The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein

Enzo knows how to race in the rain, motor racing that is, despite being a dog.  He has learnt it all from Denny, with whom he lives.  Denny is a man, an amateur racing driver, who puts the sport on TV all the time: movies like Grand Prix and Senna; Formula One and NASCAR races; and even driver-view videos of the great racetracks.  Enzo knows when trouble hits the track, like rain, the best drivers respond positively, embracing the conditions, keeping the car on the road until things improve.

Enzo has learnt much more from watching daytime TV documentaries while Denny is at work.  One of these aired the Mongolian belief that good dogs reincarnate as humans.  He decides to prepare himself for that by careful study of mankind, which enables him to narrate the novel from his canine point of view intelligently and articulately.

He adapts when Denny’s girlfriend Eve moves in and is protective when their daughter Zoe is born.  But happy families can be a short game.  When tragedy, conspiracy, injustice and rank bad luck hit Denny he must, with Enzo’s help, apply the art of racing in the rain to keep his life on the track.

Accept the premise and the book flows well enough.  The slings and arrows that rain down are predictable but nonetheless affecting; ditto the conclusion.  Affinity with dogs and/or motor racing no doubt adds to the enjoyment but is not a prerequisite.

For me it was reminiscent of the inevitably superior ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ but with simpler prose; after all this one is narrated by a dog not a philosophy lecturer.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman

At least that I what she tells her social worker, her only visitor as she keeps herself to herself.  She lives alone, kept company by cheap bottles of vodka that help her through weekly conversations with her apparently institutionalised mother.  At work she keeps her head down and gets the job done.

Her life changes when she wins tickets to a music gig and is stricken by the lead singer of the support act.  It is love at first sight, for Eleanor at least; Johnnie Lomand is oblivious to her existence.

Eleanor realises that alterations are necessary to woo Johnnie – hair, clothes, social skills all need an upgrade – and stepping into the unknown to achieve them leads her into a whole new world of social interaction, including social media.  For help with her computing needs she seeks help from friendly but unprepossessing IT geek Raymond; her social pointers come from streetwise hairdresser Laura.

All the while hints emerge of the darkness in her past that has left her scarred (physically and emotionally).  And as the book progresses into the second half Eleanor’s life becomes a tug of war between the draw of her new life and the anchor of her past.

                                                                           

It is well written with plenty of humour in Eleanor’s discovery, not to mention dismay, of the modern world.  The portrayal of her older, darker, life that clings to her is equally well done.  Which will gain the upper hand?  By the end the reader fervently hopes that indeed Eleanor Oliphant will be completely fine.

Notes from an Exhibition – Patrick Gale

The eponymous exhibition is of paintings and ephemera of artist Rachel Kelly, recently deceased; and the notes that accompany each item form chapter headings that introduce aspects of her world.  The chapters slowly build a picture of her life and family, but the chronology is sliced and diced to tease and keep the reader engaged to the end, though the reveals confirm rather than confound expectations.

Rachel Kelly’s portfolio is broad with portraits, landscapes and abstract works on show; and Gale follows suit.  He sets many a scene with loving descriptions of the Cornwall landscapes.  He portrays an artist at work, a mother less than perfect, and a family as dysfunctional as most, bringing out emotional turmoil every bit as effectively as Kelly’s non-representative art.

It is well enough put together but as the family’s dramas are exposed those relating to the survivors – husband Anthony, sons Garfield and Hedley, and wayward daughter Morwenna – turn out to be low key and rather uninteresting.  It is left to those of the dead – Rachel and son Petroc who died young – to provide the mystery and spice in the tale.