Dogs and Monsters: Stories by Mark Haddon

A Journey Through Ancient Myths and Contemporary Fears

Remember those Greek myths you learned about in school? The ones with gods and monsters, heroes and villains, all tangled up in wild adventures and cautionary tales? Well, forget everything you thought you knew. Mark Haddon, the brilliant mind behind “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” has taken those dusty old stories and breathed new life into them in ways that’ll make your head spin.

In “Dogs and Monsters,” Haddon serves up a feast of eight short stories that’ll stick to your ribs long after you’ve finished reading. He’s taken those ancient Greek myths we all vaguely remember and given them a modern twist that’ll make you see them in a whole new light. But don’t worry if you can’t tell your Minotaur from your Medusa – Haddon’s stories work just as well if you’ve never cracked open a book of myths in your life.

A Master Storyteller at Work

Let’s get one thing straight – Haddon is a damn good writer. His prose is like a finely tuned instrument, capable of hitting notes both delicate and thunderous. He’s got this knack for zeroing in on the tiniest details that make a scene come alive, whether it’s the “sweet, ammoniac scent of dung” in a stable or the lees of the night “lie thick and black in the base of the valley.”

But what really sets Haddon apart is his ability to get inside his characters’ heads. He’s not afraid to dive deep into the messiest, most uncomfortable parts of the human psyche. Reading these stories feels like eavesdropping on someone’s most private thoughts – it’s uncomfortable at times, sure, but you just can’t look away.

Standout Stories That’ll Haunt You

Alright, let’s dive into some of the heavy hitters in this collection:

“The Mother’s Story”: A Monstrous Tale of Love

Holy cow, this one’s a doozy. Haddon takes the myth of the Minotaur and flips it on its head, telling it from the perspective of the monster’s mother. It’s a gut-wrenching exploration of maternal love, societal cruelty, and the ways we label people as “other.”

The story follows a mother whose son is born… different. The father, a powerful man, is disgusted and has the child locked away in a labyrinth. But our narrator isn’t about to abandon her boy. She visits him in secret, trying to give him some semblance of a normal life.

What makes this story so powerful is the way Haddon forces us to confront our own prejudices. The “monster” here isn’t the deformed child, but the society that’s so quick to cast him out. It’s a story that’ll make you think twice about how we treat those who don’t fit our narrow definition of “normal.”

“The Quiet Limit of the World”: Love Across the Ages

This one’s a real mind-bender. Haddon reimagines the myth of Tithonus, a mortal granted immortality by the gods – but not eternal youth. We follow Tithonus as he ages over thousands of years, watching the world change around him while he remains trapped in an increasingly decrepit body.

It’s a story that’ll make you ponder some big questions. What would it be like to watch everyone you love grow old and die, over and over again? How do you find meaning in a life that stretches on forever? Haddon doesn’t offer any easy answers, but he paints a poignant picture of how love evolves over time.

The writing here is absolutely stunning. Haddon captures the weight of centuries in sentences. It’s beautiful and melancholic all at once.

“D.O.G.Z.”: A Visceral Tale of Man and Beast

Buckle up, folks, because this one’s a wild ride. Haddon takes the myth of Actaeon (you know, the guy who got turned into a stag and eaten by his own hunting dogs) and turns it into a brutal meditation on the thin line between human and animal.

The story starts off innocently enough, with Actaeon stumbling upon the goddess Diana bathing. But things quickly take a turn for the nightmarish. Haddon’s description of Actaeon’s transformation is visceral and horrifying.

What makes this story stand out is the way Haddon plays with perspective. We start in Actaeon’s head, but as he becomes more animal-like, the narrative shifts. By the end, we’re seeing things from the dogs’ point of view, and it’s both fascinating and deeply unsettling.

Themes That’ll Make You Think

Alright, so what’s Haddon really getting at with all these myth retellings? Well, a few big ideas keep popping up:

1. The Monsters Among Us: Haddon’s constantly blurring the line between human and monster. In “The Mother’s Story,” the real monsters are the people who’d lock away a child. In “D.O.G.Z.,” we see how thin the veneer of civilization really is.
2. Love in All Its Forms: Whether it’s the unconditional love of a mother for her child or the way romantic love changes over millennia, Haddon’s fascinated by how we connect with each other.
3. The Weight of Time: Several stories deal with characters who live far longer than they should. Haddon uses this to explore how we find meaning in life and how we cope with loss.
4. Society’s Outcasts: Many of Haddon’s characters are outsiders in some way. He’s interested in how society treats those who don’t fit in, and the cost of that rejection.

A Style All His Own

One thing that really stands out about Haddon’s writing in Dogs and Monsters is his ability to shift gears. He can go from lyrical beauty to gut-punching brutality in the span of a sentence. Take this bit from “My Old School”:

“I remember catching a glimpse of what I guessed was his parents’ bottle-green Rover 3500 pulling away down the gravel drive. His name—Graham Meyer—was written in clumsy khaki capitals with enamel modelling paint on the cheap, wooden trunk at his feet.”

It’s a seemingly ordinary description, but it’s loaded with meaning. In just a few words, Haddon paints a picture of a lonely, out-of-place kid, setting us up for the heartbreak to come.

Not Just Greek Myths

While Greek myths are the backbone of this collection, Haddon’s not afraid to play with other genres. “The Bunker” is a chilling ghost story set in a Cold War-era nuclear bunker. “The Wilderness” reads like a sci-fi dystopia, exploring themes of genetic engineering and human experimentation.

This variety keeps the collection fresh. Just when you think you’ve got Haddon figured out, he throws you a curveball.

How It Stacks Up

If you’re a fan of Haddon’s earlier work, especially “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” you’ll find a lot to love here. He’s still got that keen eye for detail and that knack for getting inside his characters’ heads.

That said, “Dogs and Monsters” is definitely a more mature, darker work. It’s closer in tone to his short story collection “The Pier Falls” than his novels. If you like your fiction with a bit of bite, you’re in for a treat.

For readers new to Haddon, this collection is a great introduction to his style. Just be prepared for some intense, thought-provoking stories that might keep you up at night.

The Verdict

Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it – “Dogs and Monsters” isn’t always an easy read. These stories deal with some heavy themes, and Haddon doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of human nature. But man, is it worth it.

What Haddon’s done here is pretty remarkable. He’s taken these ancient myths and made them feel urgently relevant to our modern world. Whether he’s exploring the fear of growing old, the pain of being an outsider, or the complexities of love, Haddon hits on universal truths that’ll resonate with just about anyone.

The writing is top-notch, the stories are compelling, and the themes will stick with you long after you’ve finished reading. If you’re looking for a book that’ll make you think, feel, and maybe see the world a little differently, “Dogs and Monsters” is absolutely worth picking up.

Just maybe don’t read it right before bed, yeah? Some of these stories might give you some pretty wild dreams.