Doggone literature

After venting  in my last post about the folly of forming a book group from a load of dog lovers I discussed the matter with a friend. She immediately observed that I was barking up the wrong tree and there was nothing wrong with the premise, but that where we went wrong was in not restricting our reading to animal books and most particularly to books about dogs. She assured me that this would have minimised conflict because our thoughts would not have strayed to potentially contentious non-doggie issues.

Her recommended reading list included:

101 Dalmations

Red Dog

Lassie

Rin Tin Tin 

Black Dog

Old Yeller

Blackfriars Bobby

Harry the Dirty Dog

The Diggingest Dog

Marley and Me

Hairy McClary

Lady & the Tramp

The Poky Little Puppy

The Call of the Wild

The Incredible Journey

Spot the Dog

The Hound of the Baskervilles

She also considered Tarka the Otter, My Friend Flicker, Babe and all the works of Beatrix Potter safe territory.

I can't test her hypothesis. We read what we read.  I can't recast Fairbridge Farm where David Hill spent his formative years, despite the near bestiality of many of the priestly practices, as an animal shelter nor can I turn Love In A Cold Climate, animalistic though it already is, what with 'that sewer of a dog' and the various Mitford sisters referring to their pregnancies as being 'in pig', into a kind of bitchy Wind in the Willows!

We were stuck with works of fiction and non-fiction about actual human beings, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. It is human to explore, to identify, to support, to quarrel, to disappoint, to move on in our individual journeys. Yesterday I bumped into the sister who was ostracised over the lawn mower incident. I realised that I like her a lot and want to talk to her about more than books. At the same time some of my most interesting talks about books are with people who wouldn't go near a book group. 


Perhaps I could found a group called the society of people from quite varied backgrounds, who like a wide range of different things, may or may not have a dog or cat and enjoy  each others' company. Wonder if that name is already taken in Google Groups?

I am still open to reading suggestions!