Enzo is contemplating how to tell Denny that it’s okay to let him go but it’s hard to tell someone that when all you have are gestures. Then Enzo begins to recall and tell us about his life. He begins at when Denny picked him out of a litter of puppies and goes through their first year of life together. He remembers how it felt to be sharing Denny’s love and attention when Denny brings home a girlfriend named Eve, how it felt when Denny eventually married this girlfriend, and how it felt when said girlfriend becomes pregnant and has a daughter named Zoe. Even though he is now not the center of attention he still loves Denny and his family unconditionally.

You have only answered one of the three questions and provided the plot synopsis. 7/10

Journal Entry #2 Cecilia Liu Dec.10/10 Pages 45-106

In this section of the story Eve is starting to act strange. She wakes up one day with a pounding headache and horrible nausea. She doesn't tell anyone about this but Enzo can sense something is wrong. Eve freaks out about what is happening to her body and takes Zoe and goes to her parents house leaving Enzo alone at home while Denny is away driving at a race. After being left alone for a few days Enzo starts to hallucinate. He walks into Zoe's room and her stuffed animals seemingly come to life. Her zebra stuffy dances and jumps around the room taunting Enzo and Enzo believes he is evil. Enzo ends up destroying the stuffed zebra and Zoe's room and Denny comes come to find the mess. Denny is furious at Enzo for destroying Zoe's room and at Eve for just leaving him at home. He and Eve have a fight about how Eve could be so careless but she still doesn't doesn't tell Denny about her headaches. She keeps getting worse and worse and Denny has no idea what he is going on.

The first problem faced by Enzo, the main character, is having to share Denny’s attention. It might not seem like much of a problem, but up to this point Enzo and Denny had spent basically everyday together. Enzo was even the one that Denny talked too and confided in. Now it isn't just him and Denny anymore. In this situation Enzo is almost like the first child of the family and now that he has a little sister, his parents are spending more time with her. But like a real big brother he wants to take care of Zoë and keep her safe.

The style of the novel is pretty simple. It’s just Enzo telling us the life story of his owner Denny. Although Enzo has an almost human soul he is still a dog and as much as he wishes to have opposable thumbs, he can’t. But because he is a dog he isn’t allowed to go a lot of places and he can’t understand certain things so there are some gaps in the story. As Enzo learns more about what’s happening you do too so eventually you do find out what has happened in those gaps. Other than that, the story is pretty is easy to follow.

The novel is set in the Seattle area of Washington. The setting, in my opinion, isn’t important and could be switched for any city. This book isn’t an adventure or fantasy book where the setting is a big part of the story; this is more of a character driven kind of book. The story is all about the characters. It doesn’t progress through some big fight scene on top of the Eiffel Tower but it progresses through the actions and choices of the characters. You can easily switch the city to something else but switching one of the characters would change the whole story. (Furthermore, I could vaguely in the back of my mind remember reading something about Seattle but I had to read through the first parts of the book several times to actually find it.)

ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS AND DO A BRIEF PLOT OUTLINE OF THE SECTION. 8/10 10/10

Journal Entry #3 Cecilia Liu Dec.24/10

Pages 107-196

Denny starts getting more offers to drive in races but he also starts leaving more and more frequently. Other than the moodswings Eve seems fine now but Enzo thinks differently. He can still sense that something is wrong but he has no way to communicate it to anyone. During a family at a lake Eve slips and falls, hitting her head on a rock. Denny is concerned and wants to take Eve to the hospital but Eve, knowing that something is wrong with her, refuses. Denny takes her anyways and they find out she doesn't have a concussion but brain cancer. She keeps deteriorating and eventually dies. Eve's parents, Maxwell and Trish, then deem Denny unfit to care for Zoe and sue him for custody. In order to make sure Denny doesn't have any chance of gaining custody they even get a relative of theirs to say Denny raped her when in reality she was the one who was coming on to Denny.

There have been a few unexpected events and plot twists so far in the story. First Eve starts acting strange. She has sudden mood swings that last for days at a time and she wakes up one morning to an intense headache. Eventually she is diagnosed with brain cancer but the fear of there actually being something wrong keeps her from going to a doctor until the cancer has progressed to a late stage. Then after Eve dies, her parents Maxwell and Trish try to sue Denny for custody of Zoe. It looks like Denny is going to win until he is accused of raping a 15 year old girl that happens to be a close relative of Maxwell and Trish. Although I expected something to happen to shake up the story, when these events happened I was still surprised.

Two new major characters that are added to the story are Maxwell and Trish or as Enzo calls them, The Evil Twins. Maxwell and Trish are Eve’s snobby parents. They are pretty wealthy and they are sure to let everyone around them know. They dislike Denny, Denny’s marriage to Eve, Enzo, and basically everything about Denny other than Zoe. Of course this they don’t tell everyone directly preferring to make snide side comments instead. Their purpose in this book is to be the antagonists and act as a challenge for Enzo and Denny.

They also add to the main theme as they are the ones that are behind a plot to take Zoe from Denny. The main theme that is emerging in this book is facing your darkest fears. The theme is shown directly by the character’s actions and words. Eve has to ask for help but in order to do so she must accept that she has an illness. Denny is faced with his family falling apart and the possibility of never seeing his daughter again. Even Enzo has to deal with his fear of the evil stuffed zebra (a toy of Zoe’s that Enzo hallucinates is alive).

ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS AND DO A BRIEF PLOT OUTLINE OF THE SECTION. 8/10

10/10

Journal Entry # 4 Cecilia Liu Jan.7/11 Pages 197-304

Now that Denny is an accused rapist, getting custody of Zoe is going to be nearly impossible. If he is found guilty, custody of Zoe will go to Maxwell and Trish as no judge is going to let a little girl live with a convicted rapist. This is the lowest point of the entire novel as Denny has nothing left but Enzo. His wife is dead, he isn’t allowed to see his daughter, and he doesn’t have a job or any money. Maxwell and Trish don’t even allow him to attend Eve’s funeral. But things slowly start to look up. Luca, a man who works for Ferrari, offers Denny a dream job. He wants Denny to test drive race cars in Italy. Denny is shocked and overjoyed but knows he can’t job as he isn’t allowed to even leave the state while the trial is going on, let alone Italy. Luca, however, offers to hold the job for him until he is able to take it. One day after that Denny and Enzo run into Annika, the girl Denny supposedly raped, on a morning walk. Denny tells her that they won’t let him see his daughter and asks if she knows this. Annika doesn’t respond but by her reaction Denny can see that she is starting to regret lying about being raped. Finally the trial date is here. Annika has come clean about lying about being raped and the charges have been dropped. Denny, Zoe, and Enzo are all happy to be together again.

While these problems may not affect Enzo directly, they do affect Denny and Zoe who are his family which affects him. At first Enzo was feeling lonely since Denny had been spending less and less time with him. Now that Enzo has grown up it isn’t as much of a problem. But with Denny scrambling to find jobs to pay for food, the apartment, and his lawyer he has even less time to spend with Enzo. But Enzo isn't just concerened with how many walks he gets to go on a day, he's concerened about how sad Denny is all the time too.

The author gets you to read on by, of course, making the plot interesting but also by making you invest your emotions. You find yourself hating Maxwell and Trish when they take Zoe away from Denny and crying when Denny doesn’t even get to see his wife one last time. You root for Denny to win the trial and when he does you’re overjoyed. By the time you’ve gotten through most of the book you feel like Enzo, Denny, and Zoe are your actual friends.

The climax of the novel is when the trial is going on. We don’t find out exactly what happens in the trial as Enzo is the one telling the story and dogs are not allowed in the court room. Enzo does imagine what could be going on inside though. When Denny comes out he says “It’s over” and tells everyone that Annika dropped the charges. Enzo, Denny, and all his friends have a mini celebration and that’s the end of the climax. 10/10  Journal Entry #5 Cecilia Liu Jan.1﻿1/11 Pages 305-321

This part of the book is the conclusion. Light has finally shone at the end of the dark tunnel. Enzo, Denny, and Zoe are back together again. Denny now has the job of his dreams testing cars for Ferrari and the family is about the move to Italy.Their lives are, more or less, back to normal. Enzo is now quite old and doesn’t wish to hold Denny or Zoe back any longer. Enzo wishes to be reincarnated as a human but doesn’t want Denny or Zoe to miss him. Denny tells him it’s okay to leave now and he dies in Denny’s arms. Years later in Italy Denny is a successful race car driver. Zoe, who is a teenager now, brings two of Denny’s biggest fans to meet him, Enzo and his father. This Enzo is a young aspiring race car driver who looks up to Denny in every way. Denny gives Enzo and his father his phone number and offers to help him with his dreams whenever he feels he is ready. It looks like Enzo has gotten his wish and has been reincarnated as a human.

A lot major conflicts are solved when the trial is over. Denny and Maxwell and Trish’s fight for Zoe is over when Denny wins custody. Denny’s rape accusation is dropped when Annika confesses that it nothing actually happened. Eve’s battle with herself is over when she dies. Enzo’s wish at the beginning of the book is granted when Denny says it’s okay to leave. The minor conflicts that were a result of the major conflicts are solved when the major conflicts are solved.

This novel exceeded my expectations. When I first saw the cover it didn’t look like a book I would enjoy so much. But you’re not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover so I read it because it was recommended. I am definitely glad I did. This novel has everything; friendship, loyalty, relationships, hardships, perseverance, and love. Instead of being a big jumbled mess everything is balanced perfectly. I loved the characters, especially Enzo. He’s not like a regular dog, he’s a philosopher with a human soul. He is the one telling to story of his master and his family and not the other way around like in most stories.

I would recommend this to a friend. You don’t have to be a dog lover, although you will come out as one, to like this book or a racing fan. It’s not just about dogs or racing. It’s a story about family and that’s something everyone can enjoy. 10/10           ** Focus Assignment **    To start off I’d just like to say I really liked this book (the ending is especially great)! It’s not just some “stupid dog book” like someone has actually said to me, it’s way deeper. The general idea of a loyal dog and his master getting through hard times has been done before but this is still original and I still shed a few tears over it. I would recommend this to people, whether they’re a dog lover or not, it’s just a moving story.

Usually with novels there are good and bad points but I really don’t have anything bad to say about this one. The way the author, Garth Stein, uses imagery to represent and add emotion to certain parts of the novel is definitely one of the good points. I also liked how the story is in Enzo’s point of view. Enzo is the one telling the story so you get a different perspective. He’s more innocent and tells you what he really thinks of each situation. He also doesn’t understand what is happening sometimes so you don’t get all the information at once. You’re left to fill in the gaps on your own until Enzo figures out what is happening and in turn you do too. That is another part I enjoyed about this book. Garth Stein is such a good story teller that he manages to get you making up your own scenarios until you find out what actually happened and being pleasantly surprised when you do.

I think the theme of the novel is facing your darkest fears. The author got the message across using several examples in the novel. Throughout the entire novel many of the major characters were struggling with their inner demons whether they were in the form of a plush toy or custody battle. Enzo’s struggle with Zoe’s stuffed zebra is what I found most bizarre. Not unbelievable just bizarre. Enzo hallucinating a dancing and taunting zebra is something completely unexpected and different. It works though and Garth Stein does a good job in showing Enzo’s fear of the zebra instead making it unbelievable.

I don’t plan on reading either of Garth Stein’s other books because the plots don’t appeal to me. His writing is really good so if he publishes something else that interests me I would definitely read it. media type="custom" key="8070970" align="center"