I loved the movie Red Dog, and now I love the story Red Dog. My habit lately is to read a book and then watch the movie, but this time I watched the movie first and now finished reading the book. I enjoyed it twice.
Author Louis De Bernieres weaves a fascinating story about the traveling Red Dog of Australia. Locals dubbed him that because Red wandered thousands of miles around western Australia looking for his deceased master. As he traveled, he made friends people he met. He hitched rides on buses, in trucks, and with people in cars. The dog becomes your dog as you read the story, just as Red Dog became every Australian’s dog in real life. The story is fictionalized with human characters, but the events relating to the animal are true. The breed is a Red Cloud Kelpie or Australian cattle dog.
The town in which this story took place has built a bronze memorial to the dog which is still in place.
Watch the movie, read the book, or do both you won’t be sorry.
The movie has been altered from the book to include a more human element to the story, but overall it stays true to De Bernieres story. In the movie, a love story parallels the dog story, and the movie ending is different from that in the book. The end of the movie makes you sad but you feel good, the end of the book makes you sad.
Related articles
- A Dog Story To Move You (grumpajoesplace.com)
- Red Dog wins big at the first AACTA awards (radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com)
- Red Dog (2011) (moviestudio.wordpress.com)
Filed under: Book Review, family, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: Australia, Australian Cattle Dog, Dog, Dog food, Film, Pets, Recreation, Red Dog | 1 Comment »
