RE: Dogsbody By: Diana Wynne Jones
A Book that I Read Once
From: Travis
June 30, 2020
#KidsBooks4Adults
I liked this book rather well.
I only knew about it because Neil Gaiman did the introduction (which I read about in 'View from the Cheap Seats'). I only really knew about Diana Wynne Jones because of Howl's Moving Castle, but learning that Mr Gaiman and Ms Jones had been friends in Mr Gaiman's book (and hearing his overall reaction to this book- more later), I was compelled to pick this up.
Though there is a lot going on in Dogsbody; stars turning into dogs as punishment for interstellar crimes and then being chased by celestial bad guys and getting help from the sun, the moon, and even random mythological characters while trying to navigate a tense, impromptu familial situation with international strife -- I found it most enjoyable when it was just about a dog learning how to be a dog. Sirius learning how to navigate the body of a dumb, clumsy puppy after the wealth of galactic powers, fighting with his dog brain as much as the household cats was funny and charming, and probably what would make someone categorize this as a 'children's' book ... and not that it couldn't work in that category, but, as previously mentioned, there is a lot more going on here.
To her credit, Ms Jones essentially gives you an out for the darker, sadder stuff -- by filtering all the human drama through a dog's brain, it is removed (and maybe confusing) enough for younger readers to completely miss it and allow them to focus on a dog figuring out how to also be a detective, but the method also gives the older audience enough clues to figure out exactly how much stress and suffering his young owner is enduring and the greater implication of what his activities on earth are.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, sci-fi, dogs or any combination thereof. I would also highly recommend the version with Mr Gaiman's introduction -- while I enjoyed the book, I was truly touched by his comments about his long-time friend. I also recommend that you do wait until after you've read the book, as he suggests, because the book's ending and his intro go hand-in-hand and I'm not sure you can really have the full impact of one without the other.