Fifteen Dogs

By Andre Alexis

An utterly convincing and moving look at the beauty and perils of consciousness.

WINNER OF CANADA READS 2017

WINNER OF THE 2015 GILLER PRIZE

WINNER OF THE 2015 ROGERS WRITERS' TRUST FICTION PRIZE

FINALIST FOR THE 2015 TORONTO BOOK AWARDS

— I wonder, said Hermes, what it would be like if animals had human intelligence.

—I'll wager a year's servitude, answered Apollo, that animals – any animal you like – would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they were given human intelligence.

And so it begins: a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferringthe old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into their newly unfamiliar world, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks.

André Alexis's contemporary take on the apologue offers an utterly compelling and affecting look at the beauty and perils of human consciousness. By turns meditative and devastating, charming and strange, Fifteen Dogs shows you can teach an old genre new tricks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Coach House Books
• Release date: Mar 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781770564022

Andre Alexis

Andre Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. His most recent novel, Fifteen Dogs, won the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His debut novel, Childhood, won the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His other books include Pastoral (nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize), Asylum, Beauty and Sadness, Ingrid & the Wolf, Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa and Lambton, Kent and Other Vistas: A Play.

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Reviews for Fifteen Dogs

[xaverie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the dog poems, the hiding of the name within the verse, and the way the story and style matched with classic Greek plays.

[randymetcalfe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An apologue is an allegorical tale with exaggerated details used to convey a useful lesson. It often involves animals as the principal actors. But little more constrains the apologue, leaving the author who chooses to take up the challenge free to invent at will. Here, André Alexis offers a marvellous construction for our consideration. Fifteen dogs are granted the ‘gift’ of human intelligence. Will any one of them die happy? It is a bet between the gods, Hermes and Apollo. But is it fair? Do any of us with human intelligence die happy? Is there much likelihood that a dog might succeed where so many humans fail?The most immediate difference for the dogs who receive the gift is their newfound ability to perceive colour. But much more than that is their heightened linguistic and communicative skills. This is both a blessing and curse, and thus something that some will turn towards and others against. And this largely divides their individual tales subsequent to their escape from an animal hospital on the evening of their transformation.What fascinates here is how Alexis sustains our interest without merely transforming his dogs into humans. They are clearly not human. Yet he makes no pretence that they are still dogs. Indeed, other dogs fear them just as they too become wary of their unnatural natures. As we follow first the pack and then individual dogs, it becomes clear that there may be many lessons to be learned in this apologue. And each lesson is doubtless as subtle as the manner in which the names of the dogs are embedded into the poems that one dog, Prince, writes. (A note on the poems is found at the end of the novel.)This is remarkably deft writing, unsentimental, crisp, and vibrant. Easily recommended.

[cecilturtle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not usually a big fan of stories told through the eyes of animals - they have a tepid Walt Disney perspectives which leaves me queasy with a saccharine taste. This book is the opposite: the human mind trapped in fifteen dogs' bodies, forced to acknowledge their animal nature is raw, powerful and oftentimes disturbing. Ranging from pure violence to soul searching poetry, this story is fast-paced, unapologetic with brute force and full of trickster philosophical moments. Rarely have I encountered so much punch in so few pages. Not for the faint of heart.

[mavaddat-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rather than comic relief (which does occur), the book offers philosophical relief from the sequences of melancholy, Hobbesian canine biographies it unveils. If it were not for the genius of the metaphysical problems the author constructs, this book would be almost unbearably saddening – like having to witness your companion dog be put down twelve times over (a few of the dogs in the story are not as emotionally engaging as the majority).

[sjh4255 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating book of 15 dogs that were given human intelligence, but maintain their canine attributes, because of a bet between 2 sons of Zeus who thinks that any other mortal being would be happier than humans at their death.

[icolford · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pet owners everywhere have played with the fanciful notion that their animals are sensitive, intelligent beings capable of a full range of emotion, personal reflection, artistic ambition and other human attributes based on self-awareness. The animals themselves give us reason to imagine this is so. How many of us have spoken to our cat or dog, one that has long been a part of our life and family, and seen in their eyes more than just a glimmer of understanding? It is sometimes difficult to believe that the animal is responding to body language or the tone or timbre of our voice, and not the words themselves. In Fifteen Dogs, an ambitious, highly original and sometimes emotionally devastating work of fiction, Andre Alexis explores in unsentimental fashion what it means to be human by way of animal intelligence. In contemporary Toronto, the gods Hermes and Apollo make a wager. Hermes bets a year's servitude that animals possessing human intelligence can die happy. Apollo holds that, granted human intelligence, animals would die just as miserably as humans. The bet is on when the gods bestow human intelligence on fifteen dogs confined in cages in a veterinary clinic. The remainder of the novel follows the fortunes of these creatures after they escape from the clinic and encounter a world that they are now able to appreciate and respond to on a higher level. What we encounter as readers is Toronto as seen through the eyes of dogs who think as we do, dogs who learn from their mistakes, cherish their memories, who look forward and back, make plans, seek solace, and try to communicate. Dogs who scheme and plot and who selfishly look for ways to take advantage of weakness in others. The first and possibly the most daunting challenge that Alexis faces is the task of individualizing his animal characters. He responds to this challenge with a deft touch, describing each dog's breed and physical attributes and venturing into their minds and memories and granting us access to past experiences that will influence later decisions. The animal characters are convincing, in the sense that how they respond and behave seems credible within the dramatic context that the author has conjured. The story that Alexis builds is effective and at times deeply moving as the original pack of fifteen is reduced in number by physical limitation, misfortune, poor judgment, age and infirmity, and the malice or neglect of others, until finally only one remains alive. The ramifications of the story are broad and the lesson we take from the book can be almost anything we want it to be. We can talk about compassion or moral choice or creativity or loyalty. But one question above all remains unresolved: is the intelligence we value so highly and which makes us capable of astounding beauty and inconceivable evil a blessing or a curse?

[brittanylyn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What would happen if dogs acquired human level intelligence? Two Greek Gods want to find out. This was thought provoking, original, and beautifully told. Addressing the conflicts that underlie human nature and the identities we create with our own sense of self.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If there are animals in your life, there's no doubt you've anthropomorphized them, assuming they feel things similar to how we humans feel. And maybe they do feel emotion like us; without a common language, we have no real way to know although science certainly does its best at researching and drawing conclusions. But what if animals, dogs in particular, were given the gift or curse of human consciousness and intelligence? We could know exactly what they were feeling and thinking. But would it make them a different creature altogether? Would it, in fact, be a blessing or a curse? Andre Alexis' novel Fifteen Dogs takes just that premise and question and spins it out to its final, perhaps surprising, answer.While sitting in a bar one night Hermes and Apollo were arguing about humanity and as Greek gods are wont to do, they made a wager over what the granting of human intelligence would do to other creatures. Apollo argued that any other creature given human intelligence would end up miserable while Hermes maintained that at least one of the creatures would die happy despite this complicated gift of consciousness. Seeing a vet clinic on their walk home, they decided to play out the bet and chose to grant human intelligence on the 15 dogs spending the night in the clinic. And then they moved on, leaving the dogs to realize and accept or reject their confusing new reality on their own.The changed dogs immediately start acting out of character (species?), escaping the vet, and creating a sort of proto-human society amongst themselves. The novel mostly follows one or two dogs at a time, from their awakening into an awareness that changes everything to their respective deaths. Their lives are not lengthened, remaining realistically short, and many face graphic and terrible deaths as the reader, along with Hermes and Apollo, wonder if even one can in fact die happy or if this intelligence has robbed them of the ability to maintain happiness and joy. While the gods make occasional appearances in the story, for the most part, the dog's lives are left to nature and chance and whatever each dog can create for him or herself using their newly awakened intelligence. There is literally a deus ex machina in black poodle Majnoun's life arc and Prince, a poetry loving mutt, also suffers the meddling of the gods. There is a bleak ferocity here, a relatedness to Lord of the Flies in this apologue, as it examines the nature of happiness, the importance of language and poetry, and the philosophical idea of the cost of awareness. The fifteen dogs represent so much that drags humanity down, their weaknesses and fears, their brutality and power structures, but in the end, the passing of the last dog and the answer to Hermes and Apollo's wager is a reflective and philosophical experience full of the power of possibility, of language, of love. This is a strange but intriguing story, a morality tale that tells a big story using well-rendered small, furry characters. It's surprisingly accessible but is probably not a book for everyone. In the end, I enjoyed the thought behind it and I will probably never look at the dog sitting in my lap quite the same way again.

[maggieflo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Becoming increasingly cynical about the quality of Canadian fiction, my expectations were very low when I started my first Canada Reads 2017 book.I was very surprised at how quickly I became absorbed in the lives of these dogs and how much I enjoyed the book.Essentially, the gods Hermes and Apollo, while sitting in a Toronto tavern decide to assign human qualities to a group of dogs. These dogs are found in a vet clinic and almost immediately escape because of their human intelligence and problem solving ability.Although the story starts with 15 dogs, it focuses on the lives of Prince, Benjy, mahjoun and Atticus. Each of these are part of the original pack which quickly takes on human characteristics of caring, planning, domination, bullying, shunning and cruelty which result in exile, escape or murder.As the dogs develop language, emotions and reasoning, Prince is the first to excel at English and he recites poetry. The others also learn basic English but this soon causes division and competition among the pack. Atticus becomes the top dog and the others do his bidding. Prince and Mahjoun and Benjy escape and we follow their lives with kind humans. As intelligent dogs with rational thought, they are able to manipulate their situations and come to love their masters.This book is surely an allegory for human conscience, reasoning and emotion which once transferred to these dogs, transforms how they behave with their pack mates and their humans.

[smits_52 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The gods give 15 dogs in a shelter the gift of complex human thought. What do they each do with it and how does that look from another creatures perspective.? That is the premise to this novel which is happy is parts but quite sad in others. I will look at my dog funny for the next few days but not sure what all the fuss is about with this book.

[lit_chick_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

– I’ll wager a year’s servitude, said Apollo, that animals – any animal you choose – would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they had human intelligence.–An earth year? I’ll take that bet, said Hermes, but on condition that if, at the end of its life, even one of the creatures is happy, I win.And so begins Alexis’s modern take on the apologue, with a wager placed between two gods in a Toronto bar, which, as it happens, is very near to a veterinary clinic. The brothers decide the fifteen dogs within will form the treatment group for their wager, and the god of light grants the dogs human conscious and intelligence.Apollo and Hermes watch from above as the dogs venture into their newly unfamiliar world: Prince becomes a poet, Atticus learns about leadership, and Majnoun forges a close relationship with a kind couple. But the dogs are heavily burdened by thoughtfulness and conscious, by language and the concept of time: It keeps us from being dogs, and it keeps us from what is right. Some die bitter and disillusioned, demeaned by the condescending relationships they have had with their masters. And Zeus is furious with his sons when he learns of their interference with the dogs, admonishing that The only thing certain about humans is their brutishness, and that the dogs, given intelligence and conscious, will suffer twice as much as humans do. As for the dogs, Majnoun summarizes: … of course, it was impossible to know a state (to know the human) by subtracting things in oneself, as if ‘human’ were what is left once the best of dog has been taken away.Fifteen Dogs is as charming as it is strange: both a meditative and troubling look at the perils of human consciousness. Alexis is easily deserving of the Giller Prize for his work here, and Fifteen Dogs is easily recommended.

[dom76-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Two drunk Gods decided to make a bet, give dogs the intelligence of humans and see if they can find happiness. What happens is some turn on each other violently, some are selfish and cunning. One dog Prince becomes a poet and some of them are threaten by him. Majnoun after being attacked by some of the pack, is taken by a couple and has a deep relationship with Nira, the human who took care of him. All trough this book, we learn what happens to the 15 dogs and discover if they truly are happy. A brilliant book that makes you think.

[hemlokgang · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So, two gods walked into a bar.....no, not really. However, in "Fifteen Dogs", an apologue, Apollo & Hermes make a wager. (An apologue is a morality fable using animals as protagonists.) If a dog thought like a human, and could speak like a human, would he die happy? So, they humanized fifteen dogs to see what would happen. After some serious confusion and cross-cultural chaos, the dogs have varied experiences and find it difficult to reconcile living with two distinctly different natures in one lifetime. Did any die content? Better read this intriguing, thought-provoking story. You might even sense disturbing commentary on how difficult it is to try living in an unfamiliar culture.

[mahallett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

hard to remember all the dogs. some drift in and out.

[primosparadise · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book about fifteen dogs from a veterinary clinic being given human intelligence is just crazy good. The gods bet that if any animal is given human intelligence that such animal would be just as unhappy as humans. This initial conceit is then given full reign by Alexis; examining the foibles of both humans and dogs, social caste systems and their interrelationships. And while this is a serious novel about ideas, it is mostly just a really good story well-told. You will never look at a dog in the same way again. Oh...and dog poetry!

[plancultivatecreate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A peek inside the lives of 15 dogs who are given human consciousness. A heart-wrenching read for dog owners and dog lovers alike.

[debbiemccauley-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Greek gods Hermes and Apollo argue in a bar one night about what would happen if animals were granted human intelligence, would they be happier than humans? It just so happens that 15 dogs in a nearby veterinary clinic make a handy group of subjects. And so it begins, the dogs awakening to the complexities of the world around them and the choices they can now make about how to live their lives. Able to free themselves, new possibilities and new realities open up to them. I wouldn't say that this was a 'nice' story, in fact I started to feel like I was reading the animal version of Lord of the Flies. Interesting, but with some very violent scenes, because after all, that seems to be what humanity engenders.

[ken5me5old5mate · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The premise is that the Gods confer human consciousness on 15 dogs and this story follows them as they transition from dogs to humans on the inside but remain dogs on the outside.

Like all such stories they reveal just what a bunch or arseholes humans are by and large.

I found this to be absolutely wonderful, full of sadness, betrayal, loss and love, all the things we are famous for.

A great read for anyone with a heart.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I will give this book high marks for originality...especially notable is Prince's poetry. However, the story didn't really do much for me -- most of the dogs are around for only a brief time or in only a minor role, so I never felt I got to know how their gift of human consciousness affected them. There are issues raised in this book, such as preserving a traditional lifestyle, but they are not explored in enough depth for my taste. Guess I'm in the minority on this one!

[pgchuis · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

For book club.I quit at page 72. This is not a book I would have chosen for myself and I can find nothing in it to make me keep going. I am confused at how the dogs have to develop language, but clearly communicate with each other in complex ways almost immediately. Majnoun can speak to his owner - really? - but chooses only to nod or shake his head - presumably because otherwise it would become too ridiculous. She has to explain the concept of "God" to him, but "cancer" poses no problem for him.I can't do it any more.

[lisapeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is something of an epistemological think piece, beginning with a bet between Hermes and Apollo (made while drinking in a bar in Toronto): “I’ll wager a year’s servitude, said Apollo, that animals—any animal you choose—would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they had human intelligence.” The unlucky recipients of this intelligence are 15 dogs in a veterinary clinic—note my use of the word “unlucky” here—it should come as no surprise to anyone that Apollo was right. This is not a cuddly, feel-good dog tale. The dogs here are brutal—because dogs, yes, are brutal—and also beset with a Shakespearian host of species-inappropriate questions about guilt, faith, power, ambition, and morality. It’s not a kind and gentle read, and if you want to know its DTDD™ rating, let’s just say: Yes, all of them. The first, early in, almost made me put the book down for good. But I’m glad I didn’t—it’s an interesting novel, especially for anyone who's ever pondered what goes on on the other side of their dog's muzzle, and well written.Ultimately, Fifteen Dogs was fascinating and devastating in equal measures. It made me want to get in the shower and cry, but I'm also still thinking about it, especially the poetry, so I don't really know what to say. I am glad I read it, though.

[evelynbernard · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Start with a scene where two gods are in the Wheat Sheaf Tavern in Toronto. They get to talking over beer and make a bet. What would it be like if animals had human intelligence? Would they be more or less unhappy than humans? If even one animal dies happy, Hermes will owe Apollo one human year's servitude.This bet leads them to a veterinary clinic on Shaw where fifteen dogs are overnighting. They are granted human consciousness and awareness. And so it begins.The dogs escape the clinic and strike out on their own. Some embrace their new consciousness; some fight against it; some love the freedom and creativity of language; others fear that new skills will upset the traditional hierarchy of the pack. Do any of them die happy? Who wins the bet?I bought and read the book because it is this year's Giller Prize winner. I might not have ever picked it up otherwise. The book can be a very fast read - I did it in three sittings. Here's the thing - two days later I've started a new book, but I'm still thinking about this one.

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm so torn about this book. On the one hand, I cried buckets; on the other hand, I feel somewhat emotionally manipulated by the deaths of the various dogs. On the one hand, I definitely appreciate what the book was trying to do; on the other hand, the narrative voice doesn't do it for me, and I feel like the book does not mesh with my understanding of dogs.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good, well thought out book. Philosophically deep, you won't look at life the same way again.

[christineellei · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So … two gods walk into a bar … sounds like the beginning of some really bad joke. This book is no joke. I can honestly say that when I turned the final page my first thought was that this book has easily made it onto my personal list of 5 Best Books EVER! I realize that may have been a knee-jerk reaction because I could never really compose a list of FIVE BEST EVER, but if I had a list it would be a contender. Is there a 7-star rating system somewhere?

But, back to my review … seriously, two gods – Apollo and Hermes – walk into the Wheat Sheaf Tavern in downtown Toronto to have a couple of drinks. As gods are want they begin a discussion about the nature of humanity.

“Apollo argued that, as creatures go, humans were neither better nor worse than any other, neither better nor worse than fleas or elephants, say. Humans have no special merit, though they think themselves superior.”

Hermes took the opposing view feeling that human creativity and language using symbols is interesting. After further discussion, and a few more bottles of Sleemans, they decide to make a bet and conduct an experiment. Wondering if animals – any animal chosen – would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they had human intelligence. With a human year’s worth of servitude to the winner at stake Hermes takes the bet, but on the condition that if, at the end of its life, even one of the creatures is happy, he wins.

“As it happened, the gods were not far from the veterinary clinic at Shaw. Entering the place unseen and imperceptible, they found dogs, mostly: pets left overnight by their owners for one reason or another. So dogs it was …”

As each of the fifteen dogs awoke they were confused and a little frightened by their new “awareness”. Their first order of business, of course, was to get free of the their cages and as far away from the clinic as possible. And so starts the story of how fifteen dogs lived (and died) with the gift of human awareness and language.

The subject matter, and the gods referring to it as an experiment, harbingers – I’m sure – those readers who will not be able to resist analyzing this work of fiction to death. They will site Allegory, Existentialism, Philosophy, Raised Consciousness and Societal Realities. Those readers are probably deeper thinkers than I and they could possibly be right. This book could be construed as one writer’s study of the evolution or de-evolution, depending on your perspective, of humanity (albeit starring dogs). I simply consider it a wonderful book.

Fifteen Dogs explores so many themes that it is difficult to narrow down any one particular. My suggestion would be to not even try. Think of it as well thought out and beautifully written prose that also happens to make you ponder life a little. If you have ever owned a dog, or any other pet for that matter, that you imagined having conversations with, this book will appeal to you on the level that it did me. My only criticism, if I had to make one under duress, might be that winning the bet for either Apollo or Hermes rests on whether the dog “dies happy”, so by necessity the book features each dog’s passing. Some are quiet and dignified while others are bloody and brutal. Those were heart-wrenching pages to read but they were well balanced in other sections with humor and tenderness.

Mr. Alexis has written several other books, and being on a little bit of a “reader’s high” after reading this one, I wanted to run out and get all his others as well. I hesitate, because if they are of a similar vein I’m not sure I can handle the emotional roller coaster.

So who wins the bet? Does one or do all of the dogs die feeling happiness?

Uh-uh, not telling!