I watched ’Marley & Me’ movie this year in Feb. Since then I have no idea how many times I have seen this movie. I am not a pet-lover. But today I have five Gold fish and a Labrador Retriever. My Marley is named Leo. Yes this movie or book tells you about the most loyal friend in life. Who does not want one such companion? I ordered this book online the day I got Leo. While reading this book, every time I smiled, every time a tear rolled I wanted to hug Leo.
This book is based on John Grogan’s[ the author] personal experiences with his ’worlds-worst’ dog. He talks about inevitability in life, finiteness of life, yet how to be optimistic about all of it. Author says that the true master was his dog who taught him this. It moves you in many ways, that you would not know the reason for your tears...its funny and at the same time touchy. Its a story of unconditional love, patience and eternal optimism in life.
Marley is the craziest, unruly, dog, yet he is bigger than life. Most of the times it has been only a pain-in-the-ass to the author and his family. Grogan describes how Marley was part of every moment in his life. How he has been there always, yet not noticed, not missed till he is no more part of their lives. To Marley, life is to be lived to the fullest. All it knows is to love life and enjoy every moment as though it cant get any better. In his farewell column author, acknowledges that even a worlds-worst dog can teach life’s best lessons.
"...things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote this farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners and pure intentions to help us see."
Last few chapters in which Marley fights his age and health issues are very emotional. Our pets cannot live longer than we do is a hard to accept fact. At the end, I cannot really decide on who is to be appreciated, a man who loves his animal with such undeterred love and patience or Marley, a man’s best friend, who has such passion for life, impeccable loyalty and devotion to its master.
This IS NOT a book just for animal lovers. And I promise this book would definitely put a smile on your face.
By the way Title of this post means "Whatever will be, will be" in Spanish, and in case you are wondering what it has got to do with this review, you gotta read the book ;-).