There was a long and very nice review of A Farewell to Arfs yesterday by John Wilson, senior editor of the Marginalia Review of Books, published in yesterday’s Washington Examiner. The review, titled A Farewell to Arfs and the Underrating of Collection Fiction, is behind a paywall, but here’s an excerpt:
Their latest adventure, recounted in A Farewell to Arfs, is their 15th, but it betrays no sense, such as I have sometimes experienced when reading a book in a long-running series, that the author is making a mighty effort to maintain his own interest in the story. On the contrary: The contagious zest that animated the very first book in the series, immediately drawing me in, continues unabated here. Part of the appeal, from the outset, is the way these books do several things at once. The premise of a story narrated by a dog is funny, though some people find it annoyingly “cute” and simply can’t get into the books. That’s fine! Let a thousand flowers bloom. Some fellow fiction readers to whom I’ve praised the series have asked me, eyebrows raised, “A talking dog?” No, I have duly explained. Chet is emphatically not a talking dog. He is rather a narrating dog, something entirely different.
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Good day to all.
Definitely a key part of the real charm is Chet’s standing as an “unreliable” narrator, a special sub-genre that I think Chet dominates at this time. I attended Malice Domestic a couple of years ago where there was a panel on unreliable narrators, but the panel really missed the point. It was primarily about books like Gone Girl and similar ones where you don’t know whether the narrator’s truthful or good or bad. But at the end of the panel session, I stood up and set them straight about what an unreliable narrator truly was and how the Chet and Bernie series represented the best example of an unreliable narrator. Chet would have been proud.
And so would I have been, WTAFP!
Let a thousand flowers bloom. I love that.
Yes, a narrating dog. That is what drew me to the books. I can’t stand books where the dog “talks” like really. Same goes for movies. I can’t stand the remake of The Incredible Journey where the animals talk to each other. But I love the original with just a narrator. It’s a fine line. When I dog just “thinks” out loud but no humans hear them, that’s fine. There was a very short lived (8 episodes) show called Downward Dog (2017) that I loved because the dog narrated to the audience but the humans were clueless. It was very Chet-like only Martin wasn’t as positive about life. He had a streak of angst, not unlike Henri: le Chat noir. He was a worrier and had a bit of separation anxiety. Perhaps that was the draw. He was worry-protective of Nan, whereas Chet is Positive-protective of Bernie. It is the very unreliability of Chet’s observations that I love. Some of them make me laugh out loud.
The weather continues glorius and I continue to work in the yard. The logs of the Schefflera from hell are now cut to a reasonable size to fit into the green bin for collection. I’m about to make more by climbing the extension ladder and cutting down branches from the second Sweet Bay Laurel which is going to be completely removed. I think I will have to hire an arborist to pollard the remaining tree.
The tomatoes are starting to come fast. I’ve been eating them fresh but I think the time is soon approaching where I will have to make sauce to freeze. not enough are ripening at the same time to warrant canning. But I am hoping by next summer to have enough plants of both tomatoes and basil to can and make pesto to last me for the year.
Heute ist Tag der deutschen Sprache.
It is National Hoagie day and National Cream-filled Donut day. That sounds like a meal right there. Maybe two. Finish it off with a Gobstopper as it is National Gobstopper day.
Interesting that is is both National Sober day and National Rosa Tequila day.
If you own a Studebaker, today is your day to drive it.
A heads up to WTAFP and OFA. Tomorrow is Wife Appreciation day. Plan accordingly.
Fabulous comments today, friends!
And, ja, ML, ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch. (Autocorrect does not like my sentence at all.)
Ich spreche auch ein bisschen Deutsch.