Top 100 Canadian Books: Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis

Top 100 Canadian Books of All Time

In case you haven’t seen my Top 100 Canadian Books of All Time list, here’s a brief explanation. A few months ago, I looked at all the Top Canadian Books lists and prestigious Canadian literary awards I could find, took note of how many times (and how high up the list) each book appeared, and ranked the top 100. Now I’m slowly going through them all to see what they have to say about my beloved home country and whether I agree that they belong where they are on the list. This month’s Canadian read was Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis, which sits at #77.

Fifteen Dogs

Fifteen Dogs is a unique and highly imaginative work. Basically, the gods Hermes and Apollo decide, in the interests of settling a bet, to give human intelligence to fifteen dogs at a veterinary clinic in Toronto. They then watch the dogs to see what will happen – whether intelligent animals would be happier or more miserable than humans. I read this book as an audiobook narrated by the author.

What does Fifteen Dogs have to say about Canada?

I have to admit, I’m actually THRILLED that such an innovative literary work is Canadian! And unabashedly so – even though the plot revolves around Greek gods, the city of Toronto and many of its streets and landmarks are mentioned so often that you couldn’t mistake the setting for anywhere else. So for that fact alone, it already says a lot about Canada, or more specifically about Toronto.

But I think it also says a lot about Canadian literature as a whole. This is a genre-bending, box-defying, imagination-stretching work of genius. Alexis follows these dogs through the process of creating their own language and culture, even writing dog poetry (dog poetry, people!), and he somehow thinks through all the issues that might arise for dogs that can think like humans but still want to act on their own instincts. This is what literature should be! Unique, unconventional, thought-provoking, emotion-stirring. But has the whole world heard about this novel? No, I highly doubt it. And yet, here in Canada, it received several major awards and was adapted into a play.

To me, that says a lot about Canadian literature. Our authors are free to experiment, and we’re quietly breaking down boundaries here. Not for riches and worldwide acclaim, but for the love of the artform. I love that about Canada!

Does it deserve to be #77 on the list?

No. It should be ranked much, much higher. I have a feeling that a lot of readers can’t or won’t read to the end because of the level of animal abuse and tragedy that each of these dogs faces. Also, from negative reviews I’ve seen, I think a lot of readers mistake the dogs’ human-like behaviours for mistakes in Alexis’ characterization of dogs. And, of course, not everyone has the same love of unconventional literature that I have. But still! Top 50, at least.

You can purchase Fifteen Dogs here on Bookshop.org*
(As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission from any purchase made through this link.)