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Summary: The best fantasy book ever
Review: "The Book of the Dun Cow" is easily the best fantasy book ever written, beating out even such great classics as "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia." Walter Wangerin Jr., a minister, uses animals to tell a tale of good versus evil. Unlike Animal Farm it does not carry a political message; rather, this is a spiritual one. It is well worth it to read and discover the essence of the greatest and most dangerous war there ever was--the war between Chaunticleer the rooster and Wyrm the serpent, which symbolizes the real war humans wage every day in the battle of good versus evil. If you read just one book this year, this should be the one.
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Summary: A Truly Great Work & roosters best friend
Review: Before my review of the rest of the book I would like to spend a paragraph in praise of my favorite character from the book. Mundo Cani, if you are a dog person, will evoke such emotion from you that you will fall in love with him within bare lines. If you are not a dog person, and, in fact, hate all dogs, it might take as much as a few pages for you to fully enjoy and care for this humble and self-sacrificing character. Mundo Cani is worth the price of the book all by himself, and the depth of the other characters that play their parts in this beautiful story will simply spoil you for the flat and tasteless fare that many of us sometimes find we have accidentally become accustomed to.
As a reader, I regretfully admit, I am fairly easy to please. However, I am happy to amend that quality with a very critical nature when it comes to comparing newer or lesser-known writings with my established favorites among classics. Very few works, in my opinion, can stand rank file with the best of, to name a few, Lewis, Tolkien, and Peake. If anyone had told me before I read this Book of the Dun Cow, that it should surpass Watership Down, that I should stand in awe of a cow the way I stood for Galadriel, that I should fear maggots and a simple cockatrice more than any foul thing born in the darks of Mordor, that my mind should be as stirred by prose concerning a chicken coop as it was by the darkly beautiful language that told of the Castle Gormenghast, and that this same story should be imbued with meaning so as to rival or even surpass the great works of C.S. Lewis, I would have spit on their forehead, laughed in their face, and made a crude reference concerning a deficiency in their genetic background. As it is, I must swallow all of my pride and humbly apply to any readers of this review, that Wangerin has taken a barnyard where others have taken castles and great forests, and created characters of cows where others used tall elves and mysterious wizards, and, with these common instruments, has created an epic work of fantastic literature that can stand fairly beside any of these others' greatest works.
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Summary: ANIMAL FANTASY "DUN" RIGHT
Review: Go back to cat-hell Fritti Tailchaser. Run back to Redwall little mice. I really didn't think I'd find something that would even come close to rivaling Richard Adam's Watership Down, but here it is. For one, Wangerin Jr. has excellent character development. Chauntecleer, the Wee Widow Mouse, Pertelote, Mundo Cani Dog, John Wesley Weasel--you'll come to readily recognize and love all of these characters. But what I liked most about this book was the fact that it had more fantasy in it than similar books like Tailchaser's Song, Redwall, and even Watership Down. There's the evil Wyrm within the earth. When I read about Wyrm, I instantly thought about Uroboros, the World Serpent. I read about Cockatrice, an evil amalgamation of rooster and serpent--and thought about the twisted animals described in the book of Revelation. When I read good fantasy novels I feel like I'm watching a movie. As is usually the case, certain scenes I read become especially vivid. One such scene that I remember dealt with Cockatrice sitting atop his Terebinth Oak, while beneath him were several thousand eggs, waiting to hatch forth serpents. It made me think of the movie Aliens for a second. Another interesting scene in the book was where Chauntecleer and Pertelote are walking through a battlefield--at night--and they stumble across a dead deer. Unlike some fantasy novels I've read, the last battle in this book is very satisfying. Let's just say that Wyrm makes the Sandworms of Dune small in comparison. Another thing that I like about this book is that good guys do die and DON'T come back. I'm sorry, but I hate books where the good guys come out unscathed. This book is very original and refreshing, full of stuff to spark your imagination.
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Summary: Poignant and Exciting
Review: I'm a pretty big fantasy fan. My favorites are usually the classics like Watership Down, Lord of the Rings, and The Neverending Story. The Book of the Dun Cow certainly stands with these masterpieces. In fact, The Book of the Dun Cow, in my opinion, probably surpasses them. The fantasy is set in an animal kingdom around a chicken coop. Chauntecleer is the rooster of the coop, in charge of all of the animals in the surrounding forest. Chauntecleer is a strong and noble, though flawed, leader who guides the peaceful creatures who depend on him. The peace is broken when the Ultimate Evil tries to break through into dominion over this world. Chauntecleer's kingdom has to find the courage and strength the fight the evil forces of the part rooster, part snake Cockatrice. This is one exciting book. There are such strong characters (such as Chauntecleer and Mundo Cani Dog) that you fall in love with. There are the exciting epic battles to be fought. The real greatness of this novel is its spiritual depth. In this battle between good and evil, Chauntecleer and Mundo Cani Dog and the others are only able to fight because of their faith and the spiritual exercises they practice. They are only able to fight back and do the right thing because of the strength offered them by the Dun Cow. This is an extraordinary novel that almost anybody would love.
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Summary: Buy this book
Review: If like me, you've thought Christian fiction really sucks, you need to discover Walter Wangerin (anong others). This is good thoughtful prose by anyone's standards. It is the antithesis of anything else you might find in the Christian fiction section. It is actually good. unlike a series of novels on the apocalypse that shall remain nameless.
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Summary: WELL-WRITTEN, COMPELLING FANTASY...WITH A SOUL
Review: The blurbs on the cover, and inside, compare this novel to Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS and Adams' WATERSHIP DOWN - all of which are apt. The difference between this and Orwell's book - the most obvious jumping-off place of reference, with animals as characters - is, as another reviewer so correctly pointes out below, Wangerin has added the elements of spirituality and faith to the mix. I'm reminded on many of the works I've read by Frederick Buechner - although he uses human beings as his characters, I see many parallels between the gently gripping writing styles employed by Buechner and Wangerin. Even though all of the characters in this novel are animals, the reader should be able to identify and empathize with them easily. The author has imbued them with the qualities one would expect to find in novels of the fantasy/adventure genre - they are brave and heroic and pure-hearted. Well, for the most part - what makes these characters most compelling is not their shining virtues (although there are many), but rather their `warts', their shortcomings, their thoughts and actions that are somewhat less than heroic, sometimes downright selfish and dishonorable and despicable. The inspiration lies in the fact that through their faith, and through the goodness that lies at the core of all creatures' hearts, they overcome these obstacles and manage to BE heroic when they are afraid, find the faith to BELIEVE their cause is just and that they have a chance to triumph, find the good within themselves to put aside the more petty instincts and simply DO THE RIGHT THING. The story is a gripping one - a classic case of the ultimate battle between the forces of Good and Evil. Wangerin's prose flows along rather like a river, drawing the reader along for the ride - and it's a rewarding one. Now all I have to do is read the sequel. Speaking of which...this novel was recommended to me (and loaned to me) by a dear friend - and after reading and experiencing it, I can easily see why she was drawn to it, why she returns to it (she tells me) again and again. This is a book filled with innocence and hope and positivism - qualities I see in abundance in her. Thanks, Dren...this was a great recommendation!
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Summary: One of the best five books I have ever read
Review: This book, quite simply, is amazingly profound and wonderful genuine. The characters are all archtypal but nonetheless deep and extremely compelling. I couldn't think of a better book to offer as a gift to just about anyone I know. This is a true honest to goodness masterpiece. If you love allegory and you have a strong sense of the need for faith, this book will take you on an amazing journey.
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Summary: a simple fable - but so much more
Review: This is a simple fable of Chauntecleer, a rooster. He is in charge of a small animal kingdom and is confronted by the evil Coctrice, a half snake/half rooster who is the son of the devil, an evil serpant that is trapped beneath the surface of the earth but is trying to get out to destroy God's creation. The book revolves around the efforts of the animals to come together to confront the evil threat and the costs that such action entails. It also has much deeper themes such as the nature of love and forgiveness.
I really was not looking forward to reading this book - in fact, I only picked it out of my pile of books because I thought that I had remembered a friend had read it while we were in high school. Much to my surprise, however, I loved it. It was well-paced and the main characters had depth. I recommend this book enthusiastically.
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Summary: A unique read
Review: This is the first book I ever read which, upon completion, I flipped to page one and started reading again. It centers on a rooster named "Chauntecleer" who's life revolves around keeping his coop in line. He is somewhat arrogant and pompous, but he takes his duty seriously, and his concern for the hens he "governs" is obvious. He is assisted by a masochistic dog whos presence provides humor while simultaneously invoking a deep sense of sympathy. Another rooster gives in to vanity and unwittingly looses the ultimate evil of the world. Chauntecleer and his allies must stop this evil, or the world is lost. This brief synopsis does not even begin to do the book justice. The characters are vibrant and vivid. the story is engrossing, and even the most jaded fan will find the plot twists and imagery irrisitable. All I can say is read this book, you will not be disappointed.
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Summary: delightful wounderfullness
Review: This was a great book. Wangerin writes in a style that makes you giggle. Whimsical wording and some words that you don't know the meaning of make this book just plain fun. This book is inexplicably reminiscent of the Harry Potter books in a weird and wonderful way. Both books posses delightfully fantastic plots and a distinctive British tone, more so in The Book of The Dun Cow. Although at times I wondered if a minister wrote it, due to the many references to God, lord of the universe, and the fact that Wyrm is a very strong symbol obviously representing Satan. As it turns out, I was exactly right, Walter Wangerin Jr. is a Lutheran minister, never the less, this book is a lovely romp through a fantastical Earth before time began.
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