Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh

Category: book review

  • Breakfast at Sally’s by Richard LeMieux

    Breakfast at Sally'sBreakfast at Sally’s by Richard LeMieux

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    In addition to George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London that was written in the early 20th century, this book is an artless account of a man deprived of the securities of life that reveals daily aspects of the homeless and their situations, which have not been drastically changed since the Orwell’s time period. No man is born to be homeless, but his situation plunges him into such deprivation. So you can never judge a homeless person based upon your assumption that he must have caused his own downfall. It’s not that simple. It’s a social phenomenon that all of us are somehow responsible for. But this book was not written with a fist clenched in anger but with affection for humanity the author felt and shared with his friends at the Salvation Army, the pastor who manifested the milk of human kindness forthwith, and Willow, the author’s faithful canine (Bichon Frise) companion. This book will touch your heart one way or another, and if it doesn’t, then your heart is made of steel.

  • Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote

    Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking DogMerle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote

    My rating: 4 of 5 stars

    Ted Kerasote’s book on his freethinking dog Merle is filled with his extensive knowledge on the wildlife and humorous episodes with his canine buddy Merle, who reminds me of Snoopy in his independent character and individual personality. I am enthralled by the way he and Merle communicated to each other, which I find scintillating. The author has a unique way with a dog as if he were his real buddy and/or partner in performing any daily tasks together. Such human-canine bond seems primordial and endemic in an environment where the world of the wildlife is paraded within arm’s reach. In sum, reading this book will enlighten you on how a human-canine relationship can evolve with lots of smiles and tears.

  • Katz on Dogs by Jon Katz

    Katz on Dogs: A Commonsense Guide to Training and Living with DogsKatz on Dogs: A Commonsense Guide to Training and Living with Dogs by Jon Katz

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    What I like about this book is its simplicity in defining a human-canine relationship devoid of complex training regime and overtly enforced ethical overtones on animal rights and so forth. Also, I can’t agree more to the following perspectives of the author as a kindred spirit: (1) Rather than relying heavily on professional training advice from books and the media, being a trainer of my own by observing and understanding my dog works the best; (2) being a “rational” dog-lover, who does not make moral/ethical decisions on the behaviors/fate of my dog, is a way of respecting my dog’s “animalness”; (3) it is possible that people and animals can be bonded by “psychospirituality”; and (4) dogs reflect the people we are and the people we want to be. This book is a must read for anyone who not only wants to but also is willing to include a dog in his/her life in tandem.

  • A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans

    A Wolf Called RomeoA Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    This book has taught me the following facts about wolves: (1) wolves do not attack and/or kill to eat humans; (2) there is only a 0.01 difference between the genetic packages of the wolf and the dog; (3) it isn’t impossible for a male wolf to be attracted by a female dog, and therefore, the interbreeding is possible; and (4) we should respect all wild /domesticated animals as parts of God’s creatures. With beautifully touching black and white photos taken by the author himself in the book, it is a tale of a romantic wolf called Romeo and his adventurous love affair with the tamed world.

  • My offbeat review of Thunder Dog

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    Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson is a book of manifold genre: part memoir of a brave man who has risen above the obstacles, part an educational guide for the role of a Seeing Eye dog for the blind in our society, and part a great adventure story about two parters in action. The story of Mr. Hingson and his faithful dog Roselle is at once undeniably heartwarming  in describing how they stuck together in times of great distress and heart wrenching in unfolding prejudice that Mr. Hingson and Roselle  faced as a blind person and a service dog.

    michael hingstonMr. Hingson is truly someone I can look up to because despite his blindness, he did not escape from reality but always tried to do whatever he could to the extent possible among. Of course, there was a great family support who always treated him as if  he had been a sighted person. But still the author had to do all things by himself outside the safety of home, such as bicycling around  his town as a kid against the biased complaints from the neighbors who were afraid of any damages that the blind kid would cause on a bike. But Mr. Hingson did not yield to such unfair glances and kept on going. This is just one of many episodes that manifested Mr. Hingson’s resilient and brave spirit. Eventually, he graduated from university with a summa cum laude distinction and went on to become a regional manager of a company.

    hingson-roselle-6Roselle was  the author’s guide dog that stayed with Mr. Hingson at the time of 9/11 tragedy in the World Trade Center. The author narrated that Rosell was not alarmed but behaved normally even while they were evacuating from the building after it had been hit by the hijacked airplane. (The only thing that made Roselle agitated was thunder because according to the author, thunder ionized the air with the formation of ozone, which produced a distinctive smell of the weather condition unpleasant to her. ) In fact, Roselle was more of a partner to  Mr. Hingson in tackling challenges that both of them encounter ed in daily life.

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    For instance, when Mr. Hingson went to a restaurant with his company, waiters/waitresses ignored his presence and instead took the orders from other people with him. As for Roselle, many stores denied her access to the premises even though she was a working service dog. Nevertheless, the duo soldiered on in fulfilling the demands placed on their daily tasks to keep their lives moving on.

    Now Roselle is not here with us in this world any longer, and Mr. Hingson has a new guide dog named “Africa”. But the legacy of the brave duo as battle buddies in life still lingers in my heart. Since reading this book, I have learned that (1) there are no huge differences between the sighted and the blind in performing ordinary daily functions; (2) the blind should be treated just like our ordinary neighbors without condescending manners and biases; (3) the usual life span of a service dog is 10 years because of stress accumulated by years of sacrifice that it makes for the protection of its owner; and (4) when a handler/owner walks, he should keep his left foot by the front right paw of his dog.  Thunder Dog is a wonderful book about this incredible duo in their voyage of life together.