[Author’s Name]
Marley & Me is an emotional but uplifting book by John Grogan. This book revolves around the Grogan’s family, and their adorable but inveterate Labrador called Marley. In this book, Grogan has shared a personal account of living with an endearing dog that comes along and completely changes the meaning of life for Grogans. It won’t be incorrect to state that Marley & Me is a striking story that the majority of dog owners can connect with in the truest sense.
In actual, John Grogan has presented an autobiographical account in Marley and Me with Marley as the main character. The newly-married Grogans adopted Marley as a young puppy. The adoption was an experiment for testing their parenting skills. However, they could not imagine what they got in the end as their life was never the same again. Marley was dull and stupid, untamed, and larked about everywhere. Grogan enlightens his readers with the stories of Marley's naughty, playful and roguish actions. He does so with humor, sarcasm and practicality. At the same time, the author has shown the sensitive side of his mischievous pet. The dog had a heart that was pure and uncontaminated. Although the dog did not seem to stop behaving stubbornly and wildly, its love and faithfulness had no boundaries. It shares the couple's joy when they become pregnant and feels for them at their unfortunate miscarriage. It was also present when the baby Grogans arrived at last. Grogan has given account of other significant events when Marley was present to shut down a beach and successfully landed itself a role in one movie. Although Marley was always messing up things; he won hearts through it all. Its steadfastness and devotional behavior were exceptional; even in the times when Grogans faced economic and emotional crisis (Grogan, 2005).
It won’t be incorrect to state that Marley & Me is truly an unforgettable and overwhelming story of an inexperienced family and their incredibly neurotic Labrador dog that made them see the life’s value and the things that really matter. The most practical feature of this book is that Grogan confesses about the family’s immaturity and rawness in handling a pet (Grogan, 2005). However, it is also worth-noticing that Marley & Me provides an honest description of the relationship between a human being and a canine. The dog-lovers and/or dog-owners would be able to connect with Grogan-Marley bond in a very realistic manner as Grogan has unfolded the phases of the family’s relationship with Marley in the most candid and beautiful manner. The book also makes the reader feel a lot of things - sadness, joy, unease etc. The reader is bound to fall in love with Grogans and Marley as the story is so overwhelming and pleasurable.
As far as my opinion is concerned, I found Marley and Me a really moving, amusing and enlightening work by John Grogan. I think that it is a must-read for every person who loves dogs or would like to have a dog as a pet. Although many readers would consider Marley to be a bad dog but at the same time, Marley’s love, passion, loyalty and liveliness cannot be ignored by them. I think it is one of the best books ever-written in which the author has described his bond with a canine so beautifully. It’s no wonder that Marley and Me is an international bestseller. I believe that this inimitable book delivers strong messages i.e. love is unconditional and has a number of forms.
References
Grogan, J. (2005). Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog. New York: Morrow.
