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An Imaginary Dog Needs to Find Out Whether Or Not His Master's Real
Maxwell Schwab, an imaginary dog, poses a strange question to everyone around him; Samuel Guerrero, Franklin de la Roca and Max will attempt to answer it.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 24, 2014
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Santiago Rodriguez
36 books6 followersNothing very interesting about this character in particular. He drinks, he laughs, he sings, and he's broke... like most of us.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 11, 2014
Toda la vida he batallado para felicitar en facebook a las personas que no me importan (prefiero no hacerlo), decirle buenos días a las personas con las que casi no hablo en la oficina, y más acciones que necesiten interacción social.
Por eso darle una buena reseña hipócrita a la primera publicación de un amigo sería una tarea imposible (para mí); por suerte mía, este no es el caso, y con una mano en mi libro autografiado por Stephen King puedo escribirle al mundo que el primer libro de Santiago Rodríguez es una muy buena historia que tiene estas cosas (y muchas otras más): buena estructura, personajes fáciles de imaginar y disfrutar, situaciones muy creativas, una mezcla de dos lenguas y dos culturas en un producto final, y existencialismo en sus niveles más altos.
Me gustaría decir que el libro es perfecto, pero no voy a exagerar, hay veces que en los dialogos te puedes perder entre quien esta diciendo que cosas, pero no es nada del otro mundo, con agarrarle el ritmo encuentras todas tus preguntas; y otro detalle, es que aunque la historia necesariamente no se trata de él, más escenas importantes sobre el perro del título no hubieran estado mal.
Para cerrar, la carrera de cualquier de escritor muchas veces se puede marcar por su viaje inaugural, como Stephen King con Carrie, Chuck Palahniuk con Fight Club, y J.D. Salinger con The Catcher in the Rye; por eso con estos y muchos otros ejemplos, veo que el recorrido de Santiago, o el Pinche Cookie como se conoce en las calles, va para largo y desde donde estamos no se ve el fin.
Por eso darle una buena reseña hipócrita a la primera publicación de un amigo sería una tarea imposible (para mí); por suerte mía, este no es el caso, y con una mano en mi libro autografiado por Stephen King puedo escribirle al mundo que el primer libro de Santiago Rodríguez es una muy buena historia que tiene estas cosas (y muchas otras más): buena estructura, personajes fáciles de imaginar y disfrutar, situaciones muy creativas, una mezcla de dos lenguas y dos culturas en un producto final, y existencialismo en sus niveles más altos.
Me gustaría decir que el libro es perfecto, pero no voy a exagerar, hay veces que en los dialogos te puedes perder entre quien esta diciendo que cosas, pero no es nada del otro mundo, con agarrarle el ritmo encuentras todas tus preguntas; y otro detalle, es que aunque la historia necesariamente no se trata de él, más escenas importantes sobre el perro del título no hubieran estado mal.
Para cerrar, la carrera de cualquier de escritor muchas veces se puede marcar por su viaje inaugural, como Stephen King con Carrie, Chuck Palahniuk con Fight Club, y J.D. Salinger con The Catcher in the Rye; por eso con estos y muchos otros ejemplos, veo que el recorrido de Santiago, o el Pinche Cookie como se conoce en las calles, va para largo y desde donde estamos no se ve el fin.
June 12, 2023
Writing fiction is tall order. You can’t just come up with an idea and ride it to the sunset, it has to click with people, make them think about themselves or the world around them, and even then it still has a long ways to go to become “successful”.
This book is peculiarly written; it has an informal narrator that gives of the impression of being the author himself. It also does away with some grammar and spelling conventions. Nearly all dialogue is unclear as to whom would be the speaker and ultimately, sort of builds itself quite spectacularly only to fall flat towards the ending…
…and it is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of literature I’ve read in the last 10 years.
Mind you, I haven’t precisely spent the last ten years reading classic literature and high brow stuff, but still, I know my sh*t, I know Shakespeare, and while this work does not in fact hold a candle to the bard, neither does anyone today, because Willy Shakes is dead and his joints are centuries old.
Santiago’s 2014 magnum opus -on the other hand- holds the distinct privilege of not only being modern, but also being simultaneously hilariously relatable and painfully relevant; People are still trying to figure things out.
In the midst of life-altering-world-events, jadedness and pessimism seem to be pretty common (if not expected) conditions with which people are just supposed to function with and adjust per-occasion to these changes.
Franklin de la Roca is such a person, a lost soul doling out the necessary energy to get him through his days. But in the spirit of usefulness, getting through his day entails having to stare at the face of the very same void that made Nietzsche soil his breeches, usually sober and with a too-old-for-this-sh*t attitude.
Sounds familiar? You bet! I can’t even run a mental list on all the tragic knows-more-than-they-should, deals-with-the-supernatural, devil-may-care quasi-neo-hard-boiled detectives of today. But I can tell you, Frank’s the only one I know does so with such gusto that can only be attained when being fed hearty home-made Mexican breakfast. And he’s a shrink, not a cop.
That is not a problem, nor a complaint, the truth (as I perceive it) is that there isn’t a better hero for this story, nor a better suited story for our world. His ordeals are never fully explained, and you don’t need them to be.
He’s just another guy, some friend you knew or know, the male version of your significant other, or simply he’s you and this novel speaks about your life, thereby answering the question in the title.
Frank and his crew are cool, which is great because it makes the horrors of existence pretty darn funny. The momentary breaks in the story, the sudden lack of explanation to some events, and other things that would otherwise make some readers unimpressed, are turned into golden moments, funny rants and the very deserved stance this book takes, according to its own premise.
I loved reading this book for the laughter it brought me and the comfort in its words, because reality is confusing and stressful. In the end, reality remains confusing, but now I know a kick-ass Dorito Bean-dip sandwich recipe, a cool-like-minded protagonist that remains so fresh and so clean, and that the grass just might be greener in Texas.
This book is peculiarly written; it has an informal narrator that gives of the impression of being the author himself. It also does away with some grammar and spelling conventions. Nearly all dialogue is unclear as to whom would be the speaker and ultimately, sort of builds itself quite spectacularly only to fall flat towards the ending…
…and it is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of literature I’ve read in the last 10 years.
Mind you, I haven’t precisely spent the last ten years reading classic literature and high brow stuff, but still, I know my sh*t, I know Shakespeare, and while this work does not in fact hold a candle to the bard, neither does anyone today, because Willy Shakes is dead and his joints are centuries old.
Santiago’s 2014 magnum opus -on the other hand- holds the distinct privilege of not only being modern, but also being simultaneously hilariously relatable and painfully relevant; People are still trying to figure things out.
In the midst of life-altering-world-events, jadedness and pessimism seem to be pretty common (if not expected) conditions with which people are just supposed to function with and adjust per-occasion to these changes.
Franklin de la Roca is such a person, a lost soul doling out the necessary energy to get him through his days. But in the spirit of usefulness, getting through his day entails having to stare at the face of the very same void that made Nietzsche soil his breeches, usually sober and with a too-old-for-this-sh*t attitude.
Sounds familiar? You bet! I can’t even run a mental list on all the tragic knows-more-than-they-should, deals-with-the-supernatural, devil-may-care quasi-neo-hard-boiled detectives of today. But I can tell you, Frank’s the only one I know does so with such gusto that can only be attained when being fed hearty home-made Mexican breakfast. And he’s a shrink, not a cop.
That is not a problem, nor a complaint, the truth (as I perceive it) is that there isn’t a better hero for this story, nor a better suited story for our world. His ordeals are never fully explained, and you don’t need them to be.
He’s just another guy, some friend you knew or know, the male version of your significant other, or simply he’s you and this novel speaks about your life, thereby answering the question in the title.
Frank and his crew are cool, which is great because it makes the horrors of existence pretty darn funny. The momentary breaks in the story, the sudden lack of explanation to some events, and other things that would otherwise make some readers unimpressed, are turned into golden moments, funny rants and the very deserved stance this book takes, according to its own premise.
I loved reading this book for the laughter it brought me and the comfort in its words, because reality is confusing and stressful. In the end, reality remains confusing, but now I know a kick-ass Dorito Bean-dip sandwich recipe, a cool-like-minded protagonist that remains so fresh and so clean, and that the grass just might be greener in Texas.
October 28, 2014
Excelente libro. Fácil de leer, rápido y ligero. Entre todas esas conversaciones y situaciones tan casuales, encontramos conclusiones y conceptos que van mucho más allá de una novela cualquiera y rompen constantemente la cuarta barrera con el lector. Cuestiona a la realidad misma y la diferencia entre esta y la ficción. Creo que mi cosa favorita del libro es esa forma de dar el mensaje existencial de manera ligera y digerible, también el simbolismo ligero.
Con constantes referencias a comida y atención en pequeños detalles, el autor logra dar muchas imágenes mentales muy específicas. Es fácil seguir la historia y entender los lugares y las situaciones en donde los personajes se encuentran, las descripciones son muy visuales y detalladas.
Es difícil decidir si este libro es ficción o no, toda la historia podría ser real o podría simplemente tratarse de alucinaciones de alguien. La historia nos lleva a encontrarnos en un circulo vicioso entre qué es y qué no es real.
...y todo empieza bajo la premisa de que si un perro está hablando... eso lo hace ficción?
Con constantes referencias a comida y atención en pequeños detalles, el autor logra dar muchas imágenes mentales muy específicas. Es fácil seguir la historia y entender los lugares y las situaciones en donde los personajes se encuentran, las descripciones son muy visuales y detalladas.
Es difícil decidir si este libro es ficción o no, toda la historia podría ser real o podría simplemente tratarse de alucinaciones de alguien. La historia nos lleva a encontrarnos en un circulo vicioso entre qué es y qué no es real.
...y todo empieza bajo la premisa de que si un perro está hablando... eso lo hace ficción?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews