THE FRIEND by SIGRID NUNEZ

The cover of the paperback copy of The Friend features a photo of a Great Dane. The back cover implies that the novel tells the story of a woman and her relationship with a dog. I presumed that this would be a "dog story," not exactly my cup of tea, since I have never viewed dogs as other than animals, not ascribing to them human characteristics, as some do. (How many times on Facebook do I see references to "fur babies.") But this novel did win the 2018 National Book Award, so I bought it.

As it turns out, this is really only peripherally about a dog. It is more about grief and how a highly educated writer/teacher deals with the loss of her mentor, who has long been her best friend, and perhaps even the love of her life. Her reaction to the dog, which is left to her by the mentor when he commits suicide, is the focus. The dog itself does nothing noteworthy, except perhaps suffer its own sense of bewilderment and bereavement (who knows with a dog?).

I would hardly characterize The Friend as a novel, in fact. Not much happens, plot-wise. It seems more a meditation on death, grief, the artistic life, writing, and love. It is filled with quotes by a myriad of famous authors, so much so that it begins to seem like name-dropping and a proclamation of how well-read the author is.

This is a thoughtful, well-written book, but I felt all along that it was strangely emotionless, considering the subject matter. I would not have voted for it to receive a major literary award, but I most surely look for different attributes than the judges of such things do. I think the primary audience for this might be academic-types and perhaps those who have suffered the grief of the loss of a loved one. As for dog lovers, I don't know. It is certainly not the kind of "dog story" that I expected.