Ratings6
Average rating4.3
“An amazing, beautiful book . . . It shows how one dog’s dignified presence can bring connection and love to a fractured world.” ―Cat Warren, New York Times bestselling author of What the Dog Knows One dog changes the life of everyone who takes him in on his journey to reunite with his first owner in this inspiring novel about the bond between humans and dogs and the life-affirming power of connection. Following a devastating earthquake and tsunami, a young man in Japan finds a stray dog outside a convenience store. The dog’s tag says “Tamon,” a name evocative of the guardian deity of the north. The man decides to keep Tamon, becoming the first in a series of owners on the dog’s five-year journey to find his beloved first owner, Hikaru, a boy who has not spoken since the tsunami. An agent of fate, Tamon is a gift to everyone who welcomes him into their life. At once heartrending and heartwarming, intimate and panoramic, suspenseful and luminous--and deepened in its emotion by the author’s mastery of the gritty details and hardscrabble circumstances that define the lives of the various people who take Tamon in on his journey--this bestselling, award-winning novel weaves a feel-good tale of survival, resilience, and love beyond measure.
Reviews with the most likes.
I'm not sure the last time a book made me cry, but I shed a few tears towards the end with this one.
It's quite clear the subliminal “angel of death” meaning the author sprinkled throughout. If you look at the novel at face value I think it can come across lackluster/dry/repetitive. This isn't a happy journey, but it reflects a lot of struggles our humanity faces and how a companion like a pet can help us be vulnerable and honest when faced with repercussions of our actions or injustices placed onto us.
It was a moving and beautiful story.