Book: Dogsbody

“The Dog Star, Sirius, is tried–and found guilty–by his heavenly peers for a murder he did not commit. His sentence: to live on the planet Earth as a dog until such time as he can carry out a seemingly impossible mission–the recovery of a deadly weapon known as the Zoi. The first painful lesson Sirius learns in his lowly earthly form is that humans have all the power. The second is that even though his young mistress loves him, she can’t protect either of them from the cruelty of other humans. The third–and worst–is that someone is out there who will do anything to keep Sirius from finding the Zoi. Even if it means destroying the Earth itself.“

Don’t let the synopsis fool you. You might think it’s about adventure, and mystery, and a fight between good and evil–but it’s not. Yes, all three are present, but the book is about something else entirely. It’s about friendship. And put into that perspective, I really liked the book.

Why do I say “put into that perspective”?

As an adventure book, it’s a little bit all over the place. In my opinion, that is. Our main character has a serious threat that he needs to avert, and yet that’s not his main concern. Which is understandable, considering the fact that he got turned into a dog. But, really, adventure-plot wise…it was a little all over the place. But if you don’t focus on the quest your main character is in, and just focus on the relationship he builds with his mistress, and the other characters, and the sacrifice he makes at the end of the book… It’s beautiful.

Yes, this book has excitement and action–but the most important thing it has, is heart.

But what do others say about the book?
Sonderbooks
Alternate Readality
Jenny’s Books

book: katie, up and down the hall

it took me a couple of weeks to get through half of this book, and only a few hours to finish the second half. what does that say about KATIE: UP AND DOWN THE HALL?

in all fairness though, i didn’t really have a lot of time to read during the last couple of weeks. life had been pretty hectic since i wrote about THE LOST LANGUAGE. but still, i couldn’t help but be a little disappointed with the KATIE book.

this is why we must never have expectations. i started reading KATIE thinking that it was about a dog that binds five people together. and she does, in a way. but i thought the book was more about finding family amongst friends.

in KATIE, glenn plaskin, the author, recounts his sixteen years with his dog and how katie helped him create a family out of the tenants in his battery park city apartment. and while it is katie who, indirectly, gets him to connect with these people, i think it’s the author himself who becomes the tie that binds the people in his anecdotes together.

unlike MARLEY & ME which focuses on the antics of the titular dog, and how it affects its author’s life; KATIE is more autobiographical for the author, with anecdotes about how the titular dog affected each one of them. because aside from katie going from one apartment to another, and aside from being herself, she never really does anything out of the ordinary.

KATIE: UP AND DOWN THE HALL is more about the people who become part of katie’s life, than about katie and how these people came to revolve around her. why do i say this? because i was moved more by the chapters about the people, than the anecdotes about katie.

you can really see the love the author has for the people in his life.

you can also get a sense of his love for katie too. but, i think, because you never really get to know the author, you don’t really feel for him, or for his connection with katie. i would’ve said the book wasn’t good, but it is. especially during the chapters when he writes about the people who lives in his floor, the relationships they nurture, the sadness that comes to their lives…

glenn plaskin writes exceptionally well when he’s writing about other people. but when he starts to go on about katie, that’s when the book begins to lose my attention.

i guess that’s why it took me a couple of weeks to get through the first half of the book. because those were the chapters that really centered on katie. when he started talking about the people in his apartment complex, the relationships he had with them, and the tragedies that came their way, that’s when the book became really interesting.

now, would i recommend the book? yes. i think it’s a good book that has a great handle on human interaction and relationships. but for people who are expecting a book about a great dog? i would rather you read MARLEY & ME instead.

tv show: bantatay

we all know dogs as man’s best friend. but in gma-7′s latest soap, the dog is about to embark on a new journey: that of being a father to three kids.

the story really begins when bernard (raymart santiago) is killed, leaving his three children without any parent. but he knows that his missing wife is somewhere, and she needs help too.

when bernard, in spirit form, sees his children in danger, he intuitively tries to protect them–accidentally infusing his spirit to the family dog who also wanted to protect the children. so now you have BANTATAY.

the tv show’s title is actually a play on two words: “bantay” which means “to guard” and is also a popular name for dogs here in the philippines, and “tatay” which means “father”.

sure, the man in dog’s body premise has been done before. you have hollywood’s SHAGGY DOG. it’s even been done in reverse, in MAGIC TO WIN 5, where the dog turns into a man to protect the master he loves from her cruel boyfriend. but infused in a family drama targeted to the more impressionable bracket of children, this is a new thing.

especially in philippine television.

admittedly, i am writing about the show with a little bias. i am one of the show’s researcher-slash-brainstormer. but even if i hadn’t been part of the show’s creative team, i would have been writing about this series because it’s something different from the usual soap-opera we see on television.

sure BANTATAY has its own soap elements: the missing mother, the cruel relatives, etcetera. but at the heart of it, it’s about three children trying to get by, with their father in the guise of a dog, doing his best to protect them. it’s a feel-good story about how some people might be out-and-out bad, but there are still those who have inherent good in them.

BANTATAY started airing last september 20, but i wanted to see the show first before i actually wrote about it. after all, reading the script and seeing the final product are two separate things. i know this only too well.

the show airs late weekday afternoons, before gma-7′s telecast of 24 ORAS.