http://www.garthstein.com/forum/list.php?4 EN Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:20:46 -0600 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:20:46 -0600 The Art of Racing in the Rain Phorum 5.1.25 60 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,51,51#msg-51 michael395 The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,51,51#msg-51 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:20:46 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,46,50#msg-50 michael395 The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,46,50#msg-50 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:13:00 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,48#msg-48 rosi dramatic BUT here we go there is always a first time. And yes all of us (friends, family, dog owners, neighbours) have read the book in minimum time ("cant put it down", "have to read this book dont disturb me", "cant go out with you sorry, I have some prior engagement") and have cried in various and very different ways. And because we are all different, I heard numerous quotes and passages being reflected upon. Quite interesting I found ...
I have immensly enjoyed emersing myself into Enzo's world and have found that it is a very simple but touching story, well written and more than anything narrated in a beautiful way. Our whole family loves dogs and we also watch the F1, what a combination, never would have thought of putting these two together?
My little sister, who gave me the copy, doesn't read half as much as I do, but asked me what else Garth Stein writes and where she can get it in German, she doesn't think she would manage an English version, but I am sure she would. One thing though, topping something this good, is always hard and looking at the other books, they deal with such different topics.
THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US
rosi from vienna/austria
formerly st ives/cornwall-gb]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,48#msg-48 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:10:29 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,46,47#msg-47 rosi dramatic After years in the UK I have recently moved back to Vienna and got a German copy of Enzo-Racing in the Rain, after it has made the rounds in my sisters street for months.
So I have a double wammy, as I read a lot in English and German, so I tried to imagine an English voice and I must say that it is not an easy task, but I shall think about it and let you know what my personal preference would be!
I actually dont see Denny in Patrick Dempsey I must admit, he ist too "clean" although his height is probably right.
greetings to all of you
rosi from vienna/austria
formerly st ives/cornwall]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,46,47#msg-47 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:52:40 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,46,46#msg-46 Pete McCrary
But who will narrate the voice over for Enzo? My ideas (in no particular order):

James Earl Jones
Morgan Freeman
Hal Holbrook

Love to hear other ARR fans ideas.

Pete]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,46,46#msg-46 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:12:54 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,41#msg-41 ralfwk It really was an easy read, but at the same time including one such strong and clear message about life in general, which seems often so complex: that you are by your actions the creator of your own destiny.
Additionally I was under the impression that my dog was very close to talking and that it must have been frustrating for her not being able to communicate exactly what she wanted, but most of the time we actually understood her (or so we believed).
Anyways, but there was one minor thing I didn't agree with Enzo ;) : For me Schumacher was equal, if not the better driver than Senna (who was IMHO elevated a bit too high both as a person and as a driver by his death), particularly in the rain. I was witnessing the race 1996 in Barcelona where Schumacher earned his nickname "rainmaster" and lapped at times 3 secs faster than everyone else in heavy rain.

Anyways, thanks for a great read and good luck with future endeavours.

Greetings from Germany,

Ralf]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,41#msg-41 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:28:20 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,40,40#msg-40 sarah
Personally, I think the golden color is kind of appealing for Enzo, though with some wiry terrier hair.]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,40,40#msg-40 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:09:01 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,39#msg-39 freetomato The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,39#msg-39 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:53:08 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,38#msg-38 freetomato
I have five (yes five) dogs: 2 elderly chocolate labs, a golden retriever, a rat terrier, and a recently adopted golden retriever/german shepherd puppy. I can honestly say that my labs (the only dogs I had at one point) kept me sane during the worst period of my life. My old labs are now, sadly, in their twilight years. Enzo's eloquence regarding his struggles with aging, his acceptance about the end of his life as a dog, and his anticipation of his next incarnation nearly brought me to tears, as I can almost see those thoughts in the deep, cloudy eyes of my 13 year old friends.

I can't wait to share this wonderful book with my dog-loving friends.

I hope that at some point it is adapted for the screen, and that Mr. Stein's lovely story is adapted by the author himself.

Thank you, Mr. Stein. Based on this exceptional book, I look forward to reading more of your work.]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,38#msg-38 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:50:24 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,37#msg-37 bardot In the book there is just a thing that I don't understand: why does Enzo die before Danny and Zoe leave for Italy?
Enzo's faithfullness and goodness move to cry, he's wanderfull.
IT shouldn't have been the right prize for him to see their happyness?
However it's a great story, one should read it to learn many things.

Thanks]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,37#msg-37 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:12:23 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,36#msg-36 Pete McCrary
Your triple use of name "Enzo" (two direct, one implied) was an absolutely brilliant twist to the book. Very well thought out writing.

It will be hard to top ARR.]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,36#msg-36 Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:17:58 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,34#msg-34 ONEBADBUG
Here is something I wrote about my dog who just died.

Bye Bye Birdy

There’s a hole in my heart. People say your heart is broken when you lose someone you love, but that’s not right, because if your heart was broken it wouldn’t work anymore. Mine still works, it just doesn’t work as well as it used to. This is the latest of several holes I have now, and I think that the new hole may have opened some of the old ones too, because I can feel them again and my heart barely works at all.

There’s a farm just outside of town where I used to live, and there’s a lot of dead dogs buried out there. Two of them are mine. Actually, one of those wasn’t supposed to be mine, it was supposed to belong to the lady who owns the farm, but once I left the farm and bought my own house, the farm lady brought her to my new place. I came home one day and there she was, the Shit Bird. That’s what I named her. It was supposed to be a joke, but Bird quickly decided that was her name, so that was that. I took her back to the farm, but the farm lady brought her right back, so I gave in. I really didn’t want to keep her for the same reason the farm lady didn’t want her. Bird had a pretty severe character flaw, she was a vicious killer. That’s all you have to say to a lot of people and they don’t want to know any more, but it’s not that simple.
The remarkable thing is, that was really Bird’s only character flaw. I never had a problem working around it, I learned to always be aware of any possibility for her to attack some other creature, and never let her have the chance. Other people didn’t seem to be able to do that.
A lot of people just didn’t believe that she had a vicious side, she was so gentle with people it seemed impossible. Other people, believing the horror stories, never trusted her at all. They were foolish, her ability to contain her incredible strength was perfect. In 11 years of wrestling and play fighting, I never got a scratch, something I can not say about our other dogs. When she took a treat from your hand it was as soft as a kiss.

I know that I don’t grieve for Bird, I grieve for myself. She had a long and adventurous life and her future would have been one of pain and inactivity. The reason I am so sad is that I will miss all the things she used to do for me. I will miss her waiting at the door with her silly skinny tail banging into the wall. I will miss the way she would look right into my eyes like she knew the secrets of life we humans struggle to understand. I will miss the way she would come show the younger dogs how to do a trick when they just weren’t getting it. I will miss her giant bony head on my lap. I will miss the way she took the high spirited abuse from the younger dogs by pretending they weren’t even there. I will miss her running to me to get a drink straight from the hose. I will miss her coming to comfort me whenever I am upset. And I’m sad for all the people who never got to know her, their lives are lacking and they don’t even know it.
I know I need to learn to be happy again because that was what the Bird wanted for her people and I don’t want her to worry about me.

Bird was never afraid of anything except disappointing me, she was not even afraid of death. I wish she could have taught me how to be that way.]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,34#msg-34 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:47:37 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,29,29#msg-29 DavidL
In my work I try to come up with scalable processes – processes that work as well in larger spaces, as they do in smaller spaces. The concept of scalabiltity is brillantly applied to the individual in the passage about “believing that one’s car is merely an extension of one’s body. About believing that the track is an extension of the car, and the rain is an extension of the track…"

That passage made me think of the recent story of the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, who landed the plane in the Hudson River (link below). If one was trying to tell the story using the above template it would sound something like this “When both engines died the plane became an extension of the pilot and the river an extension of the plane and the all the people whose lives were impacted by the landing became an extension of the event.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e88PN6V64gk

There is a certain beauty in a man who took care of his business each day (without seeking fame) being able to instantly scale in a larger space. Not unlike the fictional character of Denny Swift.

David Levins]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,29,29#msg-29 Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:37:51 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,26#msg-26 torrentl The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,26#msg-26 Sat, 23 May 2009 12:35:00 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,25#msg-25 torrentl The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,25#msg-25 Sat, 23 May 2009 12:33:13 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,22,22#msg-22 michaelsean
In this, his third novel, Garth Stein gave himself the almost impossible task of telling his story from the perspective of the one participant whose faith in the protagonist can never be doubted: his dog. In so doing, Stein has created, in Enzo, an aging and surprisingly wise mutt, who is perhaps the most memorable narrator of the year.
--PNBA Awards Committee

Link to the Youtube.com video can be found below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF28kEX7t5k]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,22,22#msg-22 Tue, 12 May 2009 18:01:14 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,20#msg-20 michaelsean
http://www.robotnine.com/2009/05/church-signs-do-battle-over-dogs-souls.html

It does bring up an interesting question though... do dog's have souls? Feel free to response with a serious response or an amusing quip. Maybe just share your opinion on the dogma of Enzo. Whatever it is, we want to hear from you!]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,20,20#msg-20 Tue, 12 May 2009 09:44:50 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,19#msg-19 michaelsean The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,19#msg-19 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:41:01 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,16#msg-16 Samijo
Although I don't make crying on the train a habit, I thank you Garth for this wonderful story....you are a genius!!!

:-)]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,16#msg-16 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:00:03 -0600 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,11#msg-11 nmoscardi He's so smart that sometimes I keep looking at him and thinking if he also thinks like Enzo.

Enzo made me realize how beautiful, tricky and exciting life can be.
I cried so hard by the end of the book I almost couldn't read it ! hahaha
But it's a great way to make people think about what they do, how they act and in what place are they putting the ones that they love.

I'm from Brazil and I felt really proud to know that Enzo was such a big fan of Ayrton Senna !
He was definitely one of the greatest pilots ever and a very good exemple to Enzo's philosophies.
I really enjoyed the book. I can also say that I completely fell in love with Enzo and his knowledge, his strenght, his joy and his way to love.

It was a marvellous experience being able to read this book.
Thank you, Garth Stein.]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,11#msg-11 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:33:06 -0700 http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,9#msg-9 blossom_the_dam
Enzo is the sweetest, most insightful creature... we all could learn a lesson or two from him. I was most impressed with Enzo's attitude. No matter how devastating some of the events that occurred were, Enzo managed to maintain such an optimistic nature, always pointing out the positive side of each situation.

I also enjoyed reading a dog's perspective on some of the simplicites of life - very funny! Equally as humorous were the numerous "incidents" throughout the book pitting Enzo against his arch enemy, the zebra!

I was so impressed and enchanted by this book that I read it from cover to cover within two days and promptly recommended it to my sister; she read the entire book in ONE day!

I highly recommend this book to every dog lover. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" is the BEST book I have EVER read.

Thank you, Garth Stein. What a masterpiece!!]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain http://www.garthstein.com/forum/read.php?4,9,9#msg-9 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:52:53 -0700