Marley & Me by John Grogan
Charity Shop: PDSA for pets in need of vets
Charity: The PDSA provides free veterinary services for the pets of needy owners in the UK (I can't find out what the acronym stands for! bonus points for anyone who can)
Price: 99p
Book Blurb: John and Jenny were young and deeply in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same. // Marley quickly grew into an uncontrollable ninety-seven pound steamroller of a Labrador retriever. Expelled from obedience school, even the tranquillisers prescribed by the vet couldn't stop him. // Yet through the chaos and the hilarity he won hearts and remained a steadfast model of devotion to his family, even when they were at their wits' end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.
Expectation: I'd watched the film so was expecting that. One scene that stuck in my mind was John trying to house-train marley, involving bringing the sofa into the street.
Reality: Marley had no trouble being house-trained, the film lies! Anyway, it was a very well-written true story of a fairly normal family with a slightly abnormal dog. In contrast to the lovely bones this was a very light hearted book and had me chuckling away. Dogs always provide good stories to tell, and Marley managed to provide enough to fill a book. But this was a book written following his death (it was written due to the huge response John got from other dog owners following his obituary for Marley - John is/was a newspaper columnist) and so it did end with him dying *sniff*. Marley died from old age, and suffered many of the same ailments as Blackie, which left me reminiscing about my childhood dog. As expected the ending was a bit sad, but not heartbreakingly so as afterall, it's just a dog.
Overall Rating
It was a struggle 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gripping page
to make it turner
A very enjoyable read, but as it lacked a storyline I wouldn't have been devastated to leave it half way through.
A very enjoyable read, but as it lacked a storyline I wouldn't have been devastated to leave it half way through.
Twist Scale:
Knew the beginning, As twisty as the
middle and end 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 bendy wendy road
from the first line
Life is never straightforward, and so there were a couple of surprising events. However as it is a real-life story rather than fiction, it wasn't crazily twisty.
Life is never straightforward, and so there were a couple of surprising events. However as it is a real-life story rather than fiction, it wasn't crazily twisty.
Tear-jerker Scale:
As dry as a house 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cried an ocean
throughout
Do tears of laughter count? Was a little sniffly at the end.
Moral of the Story: Dogs are great but not easy.
***
Coming up: The Hollow by Agatha Christie, can't go wrong with a classic.
Went back to Guildford last weekend hence the fortnight delay. However that does mean you get a bonus 2 reviews at once!
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