Discussion Guide - The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

Characters

Denny Swift Eve Zoe Enzo Eve’s parents: Trish and Maxwell (The Twins) Friends – Mike and Tony Annika Lawyer – Mark The evil zebra

 

For discussion:

1.   What was your favorite scene in the novel?

2.   Did you like the technique of making Enzo be the narrator?  Would the story have worked if the narrator was one of the humans?

3.   Do you think dogs or other animals can really understand humans and have the desire to communicate with them? 

4.   Discuss Enzo’s more human characteristics.

a.       His feelings after Eve died (and his animal reaction of chasing and eating the squirrel ) [page 165]

b.      Advising people to learn to listen (page 102)

5.   Can dogs and other animals sense things that humans cannot?  Enzo smelled Eve’s cancer well before anyone made a diagnosis.

6.   What did you think of Enzo’s description of communication, “…there are so many moving parts.  There’s presentation and there’s interpretation and they’re so dependent on each other it makes things very difficult.”  (page 5) Was this a good analysis?

7.  What did you think about Enzo’s analysis of his death?  He said about Denny, “He needs me to free him to be brilliant.”  (page 5) 

8.   The author wrote, “A true hero is flawed.  The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles – preferably of his own making – in order to triumph.”  (page 135)  Do you agree?  What do you think about the obstacles “being of his own making?”  Can you name anyone who you think is a hero?  Does he or she fit this description?

9.   About a champion, he wrote “It makes one realize that the physicality of our world is a boundary to us only if our will is weak; a true champion can accomplish things that a normal person would think impossible.”  (page 65)  Do you agree?

10.One of Denny’s favorite statements was “…that which we manifest is before us.”  (page 43)  What did he mean?  Do you agree?

11.The author stated that women and dogs feel pain the same (“tap directly into the pain” page 62) whereas men “are all filters and deflectors and timed release.”  (page 63)  Is this an accurate description?  Do you think there is a difference in how men, women and dogs experience pain?

12.  Regarding the evil zebra, at the end Enzo realizes that the zebra is, “not something outside of us.  The zebra is something inside of us.  Our fears.  Our own self-destructive nature.  The zebra is the worst part of us when we are face-to-face with our worst times.  The demon is us!”  (page 264)  Do you agree?  Can you think of any examples from other books you have read where the characters were their own worst enemies?

13. There were many comments in the book about life in general.  What comparisons were made between driving a race car and life?  Can you add others?