The Art of Racing in the Rain

Three years ago,  the film of this novel I read in 2016 was released. It stars Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Costner and I haven’t seen it yet so I don’t know if it is a slightly different adaptation. At least we have a good dose of footage from IMSA and some other American road racing.

The novel follows the story of Denny Swift, a race car driver and customer representative in a Seattle BMW dealership, and his dog, Enzo, who believes in the legend that a dog “who is prepared” will be reincarnated in his next life as a human. Enzo sets out to prepare, with The Seattle Times calling his journey “a struggle to hone his humanness, to make sense of the good, the bad and the unthinkable.

Enzo spends most of his days watching and learning from television, gleaning what he can about his owner’s greatest passion, race car driving—and relating it to life.

The end is perhaps a little hasty and forced, inviting optimism and stressing very valid and praiseworthy values for everyday life. It is not bad and it is not a long copy, it can be read quite well and Enzo is a character who is quickly taken to heart. An interesting read for those dead times when you have to kill time without using your mobile phone.

See you on the track!