Call number
FIC HAI
Collection
Genres
Publication
Viking (2008), 352 pages
Description
The story of a family in crisis and the loyal dog that holds them together, from the witty, imaginative author of The Dead Fathers Club. The Hunters - Adam, Kate, and their children Hal and Charlotte - are a typical family, with typical concerns: work, money, love, the trials of adolescence. What sets them apart is Prince, their black labrador. Prince is an earnest and determined young dog. He strives to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact: Duty Over All. Other dogs, led by the springer spaniels, have revolted, but Prince takes his responsibilities seriously. As things in the Hunter family begin to go awry - marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide - he uses every canine resource to keep the clan together. In the end, Prince must choose: the family or the Pact? His decision may cost him everything. Wry, perceptive, and heartbreaking, The Labrador Pact is a cunning and original take on domestic life, with an improbably poignant narrator.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member LadyBlossom
Amazing and such an original book, perhaps the entire human race ought to read it and maybe they may begin (I hope) to see our animal friends in a new light. Fabulous..
LibraryThing member monzrocks
A novel about an ordinary British family told through the eyes of their labrador. The labrador believes he is responsible for the well-being of his family, and tries to protect them from themselves. Thought-provoking and worth your while.
LibraryThing member TheoClarke
Charming unsentimental tale of family breakdown described by a dog in a distinctive droll voice that does not shrink from harsh observations.
LibraryThing member streamsong
This is the one that I swore I wasn't going to listen to once I found out after purchasing it that the dog dies.
Labradors share a special special pact to take care of their family. This is the story of a labrador's eye view of one family's disintegration. The more our narrator tries to fix things,
Partly I chose to listen to this because I was intrigued to read that it is a retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IVth part II. Our four footed narrator's name is Prince. His best doggy friend is named Falstaff. Things go wrong and no matter how hard our hero tries to change this, bodies (dogs and humans) pile up, including, at the end our narrator.
You do find out in the first few sentences that the dog will be put down. However, it seems so inevitable from the beginning, so much the classic tragedy, that I didn't have the same emotional reaction that I do to most stories where the animal dies.
Labradors share a special special pact to take care of their family. This is the story of a labrador's eye view of one family's disintegration. The more our narrator tries to fix things,
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the more out of control they become. Partly I chose to listen to this because I was intrigued to read that it is a retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IVth part II. Our four footed narrator's name is Prince. His best doggy friend is named Falstaff. Things go wrong and no matter how hard our hero tries to change this, bodies (dogs and humans) pile up, including, at the end our narrator.
You do find out in the first few sentences that the dog will be put down. However, it seems so inevitable from the beginning, so much the classic tragedy, that I didn't have the same emotional reaction that I do to most stories where the animal dies.
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LibraryThing member atreic
Heartbreaking page turner about a labrador who does all he can to save his family.
LibraryThing member riverwillow
Sadly this book didn't grab me in the way that Haig's other book, The Radleys, did. I loved the idea of the Labrador Pact, loved Prince - he reminded me of my aunt's labrador, Fred - but I found the family so tiresome and two dimensional, even when mitigated through a dog's eyes I just couldn't
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care about them enough to really engage with the book properly. Show Less
LibraryThing member SandDune
'Nobody knows exactly how the Springer Uprising started. Or how. There are different stories, but it happened too quickly for anybody to be sure. Within no time at all, Springer spaniels could be found in almost every part of the country, spreading the word.' 'Dogs for Dogs, not for Humans' and
But of course Labradors are everything Springer spaniels are not: dutiful; obedient; prepared to sacrifice everything for their masters. So Prince, a young black Labrador, is a fervent adherent to the Labrador Pact, a resistance movement which reveres the Family as the most beautiful aspect of human existence, and the proper environment for a dog to live. 'Duty over All' is the motto of the Pact and Prince tries to follow this creed as dogs all around him live for the moment. But his family is falling apart: suicide attempts, marriage, breakdown and teenage problems mean that Prince's attempts to protect his family become more and more desperate.
The Last Family in England is a black comedy which starts with Prince awaiting his final appointment with the vet, and tells the story of how his breaking of the Pact led him to that position. I didn't enjoy this one as much as The Radleys by the same author which I read last year, but still a decent book and a good holiday read. And as someone who used to own a Springer Spaniel, the idea that Springers are responsible for an uprising makes perfect sense!
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'Pleasure before Duty' say the Springers and more and more dogs follow their lead.But of course Labradors are everything Springer spaniels are not: dutiful; obedient; prepared to sacrifice everything for their masters. So Prince, a young black Labrador, is a fervent adherent to the Labrador Pact, a resistance movement which reveres the Family as the most beautiful aspect of human existence, and the proper environment for a dog to live. 'Duty over All' is the motto of the Pact and Prince tries to follow this creed as dogs all around him live for the moment. But his family is falling apart: suicide attempts, marriage, breakdown and teenage problems mean that Prince's attempts to protect his family become more and more desperate.
The Last Family in England is a black comedy which starts with Prince awaiting his final appointment with the vet, and tells the story of how his breaking of the Pact led him to that position. I didn't enjoy this one as much as The Radleys by the same author which I read last year, but still a decent book and a good holiday read. And as someone who used to own a Springer Spaniel, the idea that Springers are responsible for an uprising makes perfect sense!
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LibraryThing member Iira
I expected this to be better. Funny and moving, yes, but also a bit naive and boring. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for this, also based on the conclusion that it took me forever to read. I'll give Haig another go at some point.
LibraryThing member Fence
I really had no idea what to expect from this book, it was simply sitting with the returns at the library and looked vaguely interesting. Plus I follow Haig on twitter despite having read only one of his books, The Radleys. So I picked this up.
It is such a good book. But there is something in it
I loved it, even though it is terribly sad. You can get a good feel for it by reading the first few pages.
It is a story about one dog and his family, and the things he will do to keep them safe. For that is a Labrador’s purpose you see, to protect the family and as long as he lives up to his obligations, everything is in a Labrador’s control. He simply needs to find the correct way to help them. He has that power. But it is also a heavy responsibility, and one that Prince, our narrator, feels lies heavy on him. Especially since the new neighbours moved in and Adam, his owner, is soon spending more and more time with Emily.
It is such an unusual book. All about modern life and relationships, as well as families and how they manage to survive, sometimes how they break apart. But it also has a whodunnit mystery in the middle of it, as well as asking questions about what we expect of our dogs.
I also recognised the name Falstaff as being a Shakespeare reference, and one of the children is called Hal, but I never read or studied those plays so I’m afraid I have no frame of reference ((I’m “like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie”)) for whatever allusions Haig was making there.
As I may have said earlier, I really enjoyed this one, and I’d urge you to give it a go. I’m certainly going to read more by Haig, and soon.
It is such a good book. But there is something in it
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that may put off some readers, I’ve even seen a review on Goodreads where someone rated it 1 stars because of this event, yet they didn’t read the whole book. But it is a spoiler, so I don’t want to give it away..I loved it, even though it is terribly sad. You can get a good feel for it by reading the first few pages.
It is a story about one dog and his family, and the things he will do to keep them safe. For that is a Labrador’s purpose you see, to protect the family and as long as he lives up to his obligations, everything is in a Labrador’s control. He simply needs to find the correct way to help them. He has that power. But it is also a heavy responsibility, and one that Prince, our narrator, feels lies heavy on him. Especially since the new neighbours moved in and Adam, his owner, is soon spending more and more time with Emily.
It is such an unusual book. All about modern life and relationships, as well as families and how they manage to survive, sometimes how they break apart. But it also has a whodunnit mystery in the middle of it, as well as asking questions about what we expect of our dogs.
I also recognised the name Falstaff as being a Shakespeare reference, and one of the children is called Hal, but I never read or studied those plays so I’m afraid I have no frame of reference ((I’m “like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie”)) for whatever allusions Haig was making there.
As I may have said earlier, I really enjoyed this one, and I’d urge you to give it a go. I’m certainly going to read more by Haig, and soon.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bearette24
I love Matt Haig's writing, but what a horrible ending.
Pages
352
ISBN
067001852X / 9780670018529