The Starlight Barking

De: Dodie Smith

Narrado por: Delia Corrie

Waking up late one day, Pongo finds that none of the humans will wake up. He finds out that the same has happened all over the country, and then dogs everywhere hear the voice of Lord Sirius the dogstar, offering to free them from their humans.

©1967 Dodie Smith (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

great voice!

The narrator was exceptional - loved the voices of all the different animals. The story itself is bananas.

An interesting sequel to a classic story

These are the further adventures of Pongo and Missus. Strangely, to me, this seems geared towards a slightly younger audience than 101 Dalmations was.

What if dogs got to choose if they wanted to stay with humans or to simply live happily forever amongst themselves? That is the question that our heroes must decide. But first there is a mystery to solve as only dogs are awake in the entire world. Magic and metaphysics abound in this charming story.

Recommended for those who loved the original book and wanted more.

A Truly Wild Ride

Infamously, this sequel is truly off the rails compared to the much more grounded 101 Dalmatians, where only the question of "Is Cruella perhaps an actual devil?" the one hint to anything supernatural afoot.

Not so here. I knew there would sci fi elements (perhaps more sci fantasy, but I digress) and the Dog Star played a role. Yet, the thing is even trying to summarize the craziness is a bit deceiving because this a slow burn of reveals. I can't even quite call it slowly mounting tension because much of the suspense is sidestepped by the dogs noting how very strange it is that in addition to every other non-dog creature sleeping and them developing psychic powers, all of them are feeling mostly calm about these developments. They seek answers, but there's relatively little danger of a descent into panic with Cadpig and Pongo providing leadership.

Yet I am not complaining about that pacing per se, as the writing remains as charming and witty as what the first book offered. I think perhaps the best way I can describe the book without full spoilers is that it is a little like what if the 101 Dalmatians were plopped into a Star Trek Original Series episode (I don't think it's a coincidence this came out in 67, a year after that series started airing.) Perhaps more specifically, a Who Mourns for Adonais? style of plotline.

And if I am to fully spoil it, well... have to say that while I was forewarned about a space dog, I wasn't expecting the final reveal to be "the Dog Star, essentially a god for dogs, offers to rapture all of Earth's dogs to save them from the possibility of nuclear war." A wild end point, truly. Then again, I suppose it is a moral-mindedness in line with the original's intent to portray "fur for fashion is bad" by making the animals in danger of being skinned for their coats... cute little puppies. I do not live in a pre 101 Dalmatians world and cannot fathom how wild that might have seemed as a plot in the 1950s.

What the heck did I just listen to????

Quite rambly , and no stable suspense of disbelief. :/ As someone who deeply enjoyed the 1st book, I am deeply disappointed.

TRIPPY!

wow... wt_eff... this one is bizzare... that 60s acid must have blonde Dodie's mind.

psychic powers, flying abilities, Sentient star gods and a Staffy that wants to tear Creulel le Devil throat out. (yes that is the only reason the staphshire shows up for) truthfully bizarre, great for kids of all ages!