I don’t read the classics very often, but this novel is part of a collection that I am slowly gathering. I decided, for reasons I won’t get into here, that I should start buying physical copies of banned books as well as books that have a possibility of being banned in the near future. This novel was on one of those banned books lists.
I didn’t know much about this book going in, I think the only thing I knew was that it was going to be outdoorsy. I was intrigued when I saw that the story started off written from the point of view of a dog. I was skeptical when I started to realize that the entire story was going to be told from his perspective. But by the end of the story I realized that this story, a piece of historical fiction, needed to be written from the perspective of a dog to really get across what a terrible time it was to be a dog in that part of the world. So while this is a piece of fiction, a lot of what occurs could be events that actually happened. During the gold rush of the 1890s, when man realized that traveling in the harsh, cold winters in Canada couldn’t be done by horse, they turned to dogs. Dogs were bought, sold, traded, and stolen, and they were all worked to the bone pulling sleds while living on meager rations and forced to sleep outdoors in the snow at night. I understand now why this book was on a banned list as I could see why public schools might not want their students to read this. There are many passages in this novel that would upset animal lovers.
I don’t think this is a book I will read again, once was enough in my opinion. Even though my new philosophy is to donate books that I know I won’t read again, I think I am going to make an exception for books that I bought as part of the banned collection. Chances are slim that this book, as well as many of the others on my list, won’t be destroyed completely, but I think it is important to preserve literature and I will do my part.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 