"I wonder", said Hermes, "what it would be like if animals had human intelligence."
"I'll wager a year's servitude, " answered Apollo, "that animals--any animal you like--would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they were given human intelligence."
And so it begins: a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs who are overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. An utterly compelling and affecting look at the beauty and perils of human consciousness.
André Alexis, 2015
Paperback, Very Good
173 pages
274g
21 x 13.5 x 1.5 cm