...Garth Stein references Mongolia in his novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, when Enzo says “In Mongolia, when a dog dies, he is buried high in the hills so people cannot walk on his grave. The dog’s master whispers in the dog’s ear his wishes that the dog will return as a man in his next life. Then his tail is cut off and put beneath his head, and a piece of meat of fat is cut off and placed in his mouth to sustain his soul for its journey; before he is reincarnated, the dog’s soul is freed to travel the land, to run across the high desert plains for as long as it would like.I learned that from a program on the National Geographic Channel, so I believe it is true. Not all dogs return as men, they say; only those who are ready. I am ready.”...
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...relationships can be difficult and hard to understand, just like a dog. The Art of Racing in The Rain by Garth Stein tells about the love between a dog and his family. The poem “How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog” by Taylor Mali explains how love is like a dog. The dog in both the poem and the book represent love. This dog literature helps us to examine love relationships. In The Art of Racing in The Rain by Garth Stein and the poem “How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog” by Taylor Mali, it is illustrated how love and dogs are a like in ways most people do not notice. Just like you do not leave your’ dog alone for very long, you cannot leave love alone for too long either. In “How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog”, Taylor Mali uses, “Love doesn’t like being left alone for long. / But come home and love is always happy to see you” (15-16). To show that both love and dogs need plenty of...
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...The Reasons we Fall Things can turn upside down in a second. Life is about overcoming hardship, and about learning how to race in the rain. The novel, the Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, demonstrates obstacles in life that the main character, Denny, is forced to face and overcome. Ultimately, Denny’s life can be compared to as a race. The author manages to provide an outside perspective that is shown through the eyes of his closest companion, Enzo. He watches as Denny's life drastically changes and as he stood to lose everything. Many major themes are developed as the plot continues, such as being convicted of rape and the deaths of two of Denny’s loved ones. Denny’s perseverance and dedication are both shook by the unexpected obstacles of life’s race, yet Denny continues to overcome these barriers and learns that the reasons why he falls, is so he can pick himself back up. They say a dog is a man’s “best friend.” In this case, Enzo has certainly earned that title. Denny and Enzo instantly clicked from the moment Enzo was picked from the litter. Although the time they shared wasn’t much, Enzo managed to extremely impact Denny’s life. Enzo in his weakened state, states “with every bit of strength I have in my body, I wrench myself to a standing position. Through my hips are frozen and my legs burn with pain; I hobble to the door of the bedroom” (310). Enzo, who is referring to be in deep pain, causes a huge challenge for Denny who sees his best friend suffer and...
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...I read “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” written by Garth Stein. The story is on-going theme of a dog, named Enzo. Throughout the story Enzo is falling apart, both physically and mentally. He is in constant pain and sometimes he can barely move. Enzo wants to die because he wants the pain to go away and he believes after he dies he’ll be reborn as a man. Enzo believes he’ll return as a man because he saw it on a documentary on television. Enzo watches a lot television when he is left alone. He watches the discovery channel, sports channel, and his favorite channel, the nascar channel. Enzo’s owner, Denny, was a racecar driver. Enzo considers Denny to be the greatest racecar driver ever, especially when it’s rainy race. Denny is often gone at...
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...Would you let anyone separate you from your entire family? In Garth Stein’s novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Enzo the family dog tells his story of living with the Swift family. His story begins when Denny Swift picks him out of a group of puppies from a farm and ends with a goodbye to Denny. The two grew together, from Denny’s wife Eve dying of cancer, his daughter Zoe’s custody battle with his in-laws, and other criminal charges he faced. You learn to love the opposable thumb obsessed, stuffed zebra hating, race watching dog. Seeing the other characters from Enzo’s innocent point of view, you get to see people’s true colors. In the novel, you begin to see how positive and negative characters affect the story, especially when characteristics of each are within one character....
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...“THE GODFATHER IS A STAGGERING TRIUMPH...THE DEFINITIVE NOVEL ABOUT A SINISTER FRATERNITY OF CRIME...” --Saturday Review “YOU CAN’T STOP READING IT, AND YOU’LL FIND IT HARD TO STOP DREAMING ABOUT IT!” --New York Magazine THE GODFATHER THE GODFATHER Mario Puzo Copyright © Mario Puzo 1969 All rights reserved For Anthony Cleri THE GODFATHER BOOK I Behind every great fortune there is a crime. --BALZAC Chapter 1 Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her. The judge, a formidably heavy-featured man, rolled up the sleeves of his black robe as if to physically chastise the two young men standing before the bench. His face was cold with majestic contempt. But there was something false in all this that Amerigo Bonasera sensed but did not yet understand. “You acted like the worst kind of degenerates,” the judge said harshly. Yes, yes, thought Amerigo Bonasera. Animals. Animals. The two young men, glossy hair crew cut, scrubbed clean-cut faces composed into humble contrition, bowed their heads in submission. The judge went on. “You acted like wild beasts in a jungle and you are fortunate you did not sexually molest that poor girl or I’d put you behind bars for twenty years.” The judge paused, his eyes beneath impressively thick brows flickered slyly toward the sallow-faced Amerigo Bonasera, then lowered to a stack of probation reports...
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