The Eyes and the Impossible

by Dave Eggers ★★★★☆

You're never too old for a good children's book, and when I saw Dave Eggers had recently won the 2024 Newberry Medal for his book The Eyes and the Impossible, AND it featured a dog as the main character, I knew I needed to make time for it.

Our narrator and protagonist is Johannes, a dog who was abandoned in a large park as a newborn pup, and who has found his way in the wild, sheltering in an old hollow tree and finding sustenance via scraps from the garbage. As a result, his disdain for "kept" dogs is palpable. As he says, "I laugh at how they pretend to be free like me. They act all casual with me, like they could be free if they wanted...Not-free is not-free. These kept dogs know the difference and have chosen the kibble in a bag. They have chose the under-table leftovers. They have chosen the roof overhead and the leash. The leash! The leash! Ha ha hoooooo! I say, for I am a different breed."

Johannes has an important job: he is "The Eyes", the one who watches and collects information about the goings-on in the park, and reports back daily to the rulers of the park, three aged Bison. He has help from the "Assistant Eyes", his friends Bertrand the seagull, Yolanda the pelican, Sonja the squirrel, and Angus the raccoon. Through this network, he and the other woodland creatures monitor the activities of the humans and prepare for any changes that could endanger their way of life or lead to their capture.

It's fun, it's lighthearted, and while it's a novel geared for children, there are some weighty themes lying just beneath the surface, including acceptance and belonging, dealing with abandonment, the power of friendship, and the finiteness of life. The plot is a bit scattered, but it's secondary to the themes above, and the ragtag group of animals who provide their own unique perspective on everything happening within the park. As a dog lover (and owner of a "kept dog"), I found that Eggers' interpretation of a dog's inner monologue matched what I assume they're thinking in many ways. In one example, Johannes mentions the road that cuts through the park, "along which I sometimes run because I like to race the cars. Oh lord I am so much faster. It's just a cruel joke how much faster I am. It is embarrassing to cars and the humans that drive them and the humans that make them. I render them silly and I am not sorry."

It's not perfectly plotted -- while eventually there is a central task at hand for the animals of the park to team up on, it's mostly a series of random adventures that they get into leading up to that -- but it will put a smile on your face, and introduce you to a collection of memorable and uniquely-voiced characters. Worth the quick read that it is, and perfect for when you need a lighthearted palate-cleanse following an overly serious or depressing novel.