dog lesson

After reading an absolutely adoring review on The Art of Racing in the Rain, I immediately added Garth Stein's novel to my mental list of books to read. The book especially jumped far up on the list when I realized it was written from the perspective of a dog (i mean, hello), and was compared to Life of Pi and The Alchemist. Currently only about 1/3 of the way through it, but I'm already in love and inspired.

"When I was nineteen," Denny said after a moment, "at my first driving school down at Sears Point, it was raining and they were trying to teach us how to drive in the rain. After the instructors were finished explaining all their secrets, all the students were totally confused. We had no idea what they were talking about. I looked over at the guy next to me- I remember him, he was from France and he was very fast. Gabriel Flouret. He smiled and he said: "That which you manifest is before you."

Eve stuck out her lower lip and squinted at Denny.

"And then everything made sense," she said jokingly.

"That's right," Denny said seriously.

[...]

She went off into the kitchen; Denny and I continued watching the cars on the video as they drove around and around the circuit drenched in darkness.

I will never tire of watching tapes with Denny. He knows so much, and I have learned so much from him. He said nothing more to me; he continued watching his tapes. But my thoughts turned to what he had just taught me. Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through invention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves."

- Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain