Dogs in literature

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  • ishmael
    Banned
    • Jun 2000
    • 23518

    Dogs in literature

    I posted this on Chad's thread, but thought it was a starter on its own.

    "Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost."

    London
  • uncas
    Ancient Mariner
    • Sep 2004
    • 11649

    #2
    Old Yeller is about the only book I know with a dog as its theme.
    The Yearling...well, a deer has four feet.

    Comment

    • ishmael
      Banned
      • Jun 2000
      • 23518

      #3
      I quickly think of Boatswain's epitaph. Byron at his darkly best. People dwell on the opening stanza, but it's typical Byron. How few are the characters in fiction!

      Near this spot
      Are deposited the Remains of one
      Who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
      Strength without Insolence,
      Courage without Ferocity,
      And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
      This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
      If inscribed over human ashes,
      Is but a just tribute to the Memory of
      BOATSWAIN, a DOG
      Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803,
      And died at Newstead, Nov 18th, 1808.


      When some proud son of man returns to earth,

      Unknown to glory, but upheld by birth,

      The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of woe,

      And storied urns record who rest below:

      When all is done, upon the tomb is seen,

      Not what he was, but what he should have been:

      But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,

      The first to welcome, foremost to defend,

      Whose honest heart is still his master's own,

      Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,

      Unhonour'd falls, unnoticed all his worth,

      Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth:

      While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,

      And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.

      Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,

      Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power,

      Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust,

      Degraded mass of animated dust!

      Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,

      Thy smiles hypocrisy, thy words deceit!

      By nature vile, ennobled but by name,

      Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.

      Ye! who perchance behold this simple urn,

      Pass on --- it honours none you wish to mourn:

      To mark a friend's remains these stones arise;

      I never knew but one, --- and here he lies.

      [ 03-20-2006, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: ishmael ]

      Comment

      • uncas
        Ancient Mariner
        • Sep 2004
        • 11649

        #4
        Donn
        Damn, I forgot about Terhune. It has been a long time.
        If I remember correctly, he wrote about collies.

        "Lassie Come Home" perhaps?

        [ 03-20-2006, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: uncas ]

        Comment

        • Paul Pless
          pinko commie tree hugger
          • Oct 2003
          • 124805

          #5
          Being a Rottweiler fancier I've found these to be interesting: Good Dog Carl , though I haven't the foggiest if children enjoy them or not. Its nice to see the breed cast in a positive light.

          [ 03-20-2006, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: Paul Pless ]
          Simpler is better, except when complicated looks really cool.

          Comment

          • Chancie23
            Too Young to be a Senior
            • Sep 2004
            • 13902

            #6
            Also about collies, "Lad of Sunnybrook Farm."

            I think the book "Follow My Leader" featured a German Shepard.
            Pet photography, the degree you get when you fail aromatherapy - Duck D.

            Comment

            • meerkat
              Senior Member #4667
              • Feb 2002
              • 21774

              #7
              "101 Ways To Wok Your Dog"
              If you don't think for yourself, someone else will do it for you!

              Comment

              • uncas
                Ancient Mariner
                • Sep 2004
                • 11649

                #8
                And then Meer, there is the "how to book"
                Teaching Your Dog To Relieve On Command.
                Now that one is on my shopping list.

                ps. saw that book at the Hinckley boatyard and thought it was appropriate. I'm going to teach Ceiligh to urinate on the yard's gate sign. Of course, I'd have to teach her to lift a leg first..

                [ 03-20-2006, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: uncas ]

                Comment

                • ishmael
                  Banned
                  • Jun 2000
                  • 23518

                  #9
                  Farley Mowat's The Dog Who Wouldn't Be is worthy. Fiction.

                  You'd think, because they are so central, a larger literature would have grown up around them. I'm sure there is sachrine stuff, like Rin Tin Tin, but why not more about them and their roles? Dogs are the most central personal animal in human history. I think they've gotten short schrift.

                  [ 03-20-2006, 09:18 PM: Message edited by: ishmael ]

                  Comment

                  • uncas
                    Ancient Mariner
                    • Sep 2004
                    • 11649

                    #10
                    Ish
                    The rusty gears are turning. Read that one. Again, it was so long ago I had forgotten about it.

                    Comment

                    • paladinsfo
                      Senior Senior Member
                      • Dec 2000
                      • 26476

                      #11
                      y'all done forgot Rin Tin Tin
                      Wakan Tanka Kici Un
                      ..a bad day sailing is a heckuva lot better than the best day at work.....
                      Fighting Illegal immigration since 1492....
                      Live your life so that whenever you lose, you're ahead."
                      "If you live life right, death is a joke as far as fear is concerned."

                      Comment

                      • ishmael
                        Banned
                        • Jun 2000
                        • 23518

                        #12
                        From what I can gather Byron's Boatwain was the only unequivicol lover Byron ever had. He had other lovers, most notably a close relative, but Boatswain gave him something dogs just give. The epitaph says that. It's beautiful, because it says that.

                        And please, don't go into your adolescent sexuality. I'm quite sure Byron wasn't having sex with his dog.

                        Comment

                        • meerkat
                          Senior Member #4667
                          • Feb 2002
                          • 21774

                          #13
                          Gee, I'll bet nobody would have thought of Boatswain boning Byron if you hadn't described the relationship in such a puerile way.
                          If you don't think for yourself, someone else will do it for you!

                          Comment

                          • Uncle Grumpy
                            Extra Salty
                            • Aug 2003
                            • 1801

                            #14
                            John Muir - Stickeen.
                            John Steinbeck -Travels with Charlie
                            Jack London- To Build a Fire and Call of the Wild

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                            • uncas
                              Ancient Mariner
                              • Sep 2004
                              • 11649

                              #15
                              No wonder Byron died young!

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