Let's just say I was less than thrilled when I opened up this year's Newbery Award book, David Eggers's The Eyes & the Impossible, and realized it was a story told by a dog.
A dog.
I immediately had unpleasant memories of Smoky, the Cowhorse, the 1927 bomb (in my opinion) that had the horse "hankerin'" for anything from food to his stall. And let's not forget the 1992 winner, Shiloh, which I still think of as the boy/dog/triumph-over-evil yawner.
I admit, I had an attitude before I read the interminable first sentence:"I turn I turn I turn before I lie to sleep and I rise before the Sun."
I told myself to just take a deep breath and keep reading.
What the hell is this story about? Is this a dog's view of the World? Life? Immortality? The Universe?
Just keep reading, April.
The Equilibrium? Is this a religious exploration?
Just keep reading, April.
What are those hypnotic pictures about? And all those little faces? Is this a book set in a dystopic future? Is some group being targeted for round up and internment?
Just keep reading, April.
I was probably more than halfway through the book before I realized that, all my overreaching questions aside, I was caught up with Johannes (the Eyes) and his role in the animal community in which he lived. At the three-quarters mark, I had to finish the book to see the resolution. Would he succeed? Would he not?
I am glad I just kept reading.
I am being deliberately vague about the story, so as not to spoil it for any of you who may read it. Just know that I was smiling when I finished. (And if you do read the book, also admire the artwork, all "Illustrations of Johannes," by Shawn Harris, threaded throughout the novel in full-color, two-page spreads. The cover art is by Harris.)
The Eyes & the Impossible is about community and solidarity. It is about liberation. It is about going forth. It is also, as the author reminds us in an introductory note, about animals as animals and not as animals symbolizing people. (There are humans in the book.) "Here, the dogs are dogs..."
I first read David Eggers when his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius came out in 2000. A writer? Eggers is a writer, an artist, an activist, and more. Just go look him up.
So here's to the 2024 Newbery Award book and its author. This one is golden.
I am so glad I just kept reading.
2 comments:
I will certainly read it. Thanks for not spoiling it. Did taxes and found all your cards and reread them. You mean so much to me.
Ah, Kim, thank you for those heartfelt words. We have had several overly full days (weeks, months) and tonight I am just worn to a bone. You just lit up my heart.
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