The Book of
the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin
This is Walter Wangerin’s first novel; I’ve just now gotten
around to reading it, though I’ve read both his fiction and nonfiction in the
past. In some time before humans, or world without humans, Chanticleer rules
his farmyard and its animals; all is well until they rescue some refugee
animals from another coop, including the beautiful Pertelote. Evil has come
into the world through another rooster’s failing, and it is up to Chanticleer
and his allies to save the world from dark evil. They have help from the
mysterious Dun Cow, who comes and goes as she pleases.
Wangerin is a Christian writer, and there are definitely
Christian allegorical overtones here, although it’s not nearly so
straightforward an allegory as, for example, the Narnia books. One of
Wangerin’s strengths is the ability to write about suffering in a way that is
profound and wrenching, but not manipulative, and that strength is visible even
here in this early work. This book is the first of a trilogy. 4/5*
No comments:
Post a Comment