Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Chatto & Windus (2008), 304 pages
Description
Tom Loxley, an Indian-Australian professor, is less concerned with finishing his book on Henry James than with finding his dog, who is lost in the Australian bush. Joining his daily hunt is Nelly Zhang, an artist whose husband disappeared mysteriously years before Tom met her. Although Nelly helps him search for his beloved pet, Tom isn't sure if he should trust this new friend. Tom has preoccupations other than his book and Nelly and his missing dog, mainly concerning his mother, who is suffering from the various indignities of old age. He is constantly drawn from the cerebral to the primitive -- by his mother's infirmities, as well as by Nelly's attractions. The Lost Dog makes brilliant use of the conventions of suspense and atmosphere while leading us to see anew the ever-present conflicts between our bodies and our minds, the present and the past, the primal and the civilized.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
Tom Loxley is a divorced, childless, Jamesian scholar who is stalled at the end of writing his book. He takes his dog to a friend's cabin in the bush in order to find the inspiration to finish but on a long tramp with the dog, the dog runs away and doesn't return. Tom's sometimes frantic and
There are a wealth of themes weaving throughout the tale. There's that of the immigrant and the outcast; there's familial duty and the inheritance of the past. Loss and redemption as well as desire and denial play their own enormous roles as the story builds to its climax. Despite the small action guiding the story, the search for the dog keeps the reader engaged and slightly tensed wanting an outcome even as Tom's life up until the loss of his dog unfolds slowly and with great deliberation reflecting the alternating hope and futility of the search itself.
The writing here is often times dense and rich in meaning with de Kretser showing her deftness with apt metaphors. Her descriptions are minute and startlingly accurate, a decided strength in a story with such an insubstantial plot driving the tale. If there's a weakness here, it's in the characters. Tom himself is hard to like, aimless and as stuck in his life as the conclusion of his scholarly research. Nelly Zhang is eccentric but stand-offish, even to the reader, exploiting her racial identity when it suits. And the long intervening amounts of text between when hints of mystery and understanding are dropped and when their threads are finally reintroduced into the story can induce a sense of frustration in a reader more accustomed to a straightforward writing style. But even with these considerations, it is clear that de Kretser is an accomplished and stylish writer. In the end, while I found it hard to sympathize or care for any of the characters, I wanted to know what happened to the dog, was impressed by the calibre of the prose, and amazed by the dexterity of keeping all the disparate plots going and ultimately interconnected. I look forward to reading de Kretser's other works.
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sometimes desultory search for his lost dog then weaves in and out of the other plot threads, flashbacks all: his childhood in India and then Australia, his marriage and its ultimate failure, his sexually frustrated obsession with his artist friend Nelly Zhang, and (the only non-flashback) of his mother's aging diminishment.There are a wealth of themes weaving throughout the tale. There's that of the immigrant and the outcast; there's familial duty and the inheritance of the past. Loss and redemption as well as desire and denial play their own enormous roles as the story builds to its climax. Despite the small action guiding the story, the search for the dog keeps the reader engaged and slightly tensed wanting an outcome even as Tom's life up until the loss of his dog unfolds slowly and with great deliberation reflecting the alternating hope and futility of the search itself.
The writing here is often times dense and rich in meaning with de Kretser showing her deftness with apt metaphors. Her descriptions are minute and startlingly accurate, a decided strength in a story with such an insubstantial plot driving the tale. If there's a weakness here, it's in the characters. Tom himself is hard to like, aimless and as stuck in his life as the conclusion of his scholarly research. Nelly Zhang is eccentric but stand-offish, even to the reader, exploiting her racial identity when it suits. And the long intervening amounts of text between when hints of mystery and understanding are dropped and when their threads are finally reintroduced into the story can induce a sense of frustration in a reader more accustomed to a straightforward writing style. But even with these considerations, it is clear that de Kretser is an accomplished and stylish writer. In the end, while I found it hard to sympathize or care for any of the characters, I wanted to know what happened to the dog, was impressed by the calibre of the prose, and amazed by the dexterity of keeping all the disparate plots going and ultimately interconnected. I look forward to reading de Kretser's other works.
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
Without going into plot, etc, The Lost Dog appealed to me on many levels, especially de Kretser's exploration of aging and modernity. On page 116, Nelly notes ..."doesn't setting out to reject the past guarantee you'll never be free of it? It's like being modern means walking with a built-in limp."
There is a lot more to this book that I won't go into here, certainly, and it is very much worth reading and pondering. The writing is incredibly good and this was definitely a character-driven novel which holds the reader through the end. I couldn't put it down once started, and I'd definitely recommend it.
4/5 stars
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I found this statement to be very perceptive. The author's use of imagery, especially that of the neon "Skipping Girl Pure Malt Vinegar" sitting there, alone, blacked out, unappreciated really hit me, and summed up something I've been feeling for a long time. The author states (on page 226)re the vinegar girl: "In acquiring mythic status she had become more and less than the product she embodied: a servant of the market who exceeded the commodity that bore her name. Once an emblem of modernity, she had fallen out of fashion and into a life of her own." For some reason, the truth built around this image resonated with me. Modernity is truly an ambivalent state (and state of mind as well) , and it seemed to me that this is one of the points de Kretser was trying to make. I also found her understanding of Iris's aging and the effects it had on Iris and Tom very engaging and thought provoking. There is a lot more to this book that I won't go into here, certainly, and it is very much worth reading and pondering. The writing is incredibly good and this was definitely a character-driven novel which holds the reader through the end. I couldn't put it down once started, and I'd definitely recommend it.
4/5 stars
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LibraryThing member Tmtrvlr
Although this writing style is enjoyed by some, I find it extremely annoying. The story was lost in the flowery language and non-stop metaphors. It was not a pleasant read for me. Because I don’t like the style doesn’t mean that this is a bad book, it was just too distracting for me to enjoy.
I recommend that you use the Amazon “look inside” feature and see if you like this style of writing.
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The characters are not anyone I would ever want to meet, except for the poor dog. I recommend that you use the Amazon “look inside” feature and see if you like this style of writing.
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LibraryThing member SandDune
The lost dog of the title is the framework on which the rest of this novel hangs. Tom Locksley has borrowed a remote house in the Australian bush belonging to his friend Nelly Zhang while he finishes his book on Henry James. As he prepares to leave and head back to the city his dog runs into the
In particular I enjoyed the story of Iris and Arthur's marriage, and Tom's own childhood in India and then Australia, which illustrate the changing attitudes of the post-colonial world. But I found Tom's obsession with Nelly Zhang and her art a little tedious: I couldn't see her attraction at all. The book flits backwards and forwards constantly in time and place which means it can be a little difficult to place a particular event, but it was full of beautiful vignettes which I would have loved to quote if I hadn't listened to it on audiobook. So overall, a well-written and interesting novel dealing with questions of identity and belonging, but which fell short of being a great read for me.
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bush after an animal and becomes lost. The novel follows the Tom over the next two weeks as he searches for his dog and deals at the same time with the increasing realisation that his elderly mother can no longer cope on her own. Interwoven with this is the story of Tom's own origins in India: the son of the British Arthur Locksley, a hard-drinking somewhat ineffectual man, and Iris de Sousa, of mixed Portuguse and Indian descent. Expected to marry a European at all costs, in her thirties Iris is forced to set her sights on the initially unprepossessing Arthur, but in post-independence India Arthur's Englishness is no longer the asset it would once have been. And also interwoven is the story of the Tom's more recent relationship with the artist Nelly Zhang and the group of artists who cluster around her.In particular I enjoyed the story of Iris and Arthur's marriage, and Tom's own childhood in India and then Australia, which illustrate the changing attitudes of the post-colonial world. But I found Tom's obsession with Nelly Zhang and her art a little tedious: I couldn't see her attraction at all. The book flits backwards and forwards constantly in time and place which means it can be a little difficult to place a particular event, but it was full of beautiful vignettes which I would have loved to quote if I hadn't listened to it on audiobook. So overall, a well-written and interesting novel dealing with questions of identity and belonging, but which fell short of being a great read for me.
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LibraryThing member kirstiecat
I've been really getting into Aussie fiction as of late. This is an author I've not read before but she has a very interesting writing style. She's actually Sri Lankan but has been living in Australia for most of her life. The protagonist of this novel also immigrated to Australia when he was a
Some memorable quotes:
p.85 "Tom said the scene reminded him of a woodcut in an old book of children's tales. It was like something remembered from a dream, said Nelly. 'Something marvelous and strange you can almost see under the skin of reality.'
p.146 "A perfect city is one you can walk out of."
p.183 "As long as we stay with Audrey, we have a roof over our heads. What can go wrong if you have a roof over your head?"
"It can fall in and crush you," said Tom.
p.233 "Tom knew that a lucky country was one where history happened to other people."
p.248-249 "To possess a city fully, it is necessary to have known it as a child, for children bring their private cartographies to the mapping of public places."
p. 285 "She sculpted the past according to whim, as a child plays with the future, each having an abundance of material."
"How could you know when something was the last time? wondered Iris. The last time a stranger turned to look at you in the street, the last time you could stand up while putting on your knickers, the last time there was no pain when you tried to turn over in bed, the last time you imagined your life would change for the better..."
p.298 "What was overwhelming, however, was the astonishment: the sheer scandal of falling. Tom was returned, in one swift instant, to childhood; for children, not having learned to stand on their dignity, are accustomed to being slapped by the earth."
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teenager after beginning it in India. The novel doesn't focus on race nearly as much as it does aging, family, and a mysterious sort of relationship between a writer and an artist. One thing disarming about the novel is the sheer honesty and absence of kitsch that is apparent throughout the text, especially when tackling the nature of the relationship between the protagonist and his mother. I also liked how it left somewhat open ended in solving a mystery that we very slowly gain bits of pieces of information about, as the main character himself does, throughout the story. The lost dog is, in some ways, what ties it all together but in a completely different way seems to be a metaphor for something very important that is unfathomly found eventually.Some memorable quotes:
p.85 "Tom said the scene reminded him of a woodcut in an old book of children's tales. It was like something remembered from a dream, said Nelly. 'Something marvelous and strange you can almost see under the skin of reality.'
p.146 "A perfect city is one you can walk out of."
p.183 "As long as we stay with Audrey, we have a roof over our heads. What can go wrong if you have a roof over your head?"
"It can fall in and crush you," said Tom.
p.233 "Tom knew that a lucky country was one where history happened to other people."
p.248-249 "To possess a city fully, it is necessary to have known it as a child, for children bring their private cartographies to the mapping of public places."
p. 285 "She sculpted the past according to whim, as a child plays with the future, each having an abundance of material."
"How could you know when something was the last time? wondered Iris. The last time a stranger turned to look at you in the street, the last time you could stand up while putting on your knickers, the last time there was no pain when you tried to turn over in bed, the last time you imagined your life would change for the better..."
p.298 "What was overwhelming, however, was the astonishment: the sheer scandal of falling. Tom was returned, in one swift instant, to childhood; for children, not having learned to stand on their dignity, are accustomed to being slapped by the earth."
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LibraryThing member Estramir
Wonderfully rich writing is on display here, filled with minute observations of life. The story jumps around in time alarmingly which seems to be a regular part of this writer's style. I found it a bit hard to like the aimless main character Tom who plods through his issues wearily, and he doesn't
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seem all that convincingly male either. There is more interest in the life of the enigmatic artist Nelly, and how the themes of her life become artwork. The lost dog holds the story together, and I guess Tom is a bit of a lost dog himself. A lot of interesting points are made but not expanded upon, for example how we would go to any length to save a dog, but don't care much for sheep, cattle and elderly people (which explains why you have to read it to the end, in order to find out what happens to the dog!) Show Less
LibraryThing member evilmoose
Meh. Wordy wordy literariness, it felt like I was being beaten over the head by the book, proclaiming loudly that it was Literature. As Tom searches for the dog, moments and conversations from the present and past are piled on top of each other, in an enormous heap that's supposed to be gradually
From the dust jacket, a quote that does a good job of summing up the writing within: "He is constantly drawn from the cerebral to the primitive - by his mother's infirmities, as well as by Nelly's attractions. The Lost Dog makes brilliant use of the conventions of suspense and atmosphere while leading us to see anew the conflicts between our bodies and our minds, the present and the past, the primal and the civilized." If that sounds appealing - well, then perhaps you will enjoy this, but it was not for me. Oh, and "... keeps us thinking until its rewarding close" - I did not find the close rewarding, except that it meant I was finally finished. Most pretentious book I've read this year.
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revealing, but to me felt like a disorganised mess. There were some moments I enjoyed, but overall... not so much. From the dust jacket, a quote that does a good job of summing up the writing within: "He is constantly drawn from the cerebral to the primitive - by his mother's infirmities, as well as by Nelly's attractions. The Lost Dog makes brilliant use of the conventions of suspense and atmosphere while leading us to see anew the conflicts between our bodies and our minds, the present and the past, the primal and the civilized." If that sounds appealing - well, then perhaps you will enjoy this, but it was not for me. Oh, and "... keeps us thinking until its rewarding close" - I did not find the close rewarding, except that it meant I was finally finished. Most pretentious book I've read this year.
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LibraryThing member MarilynKinnon
Rambling, thin meander with a lost dog as some kind of motif, covering old age, identity, colonial issues and with characters confused and arty and rather boring.
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2008)
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2009)
New South Wales Premier's Literary Award (Winner — 2008)
Barbara Jefferis Award (Shortlist — 2008)
Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Shortlist — Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction — 2008)
ALS Gold Medal (Winner — 2008)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
304 p.; 6.34 inches
ISBN
0701182105 / 9780701182106
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DDC/MDS
| 823.92 |