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Here Come The Dogs
In small town suburbia, three young men are ready to make their mark.
Solomon is all charisma, authority and charm, down for the moment but surely not out. His half-brother, Jimmy, bounces along in his wake, underestimated, waiting for his chance to announce himself. Aleks, their childhood friend, loves his mates, his family and his homeland, and would do anything for them. The question is, does he know where to draw the line?
Solomon, Jimmy and Aleks: way out on the fringe of Australia, looking for a way in. Hip hop and graffiti give them a voice. Booze, women and violence pass the time while they wait for their chance. Under the oppressive summer sun, their town has turned tinder-dry. All it'll take is a spark.
As the surrounding hills roar with flames, the change storms in. But it's not what they were waiting for. It never is.
Solomon is all charisma, authority and charm, down for the moment but surely not out. His half-brother, Jimmy, bounces along in his wake, underestimated, waiting for his chance to announce himself. Aleks, their childhood friend, loves his mates, his family and his homeland, and would do anything for them. The question is, does he know where to draw the line?
Solomon, Jimmy and Aleks: way out on the fringe of Australia, looking for a way in. Hip hop and graffiti give them a voice. Booze, women and violence pass the time while they wait for their chance. Under the oppressive summer sun, their town has turned tinder-dry. All it'll take is a spark.
As the surrounding hills roar with flames, the change storms in. But it's not what they were waiting for. It never is.
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 12, 2014
22 people are currently reading
885 people want to read
About the author
Omar Musa
17 books84 followersOmar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian rapper and poet from Queanbeyan,
Australia. He is the former winner of the Australian Poetry Slam and
the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam. He has released three hip hop albums,
two poetry books (including "Parang"), appeared on ABC's Q&A and
received a standing ovation at TEDx Sydney at the Sydney Opera House.
His debut novel "Here Come the Dogs" was published by Penguin Australia in July 2014.
Australia. He is the former winner of the Australian Poetry Slam and
the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam. He has released three hip hop albums,
two poetry books (including "Parang"), appeared on ABC's Q&A and
received a standing ovation at TEDx Sydney at the Sydney Opera House.
His debut novel "Here Come the Dogs" was published by Penguin Australia in July 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
March 12, 2017
In the Aussie Readers 2017 year-long A-Z challenge, one of the tasks is to read a book which makes you feel uncomfortable.
First line of Part One Chapter 1 of Here Come The Dogs:
Where are these c**ts?
(I've added the asterisks - in the original the whole word is spelled out.)
Oh yeah, I say to myself, I can tick off this task, cos I'm immediately uncomfortable with this kind of strong language...
In his mid-twenties, Solomon Amosa has two close mates, his half-brother Jimmy, and Aleks Janeski. They share a love of hip hop and rap music. Solomon was a promising basketball player, but his career stalled following a serious injury. He works as a kitchen hand despite being well-educated, a drop-out from Uni. He loves the hip hop scene - creating graffiti works, doing lots of drugs and booze, going to live gigs, getting into fights, screwing women. He is good-looking and has no trouble attracting women. He still lives with his widowed mother Grace.
His half-brother Jimmy lives alone in a townhouse, works in a public service call centre, watches a lot of porn, does a lot of drugs and booze. He adopts Mercury Fire, the clapped-out greyhound rescued by Solomon and forms a deep bond with the dog. He is socially inept and has trouble attracting women. He compensates by hugely over-indulging in alcohol and drugs on a regular basis, which does nothing for his health.
Aleks is a complicated, multi-layered person. A refugee from the Balkans wars, he has been scarred by his childhood experiences and has a pragmatic approach to life. On the surface he is a hard-working house painter with a wife, child, mortgage etc. Although he enjoys hip hop music, his greatest skill is his talent as a graffiti artist. He will do just about anything to earn money on the sly, including drug dealing, stand over work, theft…eventually he gets arrested and is jailed.
There is not a lot of dramatic action in the book. It is more of a character portrait of the lives of these three individuals who reside in a semi-rural area outside a major city. In a fairly aimless existence, Samoan-Australian Solomon finds something meaningful when he starts coaching some of the local youngsters at basketball, while his artist girlfriend Scarlett encourages the less athletic to be creative.
Aleks vacillates between his Australian life and his identity as a Macedonian immigrant. His discontent with his life is partly due to his inability to settle down. For me the the saddest and most searing of the three homies is Jimmy, whose troubled relationship with his absent father causes anxiety about his ethnic identity and his personal selfhood.
All three men stray onto the wrong side of the law many times, though Solomon manages to avoid the consequences, despite his random acts of violence. Indeed, the need to hit out, to vent in a violent way is a shared characteristic of these young men, demonstrating the emotional and moral vacuum within. Their identification with the hip hop scene binds them together in many ways, although this bond will be strained by the end of the book.
I was prompted to read Omar Musa’s book after seeing him on TV as a guest on Jennifer Byrne’s Book Club. To enhance my understanding of the novel, I googled him to learn more about his ethnic origins and his career. Most importantly I searched for him on Youtube and watched several videos of his performances as a street poet and as a rap artist. It greatly improved my reading of the verse chapters in the book, as I could envisage the author speaking the words out loud, with the rhythms and beat of rap.
Initially a bit put off by the strong language and casual violence of the opening section, I came to love this book and could not bear to put it down until I had learned the fate of these three young men. Far from being uncomfortable, I was totally sucked into the story once I got used to the style of the novel. Chapters varied - some were written in verse, others in prose. Whichever style was used, it was engaging. This is because Omar Musa is a very talented writer, with a masterful command of the language. The other aspect that kept my interest was the subject matter. The lives of these young Australian men with their varied ethnic backgrounds is so very different from my own and I was fascinated to learn more about their lifestyle and thought processes. Musa provides an interesting perspective on Australia's race relations, and the tensions which exist below the surface of our much-vaunted policy of multiculturalism. It was sometimes appalling to me, but I have come away from the book with a greater understanding. I've given this book 5 stars because to me it is fresh, innovative, and insightful in ways that make many other current literary offerings look banal.
First line of Part One Chapter 1 of Here Come The Dogs:
Where are these c**ts?
(I've added the asterisks - in the original the whole word is spelled out.)
Oh yeah, I say to myself, I can tick off this task, cos I'm immediately uncomfortable with this kind of strong language...
In his mid-twenties, Solomon Amosa has two close mates, his half-brother Jimmy, and Aleks Janeski. They share a love of hip hop and rap music. Solomon was a promising basketball player, but his career stalled following a serious injury. He works as a kitchen hand despite being well-educated, a drop-out from Uni. He loves the hip hop scene - creating graffiti works, doing lots of drugs and booze, going to live gigs, getting into fights, screwing women. He is good-looking and has no trouble attracting women. He still lives with his widowed mother Grace.
His half-brother Jimmy lives alone in a townhouse, works in a public service call centre, watches a lot of porn, does a lot of drugs and booze. He adopts Mercury Fire, the clapped-out greyhound rescued by Solomon and forms a deep bond with the dog. He is socially inept and has trouble attracting women. He compensates by hugely over-indulging in alcohol and drugs on a regular basis, which does nothing for his health.
Aleks is a complicated, multi-layered person. A refugee from the Balkans wars, he has been scarred by his childhood experiences and has a pragmatic approach to life. On the surface he is a hard-working house painter with a wife, child, mortgage etc. Although he enjoys hip hop music, his greatest skill is his talent as a graffiti artist. He will do just about anything to earn money on the sly, including drug dealing, stand over work, theft…eventually he gets arrested and is jailed.
There is not a lot of dramatic action in the book. It is more of a character portrait of the lives of these three individuals who reside in a semi-rural area outside a major city. In a fairly aimless existence, Samoan-Australian Solomon finds something meaningful when he starts coaching some of the local youngsters at basketball, while his artist girlfriend Scarlett encourages the less athletic to be creative.
Aleks vacillates between his Australian life and his identity as a Macedonian immigrant. His discontent with his life is partly due to his inability to settle down. For me the the saddest and most searing of the three homies is Jimmy, whose troubled relationship with his absent father causes anxiety about his ethnic identity and his personal selfhood.
All three men stray onto the wrong side of the law many times, though Solomon manages to avoid the consequences, despite his random acts of violence. Indeed, the need to hit out, to vent in a violent way is a shared characteristic of these young men, demonstrating the emotional and moral vacuum within. Their identification with the hip hop scene binds them together in many ways, although this bond will be strained by the end of the book.
I was prompted to read Omar Musa’s book after seeing him on TV as a guest on Jennifer Byrne’s Book Club. To enhance my understanding of the novel, I googled him to learn more about his ethnic origins and his career. Most importantly I searched for him on Youtube and watched several videos of his performances as a street poet and as a rap artist. It greatly improved my reading of the verse chapters in the book, as I could envisage the author speaking the words out loud, with the rhythms and beat of rap.
Initially a bit put off by the strong language and casual violence of the opening section, I came to love this book and could not bear to put it down until I had learned the fate of these three young men. Far from being uncomfortable, I was totally sucked into the story once I got used to the style of the novel. Chapters varied - some were written in verse, others in prose. Whichever style was used, it was engaging. This is because Omar Musa is a very talented writer, with a masterful command of the language. The other aspect that kept my interest was the subject matter. The lives of these young Australian men with their varied ethnic backgrounds is so very different from my own and I was fascinated to learn more about their lifestyle and thought processes. Musa provides an interesting perspective on Australia's race relations, and the tensions which exist below the surface of our much-vaunted policy of multiculturalism. It was sometimes appalling to me, but I have come away from the book with a greater understanding. I've given this book 5 stars because to me it is fresh, innovative, and insightful in ways that make many other current literary offerings look banal.
September 16, 2018
I'm probably being easy on this with my rating. I see what Musa wants to stay (certainly as mixed Australian) but there needs to be more substance; he wants to say too much that he creates talking points, not conversations. And that is the very critcism he paints onto one of his own characters, Georgie. To my mind, you can't claim to write about minorities/ethnic/language in Australia and treat all women as ciphers. All. (Even the one female child.) Musa limits all possibilities for his female characters. I find this absence of female contemplation goes against everything Musa claims he wants this book to achieve. Georgie is simply there to be laughed at and Solomon gets rid of her with the same soullessness with which Musa created her. Jana is an academic who has likely spent her career building up her linguistic abilities in order to have a voice, but she is not allowed to speak, and when she does we are meant to look down on her. Georgie and Jana are certainly mocked for whatever progressive ideals they may have, which they might find useful in a male-dominated society. Jana's brother is even violent to her when he finds out she is gay. Sonya is ill, we don't know why, it keeps her quiet too. And certainly Scarlett Snow, ostensibly the 'strong' female is your regular Murakami-esque 'manic pixie dream girl' -- highly stylized, there for the male characters' plights. I mean she's Chinese-New Zealander but somehow speaks some Samoan and her new man is part Samoan? She is a ‘cool’ tattoo artist, but is bare skinned, like snow, unless you get to sleep with her to find her tattoos. So sweet with her ‘constellation of light freckles’, but also edgy ‘has small expanders in her earlobes, / a subtle nose ring’ yet she is properly girly, with her doll-like ‘pristine fingernails’. And sure, the narrative addresses her "porn-star" name, but she still has one! She's a fetishized ideal for a particulary type of male, she's not real.
Omar Musa’s writing is enticing precisely because, when revealing the things that he is interested in – it rings true. The troubles of disaffected young ethnic men are his strong point. Yet women in fiction are also shaped by their speech and this is an extremely important point to make when claiming to write about Australian identity, when asserting to some ‘essential truth about humanity’, as he has stated. And particularly if Musa wants to transgress a blokey, masculine national ideology so often dominated, as one reviewer put it, 'by diggers, mateship and footy stars'. He cannot seriously aim to move the discourse on from a white male dialogue, so rampant in this country, and then leave out minority women. Yes he writes about men, he states everywhere in interviews that his aim is to challenge toxic masculinity and minority voices and yet his use of women, everywhere in this novel, suggests he still have a way to go in addressing it for himself.
Just a quick example, one interview:
"I don’t want to simplify things too much, we have to have complexity and nuance in our literature and show how messy it is. That’s what I was trying to do with Here Come the Dogs, there were certain scenes there where you don’t know whose side you’re on and that, I guess, to talk about intersectionality in some way, where everything is so messy when gender, class, and race come together that it’s difficult to take sides. But we want to take sides and be reductive and stereotype people, but you can’t because everything is a shifting cultural battleground."
...Except, of course, for women.
Omar Musa’s writing is enticing precisely because, when revealing the things that he is interested in – it rings true. The troubles of disaffected young ethnic men are his strong point. Yet women in fiction are also shaped by their speech and this is an extremely important point to make when claiming to write about Australian identity, when asserting to some ‘essential truth about humanity’, as he has stated. And particularly if Musa wants to transgress a blokey, masculine national ideology so often dominated, as one reviewer put it, 'by diggers, mateship and footy stars'. He cannot seriously aim to move the discourse on from a white male dialogue, so rampant in this country, and then leave out minority women. Yes he writes about men, he states everywhere in interviews that his aim is to challenge toxic masculinity and minority voices and yet his use of women, everywhere in this novel, suggests he still have a way to go in addressing it for himself.
Just a quick example, one interview:
"I don’t want to simplify things too much, we have to have complexity and nuance in our literature and show how messy it is. That’s what I was trying to do with Here Come the Dogs, there were certain scenes there where you don’t know whose side you’re on and that, I guess, to talk about intersectionality in some way, where everything is so messy when gender, class, and race come together that it’s difficult to take sides. But we want to take sides and be reductive and stereotype people, but you can’t because everything is a shifting cultural battleground."
...Except, of course, for women.
August 21, 2014
Unbelievably real, and so well pinned. The depth of this writing is absolutely outstanding. A world that lives on our doorstep that we do not believe exists, or we choose to believe it doesn't. The descriptive, intense and personal emotional battles of the characters truly make you feel their pain, anguish and their glimmer of hope. Best book this year!!!!.... from an amazing, inspiring AUSTRALIAN author!
September 16, 2018
I found the representation of the female characters in this book very one dimensional and there was an overarching misogynistic tone in the depiction and interactions between the male and female characters. The female characters we encounter are drug addicted layabouts or high maintenance demanding women who send their partners over the edge into crime. Sexual encounters in this book are either the males engaging in porn, stalking pretty women outside their homes or faceless nameless sex, where the female character doesn’t get anything more than superficial descriptions about her body.
In describing a nightclub scene, we read about men who are well dressed and muscled from the gym, the type of music they favour and plenty of description of the curtains and light play on the bottles of alcohol but the female club patrons are described as “women with fake breasts and fake tans flick tousled hair over shoulders with manicure hands, waiting for someone to shake a bag of coke like a polaroid and lead them to the bathroom” (69-70).
The only intelligent female character we meet is a University Lecturer whose sole purpose in the book seems to be to allow the author to introduce the term misandry to his readers. While the Author ‘mansplains’ what misandry is, the lecturer, “a tigress” decimates a poor helpless male student, leaving him so deflated that our hero wonders “if he’ll ever ask a question again”. Disappointingly, we later learn that this aggressive, man hating lecturer who destroys her male students for asking questions, is in fact a lesbian, who cruelly refuses to forgive her brother for beating her upon finding out about her sexuality.
Whilst I understand the approach the author has taken, in trying to create a dialogue about different races in Australia and the limitations placed upon them, I think he has focussed too hard on the male characters and this shows in the lack of depth his female characters have. The female characters read as nothing more than plot vehicles, written purely to assist the author in furthering the storyline, without any dimension to them.
This book is clearly aimed at a male reader with a love of urban culture, hip hop artists are referenced in great detail as is graffiti and tattoo art and stereotyping female characters in this way is unhelpful to furthering conversation around LGBTIQ and womens issues and places a wall between the readers of this novel and the reconciliation of the widely regarded notion that Hip Hop culture is misogynistic.
Sophiegrophy, Miss Blanks, Fresh Violet, Kween G, MC Thorn, A-Love, Miss Hood, Class A, Mirrah, Muma Doesa, Chelsea Jane, Coda Conduct, Mistress Of Ceremony, SHE REX, Zeadala, Stretchy, Blaq Carrie, Netti, Imbi the Girl, Sampa the Great, Nardean, Tkay Maidza, Kaiit and Sampa the Great are all women of colour who work in the Australian Hip Hop scene.
Wouldn’t it be great if in his quest to have his rights as an Australian man of colour recognised, Omar Musa takes into consideration the other half of the same group he speaks so loudly about representing and ensures that he isn’t marginalising a group of people himself, behaving exactly in the same way as those he criticises.
In describing a nightclub scene, we read about men who are well dressed and muscled from the gym, the type of music they favour and plenty of description of the curtains and light play on the bottles of alcohol but the female club patrons are described as “women with fake breasts and fake tans flick tousled hair over shoulders with manicure hands, waiting for someone to shake a bag of coke like a polaroid and lead them to the bathroom” (69-70).
The only intelligent female character we meet is a University Lecturer whose sole purpose in the book seems to be to allow the author to introduce the term misandry to his readers. While the Author ‘mansplains’ what misandry is, the lecturer, “a tigress” decimates a poor helpless male student, leaving him so deflated that our hero wonders “if he’ll ever ask a question again”. Disappointingly, we later learn that this aggressive, man hating lecturer who destroys her male students for asking questions, is in fact a lesbian, who cruelly refuses to forgive her brother for beating her upon finding out about her sexuality.
Whilst I understand the approach the author has taken, in trying to create a dialogue about different races in Australia and the limitations placed upon them, I think he has focussed too hard on the male characters and this shows in the lack of depth his female characters have. The female characters read as nothing more than plot vehicles, written purely to assist the author in furthering the storyline, without any dimension to them.
This book is clearly aimed at a male reader with a love of urban culture, hip hop artists are referenced in great detail as is graffiti and tattoo art and stereotyping female characters in this way is unhelpful to furthering conversation around LGBTIQ and womens issues and places a wall between the readers of this novel and the reconciliation of the widely regarded notion that Hip Hop culture is misogynistic.
Sophiegrophy, Miss Blanks, Fresh Violet, Kween G, MC Thorn, A-Love, Miss Hood, Class A, Mirrah, Muma Doesa, Chelsea Jane, Coda Conduct, Mistress Of Ceremony, SHE REX, Zeadala, Stretchy, Blaq Carrie, Netti, Imbi the Girl, Sampa the Great, Nardean, Tkay Maidza, Kaiit and Sampa the Great are all women of colour who work in the Australian Hip Hop scene.
Wouldn’t it be great if in his quest to have his rights as an Australian man of colour recognised, Omar Musa takes into consideration the other half of the same group he speaks so loudly about representing and ensures that he isn’t marginalising a group of people himself, behaving exactly in the same way as those he criticises.
January 14, 2015
Outstanding.
Beautiful, powerful writing. Characters that are honestly drawn in all their beauty and their ugliness. In turns an insightful, bold, heartbreaking, uncomfortable, unsettling, powerful, and eye-opening book.
Really looking forward to reading more of Musa's work in the future.
Beautiful, powerful writing. Characters that are honestly drawn in all their beauty and their ugliness. In turns an insightful, bold, heartbreaking, uncomfortable, unsettling, powerful, and eye-opening book.
Really looking forward to reading more of Musa's work in the future.
May 14, 2022
Nothing gets me turning pages like scattered mentions of Garema Place
September 17, 2015
the debut novel from malaysian/australian mc and spoken word poet omar musa, here come the dogs is a gritty, raw coming of age tale written in poetry and prose. with a background in both hip hop and the slam circuit, musa has opened for the likes of the late gil scott-heron, pharoahe monch, and dead prez, in addition to winning both the australian and indian ocean poetry slams. melding the personal and the political, here come the dogs is a novel of hip hop, graffiti, basketball, drugs, street culture, prison, and violence – one which confronts issues of identity, immigration, nationalism, race, loyalty, and personal growth.
with its three main characters, solomon, aleks, and jimmy (each struggling in their own way), here come the dogs offers a coarse, candid look at a contemporary australian youth subculture. with a thumping soundtrack of both domestic and foreign hip hop all but rumbling from the page, musa couples his rich, original imagery with lyrical verse and poetic prose. with intensity, vigor, and virility, musa channels the emotional, political, environmental, and personal brutality of characters and country into a visceral, ambitious work of fiction (albeit one that may not stray too far from the truth). here come the dogs has fervor and feeling in abundance, demonstrating musa's versatile worplay whether on mic, stage, or page.
with its three main characters, solomon, aleks, and jimmy (each struggling in their own way), here come the dogs offers a coarse, candid look at a contemporary australian youth subculture. with a thumping soundtrack of both domestic and foreign hip hop all but rumbling from the page, musa couples his rich, original imagery with lyrical verse and poetic prose. with intensity, vigor, and virility, musa channels the emotional, political, environmental, and personal brutality of characters and country into a visceral, ambitious work of fiction (albeit one that may not stray too far from the truth). here come the dogs has fervor and feeling in abundance, demonstrating musa's versatile worplay whether on mic, stage, or page.
...everything in the world exists with death alive in it. every fire dies, every story, every star, every town. every nation? childhoods are macadamed beneath asphalt and paint rolls, but just for other childhoods to exist. this, the nature of change, of modernity. buildings go up, dreamings wander in search of graves or new owners; some remnant will stir occasionally, but these buildings will one day turn to dust and float through the bushland like ghosts. eventually, the bush would die, too.
November 15, 2014
Fresh, blood-filled writing that shows a fierce passion for words and experience. Learnt a lot about young men's thinking and Aussie hip hop which I like, because it is all about people reacting to what is around them- and that is always good- no matter in what form. I thought the characters were good but their stories didn't intersect into something larger- the plot wasn't strong enough to hang such great words off. His next one I'm sure will be.
Makes me excited to be a reader again !
Makes me excited to be a reader again !
May 2, 2015
Gosh. So raw it's still bleeding. Characters who are simultaneously tough and vulnerable, who stagger between being unlucky misunderstood creatures and creatures you'd rather not understand. Brilliantly gray, in many many shades.
September 9, 2014
An eye into a world that I would never enter, this novel encapsulates the anxieties and questions of an Australian subculture. If I were an English teacher, I would prescribe this as a taxt.
June 14, 2015
Powerful, relentless and poetic. The heat from the town featured jumps off every page.
September 16, 2025
Hard to rate this, it’s technically a very well written book, with distinct character voices, vivid struggles and friendships. You care about each of the characters even though none of them are particularly good people. I actually hated Jimmy, especially at the end.
I appreciate the book and I’m glad I went out of my comfort zone on the random whim to but this at a used book sale. So I’m giving this a rating with the understanding that I knew from the offset that this wasn’t going to be a book for me. I went in wanting a different voice and perspective and I got that. But I can’t say I enjoyed it. This is a very male book. The female characters are all very flat and none of the characters think about women in a truly positive way. Jimmy particularly is an incel. I did not like the references to violence against women or animals.
I appreciate the book and I’m glad I went out of my comfort zone on the random whim to but this at a used book sale. So I’m giving this a rating with the understanding that I knew from the offset that this wasn’t going to be a book for me. I went in wanting a different voice and perspective and I got that. But I can’t say I enjoyed it. This is a very male book. The female characters are all very flat and none of the characters think about women in a truly positive way. Jimmy particularly is an incel. I did not like the references to violence against women or animals.
September 14, 2019
Powerful, raw and provocative. The writing style took me a bit to grow into but once there it flowed. Another book set in Australia. I’m a sucker for books set in Oz. I loved the greyhound and all it meant in this uniquely told story. A story that has a great deal to say about a distant and sometimes confusing place. A story that at times felt concealed in images until the truth popped out. Fable or real life it tells the reader about who the characters were, where they came from and lived, as well as maybe revealing some secrets about life itself. Musa clearly made this story his own adding the flourishes unique to his style of storytelling.
September 27, 2016
Here Come the Dogs is a strong, provocative story, tough and dirty, realistic and important. It won't be for everyone yet the language sizzles while the story assaults. Disempowered youth all have dreams, and this book suggests they need to be true to their own experiences before they can make a change. Powerfully written, it throbs with a raw intensity, challenging the reader to examine identity in a multicultural society.
more on my blog: http://kerikeri-covertocover.blogspot...
more on my blog: http://kerikeri-covertocover.blogspot...
January 12, 2015
If it weren't for all of the drug use, swearing and sex, I would be recommending this book be taught to 15 year olds in Australian schools - that is how well (as an Anglo woman) I think this treats the issues of the ‘hyphen’ generation. Of course, the above is probably the very reason it will be read by them.
These characters rang very true. Theirs is a harsh reality, sensitively treated by Musa. I heard that Musa was worried about his book being viewed as insensitive to women – I don’t think it is at all. Even though all of the main characters are male (necessarily, considering the story is rooted in hip hop culture), I found the writing on the male–female interactions to be respectful, but honest.
I did think that the first 1/5 of the book was a little too heavy on slang, to the point that it would be difficult for a non-Australian reader to understand what was happening. I get that international sales is not the point, but maybe an index for international readers will be in order :)
These characters rang very true. Theirs is a harsh reality, sensitively treated by Musa. I heard that Musa was worried about his book being viewed as insensitive to women – I don’t think it is at all. Even though all of the main characters are male (necessarily, considering the story is rooted in hip hop culture), I found the writing on the male–female interactions to be respectful, but honest.
I did think that the first 1/5 of the book was a little too heavy on slang, to the point that it would be difficult for a non-Australian reader to understand what was happening. I get that international sales is not the point, but maybe an index for international readers will be in order :)
February 23, 2015
A fierce, angry book about the Western suburbs of Sydney, Here Come the Dogs is the story of three young men trying to find their way and stake out their identities in a society that's pretty ambivalent about them. Rooted in hip hop and clubbing, in sport, drugs and drinking, this is a brutal and intense look at life for second-generation Australians. The relentless masculinity of the book started to wear me down after a while, but Musa is a talented writer with plenty to say about communities largely ignored in Australian literary novels.
September 26, 2014
The perspective of the self-titled 'hyphen' generation straddling growing up Australian while proud of an overseas heritage. Written by a poetry slam Australian champion, Omar's novel doesn't miss a beat whether in verse or prose - this work has been written aloud.
April 6, 2015
What a ferocious, alive voice. This is an antidote to understated stories of suburban marriages gone wrong: a different Australia, different lives, different ways of understanding who we are. Searing prose and poetry and great joy and anger. Tops!
January 18, 2016
Felt like from Page 1 I dived straight into the words written on the page and amongst the story and the characters. Really enjoyed this gritty slice of Australian life. I'm surprised the prose mixed with poetry didn't bother me but it didn't it was very well done. Great writing, great read.
September 3, 2014
Reminds me somewhat of Trainspotting, only with suburban Australia and the smell of bush fire running deep. I want to see what follows.
September 16, 2017
It's been three years now since publication but I remember this one really seemed to come out of left field. I was surprised to see something edgy and literary getting any sort of publicity (media attention, mainstream publisher, etc). I was keen to get my hands on a copy.
The first chapter did not disappoint. The front cover has quotes from both Christoph Tsiolkas and Irvine Welsh, and in fact if these two writers got together then this book would probably be their mutant love child. It's super vernacular, punchy, gritty and poetic.
Unfortunately the plot isn't particularly engaging. The pages go by but the characters are mostly stuck in a holding pattern. Solomon is teaching kids to play basketball. Jimmy is confused about his Dad. It never really seems to recapture the energy of the very first chapter.
I felt the weakest moment in the novel was when Aleks got loaded and drove his car into a swimming pool (subsequently he is sent to jail). Reasonably this key scene should have been told in a lot of detail and take up a whole bunch of pages. It's also quite out of character for Aleks and needs to be explained. Strangely we only receive an abbreviated version of this event. Musa writes drugs and booze well so I was rather disappointed.
I think the novel probably needed a little more planning and structure. I'm certain we'll see that in future Musa novels. Give this a look even if it's just for the banging first chapter.
The first chapter did not disappoint. The front cover has quotes from both Christoph Tsiolkas and Irvine Welsh, and in fact if these two writers got together then this book would probably be their mutant love child. It's super vernacular, punchy, gritty and poetic.
Unfortunately the plot isn't particularly engaging. The pages go by but the characters are mostly stuck in a holding pattern. Solomon is teaching kids to play basketball. Jimmy is confused about his Dad. It never really seems to recapture the energy of the very first chapter.
I felt the weakest moment in the novel was when Aleks got loaded and drove his car into a swimming pool (subsequently he is sent to jail). Reasonably this key scene should have been told in a lot of detail and take up a whole bunch of pages. It's also quite out of character for Aleks and needs to be explained. Strangely we only receive an abbreviated version of this event. Musa writes drugs and booze well so I was rather disappointed.
I think the novel probably needed a little more planning and structure. I'm certain we'll see that in future Musa novels. Give this a look even if it's just for the banging first chapter.
January 1, 2019
I love the writing and the prose, and the first 70% of the book, is fucking great. When the characters lose themselves, such as when Aleks drunk-drove his car into the river after winning the meat raffle, when Jimmy got off-his-face drunk after being ignored by Hailee and insulted by Solomon's former classmates, when Solomon realised how much he loved Scarlett, after she told him she was leaving for an art scholarship in Perth. The pain and how the characters channel such pain through excessive drinking and acting out, is very cathartic and relatable. I can't help but emphasise with the characters, and when their hearts break I break with them.
However, the latter 30% of the book, especially part three, feels a bit rushed and all over the place. It felt like the author is trying to wrap everything up, to offer a closure for the sake of one. Jimmy's ending is the only one that makes sense, in my opinion. Why do Solomon and Scarlett have to break up? They are perfect for each other. Why can't Solomon come to terms with his environment, his strength and weakness in Perth, with Scarlett by his side? And I do not agree with Aleks returning to Macedonia. It is not fair for Mila. If there is no evil in his heart he will be a good man whether he's in Macedonia or Australia. There's absolutely no point in robbing Mila of a childhood, a life in Australia, in taking Sonya away from her home, so that Aleks can achieve some inner peace. It is just selfish.
However, the latter 30% of the book, especially part three, feels a bit rushed and all over the place. It felt like the author is trying to wrap everything up, to offer a closure for the sake of one. Jimmy's ending is the only one that makes sense, in my opinion. Why do Solomon and Scarlett have to break up? They are perfect for each other. Why can't Solomon come to terms with his environment, his strength and weakness in Perth, with Scarlett by his side? And I do not agree with Aleks returning to Macedonia. It is not fair for Mila. If there is no evil in his heart he will be a good man whether he's in Macedonia or Australia. There's absolutely no point in robbing Mila of a childhood, a life in Australia, in taking Sonya away from her home, so that Aleks can achieve some inner peace. It is just selfish.
February 5, 2017
I loved this, couldn't put it down. I loved it for its writing techniques and for the story it told. It was satisfying on many levels but thinking about it now my response was definitely more personal that seriously literary - though I think it succeeds on that level too, as a fascinating work interweaving monologue, dialogue, prose and straight text to bring out, almost as if on a stage, the voices of the characters. I liked for example the fact that a music style almost took the role of another character, weaving through, beneath and over the narrative. I like that recognition of what music can do - and I like the lists of music and musicians - this will not be important to others perhaps, the chance to see into another culture's world through the lens of disillusioned but still hoping young men and women transplanted to Australia maybe what they see. I liked the relationship between one of the characters (human) and an ex star racing dog. Just a hugely satisfying and engaging read and I am so annoyed that I've finished it. I rarely re-read - not that there hasn't been hundreds of books from which I would benefit greatly should I do that -I don't reread because my house is full of books chosen because they demanded to be read - and haven't yet. But I think I will re-read this one.
January 12, 2019
While there is much merit and interest in Musa's writing, I struggled to stay engaged with this book. Some of the raps, rhythm and poetry were wonderful, but they (largely) became increasing strained as the story progressed. The prose was powerful and lyrical in parts, giving a sense of immediacy and 'being there' with the characters and their struggles and emotions. In other parts it was more pedestrian or trying too hard to impress, instead of engage, the reader. The young male characters are complex, but not likeable and after the initial interest in learning about who they were, they failed to hold my interest. The constant stream of bad language, misogyny and self -destructive 'macho' behaviour becomes quite wearing and tedious after a while, however 'honest' it may be as a representation of the characters. The female characters lacked any depth or interest. The story line drew me along for half the the book, but eventually the pace slowed and it became almost predictable and self-defeating. After my initial interest, finishing the story became a chore and, in the end, a disappointment. I really wanted to enjoy the whole of this book, but I found it just too uneven and too difficult to maintain engagement.
February 17, 2017
I found the part-verse-part-prose book utterly frustrating. The story shifted from one event to another often with no clear purpose, things happened that were never explained, characters popped up now and again for no apparent reason and the three main characters were unlikeable (not necessarily a bad thing but didn't work for me) and were impossible to connect with. I felt like there was violence for the sake of violence. On top of that there were mistakes which a good editor should have picked up.
On a more positive note, I did enjoy the parts where the author was talking about hip hop, graffiti and the culture around those things, as well as the basketball stuff.
On a more positive note, I did enjoy the parts where the author was talking about hip hop, graffiti and the culture around those things, as well as the basketball stuff.
October 27, 2017
This is very real and very Modern Australian. While there is a story to follow, it is not that which compels you to keep on reading. This is a novel written by a poet and, as such, it captures scene after scene in the way only a poet can. It is gritty, yet beautifully written. The bush fire scene is one of the most disturbing things I have ever read, yet there is beauty here. And life. The characters are real. Not necessarily characters that you will love, but they definitely exist.
An amazing book.
An amazing book.
December 27, 2017
So it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. It’s so very Omar Musa though, the three characters, particularly Solomon, feel like they’re based off of himself. I felt like I only skimmed over the top of the story since it’s definitely not something I can relate to personally. A few curious stylistic choices too but I’ve never heard or read anything by Omar before, I just know the guy as a friend of a friend, so it could make more sense to someone more familiar with his style.
January 25, 2020
Oof. This is a tough book - full of relentless masculinity, drugs and drinking, fighting, hip hop, mental illness, crime, but also love and friendship and creativity. It is well written, with shifting perspectives and styles that kept things moving but I think I could have done with one or two fewer points of view. This one wasn't a sit-and-binge read for me; I had to take breaks from it's intensity. But I'm glad I read it.
January 27, 2020
Chapter 8, Part 3 is one of the most poignant passages I have read in a long time, particularly in light of the current Australian societal and environmental situation. Enjoyable yet intense read, exposing grass roots reality / challenges / existence of 3 young male Australians. I saw Omar talk at a recent writers festival in Adelaide and I am so glad I picked this up afterwards. Great cultural read.
May 25, 2017
Very different. Won't suit everyone but I quite liked it.
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