{ [ THE DOG STARS ] } Heller, Peter ( AUTHOR ) May-07-2013 Paperback
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RIDLEY SCOTT AND STARRING JACOB ELORDI, MARGARET QUALLEY, AND JOSH BROLIN • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of The River: In this "end-of-the-world novel more like a rapturous beginning" (San Francisco Chronicle), Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. His gripping story is "an ode to friendship between two men...the strong bond between a human and a dog, and a reminder of what is worth living for" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).
Hig's wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley.
But when a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists outside their tightly controlled perimeter. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return and follows its static-broken trail, only to find something that is both better and worse than anything he could ever hope for.
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Community Reviews
This is another candidate for my 2025 cleaning out the closet challenge since it's been on my to read list since Nov2022 as well as my out of my comfort zone challenge. I don’t like dystopian stories. More times than not, they are just so incredibly depressing. So many times, they’re nothing more than just really stupid zombie stories. Anyway, this story was everything that I don’t like about dystopian stories, minus the asinine zombies. There was even the death of an MC’s beloved dog, that he and wife got before the pandemic; Jasper is the last of what he has left in the world. Dogs dying are almost always an automatic DNF for me, but this death was an acceptable one and dealt with so respectfully; I even shed a tear or two. Definitely out of my comfort zone, and I’m sure a lot of readers will be pissed at me for revealing that spoiler, but I don’t care. I know a lot of other readers will be glad I did.
As the book summary indicates, it’s the end of the world as we know it because of a pandemic. Hig, is a pilot who lives in a hanger with his dog, Jasper, a Blue Heeler, who is elderly and mostly deaf. Hig patrols the outer edges of the perimeter of the plain where he and Jasper live with their only “neighbor”, Bangley, who is just as the book summary describes him, a gun-toting, miserable, misanthrope, and the absolute worst kind too! If I had a choice of either dying in a pandemic or spending the rest of my life living in the same universe as Bangley, I would choose the former, especially if it was right next to hubby, the love of my life. For me, having to deal with a person like Bangley for the rest of my life would most certainly be a fate worse than death.
The story ambles along in the first half with the scattered accounts of Hig and Bangley’s protection of what Hig and Bangley consider their perimeter. Mostly, these were accounts of Bangley murdering anyone that came within his rifle scope’s distance. For his part, Hig hunted the last remaining deer and fished and picked up any food supplies he could find on his air patrols, mostly just soda’s, which is kind of scary how long that crap lasts. He also tends to a garden he has built up over the years, about nine years, so far. As much as they get on each other’s nerves, they also know that they depend on each other for their own survival and that is also revealed throughout the first half of the story.
The second half picks up a little bit; still incredibly depressing, but at least Hig got away from Bangley. Hig discovers two people while on one of his air patrols and one of them just about shoots Hig down. Deep into the second half, it’s revealed just how horrible the world has become and going back to what he knows and to Bangley isn’t looking as bad as the rest of what Hig has discovered about what’s left of the world.
The character development of Hig and the rest of the characters, even Bangley, was well done. The pacing was slow in the first half and picked up a little in the second half. Once again, the storyline was incredibly depressing. This could be a glimpse into a not-so-distant future of what this world will succumb to if some really hard decisions aren’t made NOW!!! I pray I don’t live long enough to see the world come to this, and I am saddened for the current younger generations that may be saddled with a world like the one in this story. I’m looking at an overall rating of 2.5 that I’m not really feeling compelled to round up because that would be indicating that I liked it, which I didn't.
As the book summary indicates, it’s the end of the world as we know it because of a pandemic. Hig, is a pilot who lives in a hanger with his dog, Jasper, a Blue Heeler, who is elderly and mostly deaf. Hig patrols the outer edges of the perimeter of the plain where he and Jasper live with their only “neighbor”, Bangley, who is just as the book summary describes him, a gun-toting, miserable, misanthrope, and the absolute worst kind too! If I had a choice of either dying in a pandemic or spending the rest of my life living in the same universe as Bangley, I would choose the former, especially if it was right next to hubby, the love of my life. For me, having to deal with a person like Bangley for the rest of my life would most certainly be a fate worse than death.
The story ambles along in the first half with the scattered accounts of Hig and Bangley’s protection of what Hig and Bangley consider their perimeter. Mostly, these were accounts of Bangley murdering anyone that came within his rifle scope’s distance. For his part, Hig hunted the last remaining deer and fished and picked up any food supplies he could find on his air patrols, mostly just soda’s, which is kind of scary how long that crap lasts. He also tends to a garden he has built up over the years, about nine years, so far. As much as they get on each other’s nerves, they also know that they depend on each other for their own survival and that is also revealed throughout the first half of the story.
The second half picks up a little bit; still incredibly depressing, but at least Hig got away from Bangley. Hig discovers two people while on one of his air patrols and one of them just about shoots Hig down. Deep into the second half, it’s revealed just how horrible the world has become and going back to what he knows and to Bangley isn’t looking as bad as the rest of what Hig has discovered about what’s left of the world.
The character development of Hig and the rest of the characters, even Bangley, was well done. The pacing was slow in the first half and picked up a little in the second half. Once again, the storyline was incredibly depressing. This could be a glimpse into a not-so-distant future of what this world will succumb to if some really hard decisions aren’t made NOW!!! I pray I don’t live long enough to see the world come to this, and I am saddened for the current younger generations that may be saddled with a world like the one in this story. I’m looking at an overall rating of 2.5 that I’m not really feeling compelled to round up because that would be indicating that I liked it, which I didn't.
Hig is a survivor of an epidemic, living with his dog and a nearby neighbor on constant alert for danger by traveling scavengers. A pilot who still takes periodic scouting flights, he is plagued by the memory of a voice on his radio, calling to him from the Denver airport.
I loved this story! Part post-apocalyptic, part adventure story, this book goes beyond the average post-apocalyptic. Where usually a story of this genre would simply branch off into a good ol' horror yarn, this story explores human nature and is a more "real" look at life after the apocalypse rather than a fantastical look, albeit with a somewhat desperate and negative bent, assuming the worst of human nature. Not only a book about survival, but a story about the love between a man and his dog.
Hig comes off as a pretty honorable man-- a man with a conscience and uncomfortable with some of the things he must do. His ornery neighbor is not so conflicted. He has absolutely no problem with living in the world they now struggle to survive in. In fact, you get the impression that he may be more comfortable in this post-apocalyptic world than the cushy world of the past.
My final word: If you like the post-apocalyptic genre, and appreciate good writing, give this one a try. It is a fast read, well-written, with emotional moments. There is some brutality, but nothing explicit or excessive. Bound to be one of my favorites of the year. Very nice!
In many ways, this is a typical dystopian/post-apocalyptic story of survival. Sparse, grim. However, it brings into focus some great themes, answers to questions like: What is it that makes life so special? and, When is a person's true "prime" of life?
It took me a while to develop an attachment to the characters, which is usually the most important aspect of bonding with a book for me. And I didn't necessarily "agree" with every aspect of the author's portrayal of a world a decade or two after disease has wiped out most of humanity. But those problems turned into non-problems as the narrator drew me closer into the story of his psychological and emotional survival.
If I say too much more about what I liked, I'll be wandering into the spoiler zone, because my heart got into it more and more towards the end. However, I will say that this was an enriching, satisfying read. Won't take a ton of your time, but might change your heart a little.
It took me a while to develop an attachment to the characters, which is usually the most important aspect of bonding with a book for me. And I didn't necessarily "agree" with every aspect of the author's portrayal of a world a decade or two after disease has wiped out most of humanity. But those problems turned into non-problems as the narrator drew me closer into the story of his psychological and emotional survival.
If I say too much more about what I liked, I'll be wandering into the spoiler zone, because my heart got into it more and more towards the end. However, I will say that this was an enriching, satisfying read. Won't take a ton of your time, but might change your heart a little.
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