SLoB's Secret Life of Pets

Secret Life of Books

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From Macavity to Samuel Johnson’s Hodge, Buck to Rochester’s Pilot, what is classic literature without its pets?

One of the most affecting scenes in The Odyssey, that foundation stone of western literature, occurs when Argos, Odysseus’ aged dog, dies at the moment of reunion with his long lost owner. Not even the knowledge of his afterlife as a shopping catalogue can relieve the pathos of the moment.

In this episode, Sophie and Jonty make amends for slaughtering Boxer the carthorse in their episode on Animal Farm with a celebration of their favourite pets in literature. We make the case that the early 18th Century was the Golden Age for Pet Lit, that Dickens was so masterful at characterisation even the animals in his books are unforgettable, that Jane Austen was - on the basis of her books - no animal lover, while the Bronte sisters very much were.

Finally, Jonty accidentally uncovers Sophie’s deep, repressed love for Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books. Like a match to gunpowder, just mentioning the books sends Sophie into a long homily to Timmy the dog.

Note: No animals were harmed in the production of this episode.

BOOKS DISCUSSED

My Dog Tulip (1956) by JR Ackerley

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) by TS Eliot

The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) by James Boswell

Rape of the Lock (1717) by Alexander Pope

Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat (1747) Thomas Gray

Jubilate Agno (1759-63) by Christopher Smart

The Nun’s Priest Tale (1390s) by Geoffrey Chaucer

Oliver Twist (1838) by Charles Dickens

David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens

Gulliver’s Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift

Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte

The Odyssey

Sense and Sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park (1814) by Jane Austen

Five Go To Smuggler’s Top (1945) by Enid Blyton

Gilead (2004) by Marilynne Robinson

Rivals (1988) by Jilly Cooper

The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) by Truman Capote

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