Big Little Life [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I love Dean Koontz's fiction, and I found this heartwarming nonfiction tribute to his late golden retriever, Trixie, just as absorbing as any of his novels. It portrays Trixie's life with the Koontzes, and her death, but mostly her life and the amazing impact she had on the lives of Dean and his wife, Gerda.

This innocent, joyful, intelligent, uncannily mysterious, dignified, fun-loving dog, retired before the age of three as a service dog with Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), became part of the Koontz family in 1998. I was surprised to find out that many of Koontz's dog novels, including "Watchers," had been written before he ever had a dog; obviously he already had an affinity for canines. He and Gerda had been supporters of CCI for eight years before adopting Trixie.

I loved Koontz's account of how Trixie's intelligence and sense of wonder revealed that she had a soul, and restored his and Gerda's own sense of wonder. Trixie made it evident that dogs are not mindless mechanisms operating solely on instinct, as some animal behaviorists would have us believe, but rather that they do think, possess intuition, experience emotions similar to ours, have a sense of humor, and even a spiritual dimension.

Of course, there is real sadness in the account of Trixie's last days, and her death, and it brought me to tears. But there's also gratitude for the joy she brought to the Koontzes' lives, and hope that her spirit survives. On the whole, this inspiring memoir is joyous, delightful and lively, and much of it is very funny. I highly recommend this book to all dog lovers and to readers who enjoy Koontz's dog stories.

Dean Koontz's A BIG LITTLE LIFE, is a beautiful and inspiring tribute to his golden retriever, Trixie. Those of us who have read Koontz's novels know that dogs - and especially goldens - have always appeared prominently in his works; and Trixie's picture has graced many a book jacket, sitting happily with her human owner. So it was no surprise how much this dog meant to both Koontz and his wife, Gerda. Trixie was a dog who not only changed their lives, but showed them a glimpse of the truly spiritual. As Koontz so beautifully writes, "She lived to love and to receive love, which is the condition of angels."

A BIG LITTLE LIFE is a very spiritual memoir, and Koontz is clear that he saw Trixie as an angel (in the overarching, grandly sacred sense). One of Koontz's acquaintances referred to Trixie as a "holy soul," and that is just the way Koontz portrays her. In the memoir he describes incident after incident that reveals Trixie as an amazingly special being, with the ability to connect with the humans in her world, to differentiate between good and evil, and to see beyond the mundane. Whether or not you believe the stories Koontz tells, it's impossible to read this book and not feel the impact of this dog on the lives of her human owners.

I've read most of Koontz's novels - I have always found them to be both frightening and uplifting in their affirmation of the human spirit. Even his most disturbing novels (like INTENSITY) contain within them an element of hope that leaves the reader profoundly touched. My favorite Koontz novel has always been WATCHERS, in which a wonderful golden retriever named Einstein leads her human companions out of the darkness. That this novel was written over ten years before Koontz acquired his own wonderful golden is amazing!

Read A BIG LITTLE LIFE - it will move you in unexpected ways. Even if you're not a dog lover, you can't help but be inspired by this animal's impact on the humans in her life. Koontz writes, "We are a community of potential saints with a shared destiny, and each of us is a thread in a tapestry of meaning." Trixie is the one who helped Koontz see this and live this - and in that alone she was an angel. This is a lovely tribute to a very special dog.

As any writer will tell you, the most difficult thing to write about convincingly, without being excessively sentimental, is the transformative nature of love in all its dimensions. In the hands of an inept writer, the subject inspires unintended hilarity, ripe for parody. But in the hands of a writer who has spent a lifetime honing his craft and explicating it in novels, as Dean Koontz has done, the prose will sing and soar in an exultation of joy.

Joy is Trixie.

Trixie, adopted by Dean and Gerda Koontz, is at the heart of this book: We learn how Trixie came into and became an inextricable part of their lives; and then, by her untimely departure, made them realize that relationship, that "dance" (as Jan Strnad put it), was such an enriching and uplifting life experience. To Dean and Gerda, Trixie Koontz was an angelic entity who, by example, deepened and enriched their lives; she constantly reminded them about all the things in life that truly matter: experiences and trust and the deepening bond of friendship that blossoms into love and, finally, heartbreak when Trixie died. (Yes, they adopted another Golden Retriever, who actually is in Trixie's family tree. Small world.)

Dean is an exquisitely careful writer who, to my mind, has probed deep into the timeless relationship that we have with our canine companions that live for one purpose: to experience, and share, joy. It's a joy that Dean and Gerda nearly missed out on because, as they explained, they were busy with their lives and careers and didn't want to be irresponsible and not give the dog the attention she deserved. Finally, they realized that -- as in all things in life -- the perfect time to take action is NOW: not next month, not next year, or not ten years down the road when you "have the time." That day will never come. Thus: Carpe diem (seize the day). So they did, and their lives were transformed in ways they never imagined when they accepted Trixie into their lives and then into their hearts.

I've read MARLEY AND ME, and I've also read the book about Dewey, the library cat, but this book takes us to the next, higher level. Dean has given a lot of thought to the relationship he enjoyed with Trixie, and explained it so well that even someone who has never enjoyed the company of a dog will understand why our canine companions are singular--as is this book.

**

This may help explain why Dean's book resonated so deeply with me: After five years of caregiving for my mother-in-law in our home on a 24/7 basis, my wife felt bereft, with no one to look after and care for and fuss over. So we "adopted" a neighborhood cat that used to live two doors down. The cat slept on her bed at night and sat next to her all day on the couch, and became an integral part of her life. But when the cat went back home to our neighbors who counted him as an integral part of THEIR family, my wife soon realized that she missed the cat's constancy, the relationship of bonding with the cat that curled up on the bed and purred contently when scratched; so we adopted one, then a second, and will soon adopt a third cat. She had never had a cat or a dog in her house before, but now that they are a part of our lives, an important and irreplaceable part, our lives are immeasurably richer for it. (Like Dean and Gerda, my wife and I are, by choice, childless.)

Dean Koontz, in A BIG LITTLE LIFE, captures those little moments and the experiences of sharing and living life with a canine companion in a way that constantly reminds us of the irreplaceable role they play in our world. When you finish this book, you will understand how and why Trixie changed their lives, and you will come away with a deep appreciation for the role our canine (and, yes, feline, feathered, and finned) companions contribute to the human experience.

Another writer, Jan Strnad, wrote a touching essay--one of the best I've ever read--titled "The Toby Years" that explicated the relationship their late dog had with him and his wife. He begins his essay with this line that says it all: "Surely one of the most sublime dances of our species is the one we dance with our pets."

Dean and Gerda Koontz, I think, know that dance very well indeed. And now, so do I.