There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff, Review By Me
3 stars
Meg Rosoff's comical look at Deity in "There Is No Dog" is about a lazy, selfish teenage boy called Bob, who is the God of the Earth. He falls in love with kind, sweet and very human Lucy. But when God falls in love there are always disastrous consequences for the earth and its inhabitants...at least that is what the jacket says this book is about.
That storyline is definitely only one of myriad things going on. And I mean myriad. Whilst the realistic development of Bob and Lucy's relationship is central to the somewhat detached storyline, other characters in the book get a lot of 'face-time', which was interesting...but at the same time a little annoying. I got sick of reading about Mona (Bob's mum).
I was also hoping that there would be a dog in this book, so that there would be more than the obvious to the title. But there really is no dog...only an Eck, the weird penguin-like last-of-a-species pet that belongs to Bob, but Mona loses Eck in a drunken, gambling bet against Emoto Hed. Hed's daughter, Estelle, likes Eck, and Mr. B, Bob's right-hand-god in the running of the earth, likes Estelle. Confused? That's only the gods' part of the story!
Several deep questions and themes were subtly posed throughout this book however I couldn't quite take them seriously due to the sarcastic and irreverent mood. Rosoff's wit had me laughing out loud in places, and cringing in others, with the odd raised eyebrow thrown in for good measure (this is not your typical "G" rated teen book).
Althought I was able to predict much of what happened, the short chapters kept me interested. As did Bob. I actually really loved Bob. He has quite a poignant character arc and in the end, well, it was inevitable (you have to read it to see what I mean).
When I finished this book I was neither impressed nor dissatisfied...and since we're on the topic of God I think He said somwhere that if you're not hot or cold but lukewarm, He will spew you out of His mouth.
If you're looking for something clever and different, give this book a go. Just go in with your eyes wide open.
[review completed for Penguin NZ]