This was an unusual story and I have mixed feelings about it. Basically, it was a rather steady paced, gloomy story all the way throughout, which for the characters, didn't seem to fit. There were also a number of story lines that were started and strung along very far, and then just dropped, which is troublesome: relationship between brothers, the wild dog "Forte," the fortune-telling lady, and the letters between grandfather and dog breeding friend.... then the whole deal with the rain ghost of the father?
I think this author just kept having all of these ideas and didn't want to edit any of them, but couldn't actually tie them together either. When he realized it, the book went up in flames..... kind of like some of Stephen King's :)
One personal issue, way too much brain-power is given to dogs. Maybe the entire book is written for them?
