i read a book

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

It's a sad story. tragic. about a man whose wife fell from a tree and died. accidental or suicide? the only witness was their dog, Lorelei. so in desperation I believe, he wants to teach her to speak to find out if Lexy really killed herself. From the first chapter to the last, the 'narrative weaves in and out of the past and present'.. their personalities and how their personalities came to be are revealed. sometimes, some ideas are rather unrealistic like an underground society that operates on dogs to try to make them speak, and that also includes heart-wrenching details of what happened to the dogs. so, probably a no-go for dog lovers. you might be tempted to rip off the pages. well anyway, i kinda felt like the husband was becoming quite crazy but that would make the whole story quite senseless. so i kind of attributed that madness to his grief for losing his wife just like that.

It's sad. and especially how it tries to show how one who's about to kill herself might have felt on her last day. The resolution to end one's life. The strong belief that nothing else could make her life any better. No, I don't support the act of ending my own life. It is not right, though one can find many reasons to almost justify it. I am thankful that I know of that one Hope that can keep me alive even if everything else falls apart.

I wouldnt say many will like this book, because i dont believe i have the same taste in books as others. i finished it in one night, couldnt put it down.. but i liked it. just somewhat different from usual stories. hmm for the moment i've lost my interest in detective stories.


Through the book i got to know of a Scottish folktale called Tam Lin. A knight who was captured by the faerie queen. One day he met Janet by chance and they fall in love. but he was to be sacrificed by the queen one night so that she could gain more powers. so Janet was to rescue him by pulling him away while the queen and her company rode to the place to sacrifice him. He will then be turned into different forms; beasts, serpent and then finally even, molten metal. The challenge was that during the whole transformation, Janet was to hold on tight to him. only then, can he be freed from the Queen. A pretty interesting tale.
This is the ending in the form of a poem:

Out then spoke the fairy queen,
and an angry queen was she:
"You have take the finest knight in all my company!

Had I known but yesterday
what I know today
I'd have taken out your two gray eyes
and put in eyes of clay.
And had I known but yesterday
you'd be no more my own
I'd have taken out your heart of flesh
and put in one of stone."


Read the originals here. or even here.