A cadence of love and a symphony of humanity ebbs through the words of Boylan as she recounts the moments of her life wherein a dog was at the heart of her personal growth as a person. She candidly recounts how each dog in turn had entered her life at a pivotal moment where she understood a part of herself more because of the dog's presence in her life. These were not mere dogs for Boylan, they were soothsayers, encouraging her to see the world a bit differently and to introspectively remain intuitive about her own emerging self as she took the journey through living as a boy and man until the day arrived where she found herself free to transition into the woman she is today.
The humanistic truths aligning with her personal journey are heartwarming; the ways in which we observe the world and how the world is observed through the eyes of a dog are an interesting retrospective. In this book, Boylan maintains that the unconditional love we seek from a dog as a companion to walk through our lives might be the respectful equality we hope to observe in their reactions to us but it might be the opposite way round - where it is us who give them the unconditional praise and love; they, the dogs in turn might simply be tolerating us and the ways in which our lives and theirs start to collide.
Boylan has a conversational tone to her writing - she pulls you into her story simply by sharing little snippets of memory and the insightfulness of recollecting the moments in her life which act like anchours to the memories of the dogs she was thankful to have in her life.
Just reading the extract pulls at your own heartstrings if you've ever had a dog (or a cat) of your own; it is never easy to lose a companion but it is the absence of having one which reaffirms your choice to continue to have them because not to is to turn your back on love and the joy of sharing your life with an animal who appreciates the time you give them. I'd love to see where this story goes from here - how Boylan will continue to disclose how her life grew through those moments where each dog arrived in her life at distinct periods of self-growth and self-reflective grace. Seven dogs and seven moments of self-evolution and the passageways her life took her down - it is a cleverly spun Memoir and one I would love to finish reading.
The humanistic truths aligning with her personal journey are heartwarming; the ways in which we observe the world and how the world is observed through the eyes of a dog are an interesting retrospective. In this book, Boylan maintains that the unconditional love we seek from a dog as a companion to walk through our lives might be the respectful equality we hope to observe in their reactions to us but it might be the opposite way round - where it is us who give them the unconditional praise and love; they, the dogs in turn might simply be tolerating us and the ways in which our lives and theirs start to collide.
Boylan has a conversational tone to her writing - she pulls you into her story simply by sharing little snippets of memory and the insightfulness of recollecting the moments in her life which act like anchours to the memories of the dogs she was thankful to have in her life.
Just reading the extract pulls at your own heartstrings if you've ever had a dog (or a cat) of your own; it is never easy to lose a companion but it is the absence of having one which reaffirms your choice to continue to have them because not to is to turn your back on love and the joy of sharing your life with an animal who appreciates the time you give them. I'd love to see where this story goes from here - how Boylan will continue to disclose how her life grew through those moments where each dog arrived in her life at distinct periods of self-growth and self-reflective grace. Seven dogs and seven moments of self-evolution and the passageways her life took her down - it is a cleverly spun Memoir and one I would love to finish reading.