The Dogs of Babel is a strange and interesting book by Carolyn Parkhurst. It is the story of Paul, a man whose wife has died, and the only witness is their dog Lorelei. In his grief, he decides to try to teach Lorelei to talk, so he can uncover the truth about his wife’s death.

The novel was strangely compelling until it took a turn towards the gruesome. Reading Parkhurst’s comments at the end of the book, she says she hopes nobody was disturbed by the animal abuse scenes in the book. I wish I could tell her personally how incredibly disturbed I was, and how it ruined an otherwise original and engaging novel.

I do not recommend this book to anyone who loves animals. It will leave you with horrifying images that are hard to get rid of.