Being the owner of a collie, this story drew me in. I wanted to know the fate of this dog, but I also got caught up in the story beyond the hook that got set in my mouth in the first place. Unlike a five-pound bass, I didn't fight, but stayed up a little past my bedtime to make sure I finished it. Glad I did.
David Greg Taylor replied on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 08:37pm
It seems so stange that I came across this story (the first one I have read from this website), because last Sunday my collie (Fergus) had to be put to sleep after a long illness, and I have been missing him very much. I loved the way you wrote Barry - you really captured the almost human qualities that these dogs seem to possess at times, and the way they always seem to know exactly what is going on. Your characters were one-off originals; I found that I couldn't stop reading this story (even when my eyes started hurting from the awful whiteness of the screen). Thank you for the lovely story and for giving me a way to farewell an old and very dear furry friend.
Elizabeth King replied on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 06:43am
When I first read this, I thought, 'Oh no, another story in that painful American short story tradition in which there is such distance between narrator and characters that the story, no matter what happens, is conventional minimalism.' But then I reached the end and thought, 'Sweet.'
Having just finished "Mentor," I am enjoying reading some of Tom's fiction. I recognize his voice and sense of humor in his writing and I'm glad I read "Mentor" first. Doing so let me inside Tom's head a little so that reading the stories are almost like hearing him tell them!
Of course, being a dog lover didn't hurt while reading this story, and I agree with another comment that Tom captured the dog's manner as well as the human's reactions perfectly.
Being the owner of a collie, this story drew me in. I wanted to know the fate of this dog, but I also got caught up in the story beyond the hook that got set in my mouth in the first place. Unlike a five-pound bass, I didn't fight, but stayed up a little past my bedtime to make sure I finished it. Glad I did.
It seems so stange that I came across this story (the first one I have read from this website), because last Sunday my collie (Fergus) had to be put to sleep after a long illness, and I have been missing him very much. I loved the way you wrote Barry - you really captured the almost human qualities that these dogs seem to possess at times, and the way they always seem to know exactly what is going on. Your characters were one-off originals; I found that I couldn't stop reading this story (even when my eyes started hurting from the awful whiteness of the screen). Thank you for the lovely story and for giving me a way to farewell an old and very dear furry friend.
When I first read this, I thought, 'Oh no, another story in that painful American short story tradition in which there is such distance between narrator and characters that the story, no matter what happens, is conventional minimalism.' But then I reached the end and thought, 'Sweet.'
Having just finished "Mentor," I am enjoying reading some of Tom's fiction. I recognize his voice and sense of humor in his writing and I'm glad I read "Mentor" first. Doing so let me inside Tom's head a little so that reading the stories are almost like hearing him tell them!
Of course, being a dog lover didn't hurt while reading this story, and I agree with another comment that Tom captured the dog's manner as well as the human's reactions perfectly.