I finished reading "Marley & Me" on vacation last week, and if you're a pet lover, you have to read this book.
John Grogan, a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, chronicles his life and that of his family with what would become a 97-pound adult Labrador retriever without brakes and an almost childlike attitude toward life, loyalty and love.
Grogan paints wonderful scenes from South Florida's fast-forward east coast to a quiet farm in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. From the puppy who got tossed out of obedience class, to the dog who protected Grogan and a neighbor when it was literally a matter of life and death.
Some scenes are laugh-out-loud funny -- an outside dining experience and a toboggan incident in particular -- and invoke images of Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. Hey, Grogan even has a beard on the book jacket.
When the end comes -- as I knew it would -- the tears are real and many because Marley has become a member of the Grogan family. The loss is great and the poignancy with which Grogan conveys it is so sincere. It will stir within you not only the memories of pets who are gone, but of human loved ones lost as well.
At first, I brushed away the tears with my hand, but they kept coming -- and with more frequency. I was afraid the flight attendant would think my husband and I were in the midst of some kind of a horrible fight.
I finally found a tissue, closed the book for a bit and composed myself. My husband looked over and patted my hand. All I could say was, "It's Marley."
4 comments:
Scooby? Thatis exactly what I was thinking when I read about the Boca blastoff, the movie shoot and the toboggan free-for-all. I used 3 kleenex when I get to the end.
Oh, I bawled my eyes out! But then I thought about how truly loved this beautiful animal was (and always will be), and how sad it is that so many wonderful creatures won't ever experience that. And then I thought of the beloved pets I have lost, and I bawled some more.
I cried and cried! Who knew a book could do that to me.
Scooby? You're exactly right about that. Some of those stories were rightout of a cartoon.
Anybody who has lost a pet or a human loved one would love this book. be prepared to cry and cry and cry at the end
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