2008 Woodie Awards
BOOK CHECK: The God of Animals
Danny Dyer
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: A & E
The God of Animals
by Aryn Kyle
**** out of four stars
Twelve-year-old Alice Winston lives on a horse farm in Desert Valley, Colo. Her emotionally calloused father struggles to make a living, always waiting for his big break; her mother is bedridden with depression and has not gone downstairs in years; her sister, Nona, escapes the farm in a fit of passion to marry a young cowboy.
The author narrates "The God of Animals" with both Alice's maturity and what remains of her childish innocence--a remarkably engaging and revealing perspective that provides for a particularly extraordinary coming-of-age story. Alice must bear her family's faults while enduring the drudgery of farm work, the exhausting feeling of inadequacy when compared to her sister's accomplishments and the abandonment of being unloved.
Seeking love and acceptance in any place she can find it, Alice befriends one of her father's rich, horse-riding students. After a girl drowns in a nearby canal, Alice's yearning for further compassion drives her to fabricate an imaginary friendship with the girl, which spring-boards into a tender relationship with her English teacher. However, when her father tries to cope with financial problems by boarding the horses of rich neighbors, Alice is suddenly drawn into an environment where there are secrets and hard truths, where money means security and where cruelty, lies and heartless actions make their home.
Though it is not completely discernible at first glance, in retrospect, the novel seems completely dominated by a disheartening lack of sympathy, except between a select few characters. While it never becomes tedious or noticeable, it is a little bit unrealistic and overpowering to have Alice go through so much in so little time - but perhaps that is part of the book's charm.
Nonetheless, the novel is so spectacularly written that it is hard to stop reading. Kyle's prose is not self-conscious, as one might expect from a first effort; instead, it is completely natural and instinctive and, admittedly, very fun to read. Kyle's characters are true, imperfect beings, and the interplay and dialogue between them is vibrant and profound. The novel's thundering conclusion gives an acceptable, yet not quite satisfactory, resolution to the book. Even so, "Animals" contains so much intelligent writing that it is really worthy of even several reads in order to completely enjoy it.
by Aryn Kyle
**** out of four stars
Twelve-year-old Alice Winston lives on a horse farm in Desert Valley, Colo. Her emotionally calloused father struggles to make a living, always waiting for his big break; her mother is bedridden with depression and has not gone downstairs in years; her sister, Nona, escapes the farm in a fit of passion to marry a young cowboy.
The author narrates "The God of Animals" with both Alice's maturity and what remains of her childish innocence--a remarkably engaging and revealing perspective that provides for a particularly extraordinary coming-of-age story. Alice must bear her family's faults while enduring the drudgery of farm work, the exhausting feeling of inadequacy when compared to her sister's accomplishments and the abandonment of being unloved.
Seeking love and acceptance in any place she can find it, Alice befriends one of her father's rich, horse-riding students. After a girl drowns in a nearby canal, Alice's yearning for further compassion drives her to fabricate an imaginary friendship with the girl, which spring-boards into a tender relationship with her English teacher. However, when her father tries to cope with financial problems by boarding the horses of rich neighbors, Alice is suddenly drawn into an environment where there are secrets and hard truths, where money means security and where cruelty, lies and heartless actions make their home.
Though it is not completely discernible at first glance, in retrospect, the novel seems completely dominated by a disheartening lack of sympathy, except between a select few characters. While it never becomes tedious or noticeable, it is a little bit unrealistic and overpowering to have Alice go through so much in so little time - but perhaps that is part of the book's charm.
Nonetheless, the novel is so spectacularly written that it is hard to stop reading. Kyle's prose is not self-conscious, as one might expect from a first effort; instead, it is completely natural and instinctive and, admittedly, very fun to read. Kyle's characters are true, imperfect beings, and the interplay and dialogue between them is vibrant and profound. The novel's thundering conclusion gives an acceptable, yet not quite satisfactory, resolution to the book. Even so, "Animals" contains so much intelligent writing that it is really worthy of even several reads in order to completely enjoy it.