Book Review- A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain

 

A Dog's Tale (image from internet)

A short but bitter-sweet book!!

"A Dog’s Tale" is a classic story by the champion of words, Mark Twain. This sad story nonetheless is very beautiful. The reader is on a 'dog-ly' journey with this tiny read.

The first sentence of the story is "My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian.” The book is told from the outlook of a poor household pet, a dog named Aileen Mavourneen.

A Dog’s Tale depicts the life of a family (human) beheld through its canine companion (aka heroine of the novel). It's a unique view of how family members react to a disaster and their treatment of each member is emphasized by contrasting the dark and inconsiderate nature of humans with the benign and loyal nature of dogs. To me, the onset of the story was engaging, funny and full of life. But as the end proceeds, it was like a heavy hammer hitting one on the head. I sobbed at the brutality of innocence and was blown by the turn of events in the writing ( No…no!!! I am not going to tell the story. It is for the reader to explore and implore the book).

No matter how unexpected this read was but this was that book that left me feeling rather incomplete …speechless. A heart-rending story.

After reading, as I searched more on this book, I found that A Dog’s tale first appeared in Harper’s Magazine in December 1903. One month after its publication it was transformed into a pamphlet for the National Anti-Vivisection Society. I also found that Mark Twain was a pet lover and drew severe inspiration from the loyalty of dogs. He has written several quotes on dogs. Sharing a few-

1. "When a man's dog turns against him it is time for a wife to pack her trunk and go home to mama."

2. "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."

3. "I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the "lower animals" (so-called) and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man. I find the result humiliating to me."

4. "It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog."

5. "The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's."