Winter Reading.

One of my totally favourite books is Eva Hornung’s “Dog Boy”; the story of an abandoned four-year-old boy, adopted by feral dogs, in late 20th Century Moscow.

I read it over a single day in the depths of a Ballarat winter, only emerging from time to time to grab some food to take back under the doona, and by the time little Romochka is “rescued” by humans I am already more than half dog myself.

Reading this novel was for me a totally visceral experience and the immersion in the overwhelming intimacy of dog family life really made me question some very fundamental issues: “What is it to be human?” “What is love?”

I found this really great interview with Hornung, about the book on NPR Books a site that is well worth bookmarking anyway.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125781157