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A Dog’s Purpose Back-of-Book Description
A Dog’s Purpose shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love.
Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog’s Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog’s many lives, but also a dog’s-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man’s best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.
My Thoughts
To my friends and family, it’s no secret that I’m a big lover of animals – especially dogs. I’ve had my dog Baker for about eleven years now and he’s my best furry little friend.
So I was thrilled when I received A Dog’s Purpose as a gift for Christmas last year – I’m just sorry it has taken me so long to finally read it!
My initial thoughts when beginning this book were a little… apprehensive. For two reasons.
The first being, I have already read a book like this! Well, one that was written in the same style – from the dog’s perspective. You may have read my review of A Right To Live by Christine Duts. It’s much lesser known, no movies about it and not on the best sellers list.
The second thought was one similar to how I felt about A Right to Live, it seems like it would be suited to a younger audience. I say this because briefly for me (and probably other people) you think “Ok. Let’s pretend we know what a dog must be thinking.”
Fortunately for me, I was able to get past that thought (for both books).
The first chapter was a little slow-moving for me, mostly because it was such a huge reminder of the other story I’d read. But after that, as the story progressed, I realized it was actually quite different.
Instead of being one long story about the life of a dog, A Dog’s Purpose explores the notion of reincarnation. The dog lives one life, then dies, and wakes up to a new life, remembering everything from the previous ones.The book continues on this way for four lives, each time learning different skills and experiencing different emotions.
I like that it builds on the things he learns – it mad me think of all the silly, hard to train dogs I’ve seen, and all the well mannered, easy to train dogs I’ve seen.
It might sound silly. And in all honesty, it is a little bit juvenile. But it really was heartwarming and entertaining.
Favorite Quotes From the Book
As cute and “heartwarming” as this book is, there weren’t many “Oh my gosh that’s a good line!” moments.
“Because failure isn’t an option if success is just a matter of more effort.”
“Humans were capable of so many amazing things, but too often they just sat making words, not doing anything.”
“Dogs have important jobs, like barking when the doorbell rings, but cats have no function in a house whatsoever.”
In Conclusion
Overall I did think A Dog’s Purpose was pretty cute and I don’t feel like it was a waste of time. I enjoyed the sense of feeling like maybe my dog has some of the thoughts expressed in the story. And it makes you feel kind of special for being such a huge part of an animal’s life. 3 stars.
Oh! And apparently, if one book and a movie aren’t enough, there’s a sequel! The dog’s story continues in A Dog’s Journey. I think the two of these might be a perfect gift for a young reader who loves dogs!
This post was proofread by Grammarly
