Sometimes, life brings us hopeless situations. While we all have our challenges, some have a lot more than others. Cordelia Strube's The Barking Dog drags us into a world that is plagued by hardship and sorrow.
Greer Pentland is a middle aged mother and wife is struggling with countless challenges. She is buried in sorrowful circumstances. Here is an abbreviated list of the miseries afflicting the central protagonist:
-She's a Realtor (ok, that's not really a misery but I had to laugh, as we have something in common...)
-She has breast cancer
-Her son is a social recluse who is suffering from untreated depression and OCD
-Her son is also on trial for murdering 2 of his neighbours in his sleep
-Her ex-husband is constantly picking fights with her
-Her live-in aunt constantly argues with her son, and refuses a much needed pacemaker
-Her son runs over a cat while driving and refuses to drive again
-Her only friend has a speech impediment that makes him almost impossible to understand
-The girl next door, who is schizophrenic and in crisis is unable to cope with her circumstances
-Her son kills himself in a car crash
-She kills herself.
Darker than dark, the complete absence of light is how I would summarize this novel. But I must stress that this novel is well written. The characters are well developed. The story is very depression though...like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
Now, here's what's interesting for me on a personal level. About 3 years ago while brushing my teeth and getting the lunch boxes sorted, I heard Cordelia Strube interviewed on CBC's Metro Morning. She was promoting the Creative Writing courses at Ryerson University as one of the instructors. Early that morning, one of Strube's comments captivated my interest. She said that she tries to coax her students to write the stories that they would never tell their parents.
I am now a student in Cordelia's class, and I have to say that she's a wonderful and inspiring instructor. She offers each student helpful direction with their writing, she is patient and she is generous of spirit. I hope that she continues to write and teach for many years to come. I am grateful to her for her writing and her encouragement. Thank you Cordelia!
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| Maybe it was THIS dog that was barking?!? |
Greer Pentland is a middle aged mother and wife is struggling with countless challenges. She is buried in sorrowful circumstances. Here is an abbreviated list of the miseries afflicting the central protagonist:
-She's a Realtor (ok, that's not really a misery but I had to laugh, as we have something in common...)
-She has breast cancer
-Her son is a social recluse who is suffering from untreated depression and OCD
-Her son is also on trial for murdering 2 of his neighbours in his sleep
-Her ex-husband is constantly picking fights with her
-Her live-in aunt constantly argues with her son, and refuses a much needed pacemaker
-Her son runs over a cat while driving and refuses to drive again
-Her only friend has a speech impediment that makes him almost impossible to understand
-The girl next door, who is schizophrenic and in crisis is unable to cope with her circumstances
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| Author and Teacher Cordelia Strube |
-She kills herself.
Darker than dark, the complete absence of light is how I would summarize this novel. But I must stress that this novel is well written. The characters are well developed. The story is very depression though...like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
Now, here's what's interesting for me on a personal level. About 3 years ago while brushing my teeth and getting the lunch boxes sorted, I heard Cordelia Strube interviewed on CBC's Metro Morning. She was promoting the Creative Writing courses at Ryerson University as one of the instructors. Early that morning, one of Strube's comments captivated my interest. She said that she tries to coax her students to write the stories that they would never tell their parents.
I am now a student in Cordelia's class, and I have to say that she's a wonderful and inspiring instructor. She offers each student helpful direction with their writing, she is patient and she is generous of spirit. I hope that she continues to write and teach for many years to come. I am grateful to her for her writing and her encouragement. Thank you Cordelia!
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