Marley & Me by John Grogan is a true story about John and his wife Jenny buying a Labrador retriever that changes their lives forever. Marley is a rambunctious dog that has too much energy for this family to handle. Overall this is a pretty good book but I do not fully understand if this book was only supposed to be about the dog or if is the whole family during the dog’s life because it seems to get off topic about and the author gives us a bunch of unneeded explanations. In fact some of the things he explains I could do without knowing and which makes this not always a kid-friendly book.
John seems to like to go into explaining some things that we did not need to know, like one point in the book when his wife Jenny had a miscarriage, he went into explaining how the fetus is removed, “With the fetus and placenta being vacuumed from the uterus. ” (46). That is highly unneeded, and I would have rather not have had that explained to me. Also he goes on to explaining what kind of drugs Jenny was given for the removal of the fetus, “He injected Jenny first with Valium and then Demerol. ” (47).
Like for real again not needed at all, in fact he probably should have skipped this part altogether because thought this book was supposed to be about the dog. And again when they were searching for the fetus in the beginning, “Then inserted a latex-covered probe into her vagina. ” (45). Did John purposefully make this book not kid friendly, because if I was a parent I would not want my kid to read this book until he/she would be at least 15 years of age. There are many similarities between the book and the movie Marley & Me, but there are much less differences.
In the book, John says he had a dog when he was ten he had a dog named Shaun. Whereas in the movie, John said he had never owned a dog before Marley. Also, in the book, Marley is more of the main focus of the story. But in the movie, John and Jenny’s relationship is the focus and Marley is used more for comic relief. In the book Marley fails his obedience classes, then returns and completes them. Opposed to that, in the movie, Marley fails his obedience classes and does not return to finish.
I think that the book and the movie were pretty closely related seeing as how some movies seem like they shouldn’t even have the same title as the book they portray because they are so different. On top of that, I think the movie did a great job capturing certain key elements of the story that make it unique. Overall neither the book or the movie is a great read or watch in my opinion, due to the lack of or flattened plot. It doesn’t have usual elements of a story that make it an interesting read.
The movie makes up for what the book lacks. If you are looking for a good cute dog book, well this might not be the one for you! Marley and me isn’t just about the life of the dog it’s about the whole family and how they lived their life with and without the dog. But this book isn’t just a waste of time because even though Marley was a dumb, weird dog she had a big impact on the family. “A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight.
And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty. ” (207). This stood out to me because for how bad Marley was, the love for her never grew short. Marley was able to help her family and show them what life can really be! Marley and me was a very informational book. It talked about how the dog started out as a puppy and how it acted, and how the dog changed over time and Marley changed the family’s life. But it tends to get off topic a lot and tells information that is nneeded.
The book can be considered inspirational because the family never gave up on Marley even though Marley was a misbehaved dog. Marley and Me isn’t a book for kids because it has things in the book that a little boy or girl should not read. If you wanted to read the book but don’t have much time, you could watch the movie because they are very similar with very little differences. Something this book shows is that a dog is a great pet to have because a dog and a human create a very special connection and when one of them leaves, it leaves the other feeling empty inside.
