The Heights

New book proves to be man's best read
By Caroline Arre

My Dog The Meat Eater, a new novel by University of Massachusetts student Daniel Trask, is a dense but rewarding read. Don't be misled by the title - this book is definitely more serious than puppy chow. Rich with symbolism and vivid imagery (and all the other appropriate literary devices that English majors everywhere love) the novel is a certain achievement for a first-time author.

Four boys - Yanni, Endrigio, Bag, and Bear - work every summer on an old, beat-up farm in the downward-spiraling town of Stanislaw, Mass. As boys, they work with Louie, an older, knowledgeable Puerto Rican farmer who has worked the land for years. Working together over a period of many years, every morning from sunrise until late afternoon, the boys become very close. Each from different backgrounds and with different goals in life, "their hearts all glowed like separate burners on the same electric stove." The reader is drawn almost immediately into each of the boys' quirks and personalities and feels as comfortable with them as they are described to be with each other.

The novel brings to mind the writing of Steinbeck, particularly with a setting not unlike Of Mice and Men. In addition, the story is broken down into three short parts, "Plants," "Mice," and "Dogs." On the farm, everyday burdens of life range from sore backs and sunburns to financial strains and abusive families; where boys share dreams over cups of coffee, and grow up above the cornstalks of the fields. It is in this most simplistic setting that the reader is exposed to complex philosophical ideas.

Each part of the novel presents new symbols and integrates variations of its meanings discussed earlier in the writing. One of the characters, Yanni, speaks every morning to the other boys about the dreams he had the night before. His dreams consistently link together seemingly abstract themes and tie together the many philosophical ideas in all three parts. The time spent on the farm requires patience and humility, allowing the boys to think a lot about their lives, the importance of their work, and the inevitability of death. In a moment of thought, one of the boys stops at work to think.

"Bear surveyed the world around him and grew out of the soil ... His heart beat to the passing of the seasons," the novel reads. "His thoughts revolved around the heat emanating from the earth. Bear knew what it was to be a slow-growing plant: feet stuck in the ground, time passing so slowly, waiting for the hoe to come along, waiting to be eaten."

It continues, "The plants that grew on the farm went inside people's stomachs and became something else. Their chemicals were rearranged and they became people who did new things. Bear was in every one of those plants. A little bit of him was in everyone who ate them."

With concepts that will make any reader stop to think and cyclical language and symbolism to keep one on his or her toes, this book is a challenging and rewarding read for anyone.