This is a well written book.

But it’s not an easy book or a comforting book.

This book is under review. It contains some strong descriptions of violence as well as dialogue that was typical of its time (1919).

I didn't like this as much as I had hoped. This book was created by collecting a bunch of short stories and as a result has a tendency toward repetition of basic phrases which got a bit tedious. Many of Terhunes attitudes are very dated and problematic. Lad is certainly a remarkable dog. I can see why kids were thrilled with it when it first came out. It has a lot of action and Lad is quite heroic (despite his "absurdly tiny paws"). I didn't much care for the amount of violence. I enjoyed reading a biography of Terhune after this. Unusual guy, not terribly admirable, but interesting. My book group was not too thrilled. I love Sam Savitt's illustration. ( )

God, this is awful. I love dogs. I love dog books. Silver Chief, Dog of the North and Big Red were among my favorite books growing up. I didn't even much mind reading James Oliver Curwood's Swift Lightening a year or so ago, although it was a pretty silly book. But this piece of crap is beyond the pale. To begin with, it's hideously racist, both in describing the behavior of people and that of dogs. The protagonist dog, Lad, is allegedly a collie, but his behavior isn't evenly remotely collie-like according to my understanding of collies. And yes, you can infer undying love and loyalty in some aspects of dog behavior, but please do not endow dogs with the powers of complex moral reasoning, a trait bestowed upon them, according to Terhune, by dint of their being "thoroughbred". WTF?

Then too, the stories are hideously melodramatic and extremely morally judgmental. Great melodrama might have sold a century ago, but melodrama has always been a cheep way to cheat people out of authentic experience. As for moral judgments, I don't generally mind them, so long as they're apt. Dogs, however, are not beings capable of such, and whether or not one is a true dog person or not is not a matter of moralism. After forcing myself to read five of the stories, trying hard not to vomit each time, I took a rest. Then, after a month I tried a sixth story, and I couldn't get past a couple of paragraphs. God is this awful dreck! ( )

As much as I loved most of the book, I never have gotten past the scene where a visitor's kid nearly burns the family cat alive, Lad tries to intervene, and the kid's father tries to beat the dog with a chair--and during this, the author's great concern is that he remember his duty as a host and remain gracious to his guests. And after that, continues to socialize with them!

I realize it was a different time with different social standards, but this scene completely infuriates me! If a visitor tortured my pets, being "gracious" would be the last thing on my mind--avoiding a homicide charge would be a much greater priority! The fact that this animal-abusing jackass continues to show up in the rest of the book just turned my stomach. I think the intent was to make it better by having Lad consistently show him up, but it backfired for me.

Honestly, I'd rate this a lot more highly otherwise. Lad's a great dog and it's generally a lovely book. But I cut the rating severely because when asked for my first impressions of it, I don't think of "that cute book about the collie", but "that book with the scene that put my blood pressure in the atmosphere". ( )

This will be revisited at some point, but it came up as a GoodReads recommendation, and I wanted to share my memory of this book.

I read my pop's old paperback copy of this, and encountered my first (traumatizing) experience with old paperback book-binding glue. It was tragic. I was 9, and not at fault, but since my father loved this book, I got chewed out thoroughly for the pages that were falling out like leaves from an autumn tree, regardless of how lovingly and reverently I treated this copy.

Sadness aside, I have mixed memories of this book, some sad (as Lad drags himself across the snow unerringly), some happy (he was a wonderful family dog), and some adorable (him mouthing the lady's foot).

This is a book for dog lovers, written by a dog lover. Flat out. And I loved it. Even the sad bits (which I generally hate, but always stand out so strongly for me in retrospect).

I had sung the praises of Rin Tin Tin to my pop, and read many Jim Kjelgaard (why does my spell check want to change this name, when I memorized the spelling to better peruse his works in our various library card catalogues?) doggie stories which I enjoyed, wanting each of the breeds written on, and at this point added English Collie to this list. My sweet father who knew that I was so like him, let me borrow his ancient paperback copy that he had enjoyed as a boy himself.

We knew each other as if I were cut from the same cloth he had been. And I appreciated that about him. So when I read this story, I knew that I would enjoy it just as he had. And I did. Until I returned the book, and the pages were beginning to slip free. I felt bad. He felt bad. It was a bad experience.

But even with that, I recall this book in the light of the love of a good dog.

Years later, when I wound up with a rescued Collie whom I named 'Prince' (his real name, turned out when his delinquent owner showed up, was Cheeseballs) it was this story that came to mind as I brushed him for what was perhaps the first time in his life, loosening mats and burrs and scabs from old scars, telling myself stories of Lad and where all that came from as he trembled in my lap, unwilling to get off me. He was a culmination of my hopes and dreams and memories of this book, and too short with me.

But still, I have always dreamed of having a dog as loyal as this. This book is the ideal, the standard, the pinnacle all good dogs can be measured against. Lad is not just a dog, but a saint in canine form.

A story to be savoured, for sure. It has stood the test of time. ( )