Publishers Weekly
09/05/2022
The human-canine bond is the subject of the affecting English-language debut from Seishū, capably translated by Watts. The story opens in the aftermath of 2011’s “triple disaster,” as the narrator describes the earthquake and tsunami that brought about a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. When Kazumasa, a down-on-his-luck factory worker, comes across a strangely self-possessed dog named Tamon (according to the dog’s tag) in a convenience store parking lot, he decides to adopt him. Suddenly Kazumasa’s life changes: his elderly mother perks up from her dementia, and a classmate offers him a job as a getaway driver for a band of foreign thieves. After the caper ends in tragedy, Tamon finds himself with a new owner, and when that chapter ends, he is adopted by childless couple Sae and Taiki, whose marriage is troubled. Each owner remarks on Tamon’s remarkable presence and notes that the dog seems to be on a journey: while at rest he always “faced west”—but “What was in the west?” Sae wonders. When Tamon finally reaches his destination, the reunion waiting for him is indeed moving. Seishū imbues Tamon with a nobility that never feels sentimental or overdrawn. With this tender display, he proves himself a gifted storyteller. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Winner of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize
“A most extraordinary novel . . . An instant classic . . . It feels like The Odyssey . . . but from a dog’s point of view. . . . It really stays with you.” ―NPR’s Dog Talk
“Sure, you may have read a dog-finding-their-way-home story before, but this one is special. . . . [The dog] enchants and helps each of his temporary owners on his way home, and we imagine he’ll do the same for you.” ―Shondaland
“Moving . . . Dog lovers will need no encouragement to pick [it] up.” ―The Sydney Morning Herald
“A delightful read. It’s heartbreaking, it’s funny, it’s sad―it really covers all of the emotions. . . . It’s an incredible novel—I really loved every moment of it.” ―Christopher Hermelin, So Many Damn Books (podcast)
“Much like the love of our dogs, this fable about a lost dog and his epic journey to find home is a gift to us all.” ―Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Celebrants
“A remarkable story of the transformative power of a dog. Like a figure from myth or fable, the dog inspires in the very flawed humans he encounters a desire for a new life, a new chance—and he just may do the same for you.” —Susan Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of One Good Dog
“A must read for any dog lover, this story of companionship, perseverance, and an incredible journey to find a long-lost friend speaks to our canine counterparts’ innate ability to sense the times of our deepest need.” —Ben Moon, author of Denali: A Man, a Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime
“A highly original and unsentimental novel about the powerful bond between humans and dogs.” ―Helen Humphreys, author of And a Dog Called Fig
“A preternaturally intelligent dog, but lost all the same, in a tsunami-ravaged Japan, is called many names by many people. Lose yourself in this story of a dog finding his way home, and in the stories of the lives he changes. No one stays the same, least of all the reader.” ―Michelle Latiolais, author of Even Now, Widow, and She
“Heartwarming and suspenseful, detailing true resilience and survival.” ―Belfast Telegraph
“A moving account of a lost dog . . . Inspiring . . . Life-affirming.” —Asi"ne
“Its plain and honest prose . . . allows you to fill in the spaces with your own lived experience, especially if you’ve had a lasting bond with a beloved animal who profoundly changed your life.” —The Waterloo Region Record
“Heartrending . . . Powerfully demonstrates how love and loyalty can overcome obstacles . . . and how a dog’s love can save a person in every possible way.” ―Booklist
“Affecting . . . Moving . . . Never feels sentimental or overdrawn . . . [Seishu Hase] proves himself a gifted storyteller.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Heartbreakingly moving in its simplicity . . . A touching meditation on shining lights in the face of trauma and hopelessness.” ―Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
2022-09-28
While searching for his own destiny, a dog changes the lives of lost souls.
In the wake of a tsunami in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Kazumasa Nakagaki—a young man working as a delivery driver/getaway car operator—finds a stray dog politely waiting outside a convenience store. From the dog’s collar, Kazumasa learns that his name is Tamon and assumes that this is short for Tamonten, a Japanese guardian deity. And that is exactly what Tamon becomes for Kazumasa and many others throughout the novel: a guardian angel. Tamon protects Kazumasa as he carries out his illicit activities and tries to make money to support his family. Tamon brings joy to Kazumasa’s sister and his ailing mother, whose dementia leads her to believe that Tamon is her childhood dog (a pattern throughout as others associate Tamon with dogs from their pasts). But Kazumasa knows that Tamon, who is constantly and mysteriously turning to look toward the southwest, is not fated to stay with him, and when circumstances drag them apart, Tamon continues on his journey. In a story told in episodic vignettes, Tamon becomes the companion of a criminal, a wife with a deadbeat husband, a sex worker with a dark secret, and, perhaps most poignantly, an old man dying of cancer. Hase’s last vignette finds Tamon with a young boy whose early years have been marked by deep trauma. Hase’s staccato sentences and straightforward narrative structure should not be mistaken for shallowness. And while some stories are more affecting than others (“The Couple and the Dog” feels slightly awkward in its narrative arc), Hase’s novel is ultimately a touching meditation on shining lights in the face of trauma and hopelessness: “It’s your dog magic, I suppose. Dogs don’t just make people smile. They give us love and courage, too, just from being at our side.”
Heartbreakingly moving in its simplicity.
