158 pages, Harper, ISBN-13: 978-0060115456
Show me a man or boy who was not traumatized by Old Yeller and I will show you a corpse. For some of us the opening sentence – “We call him Old Yeller” – is enough to get us blubbering away as we recall the story (nope, not gonna do it). Fred Gipson’s 1956 bestseller has become one of literature’s great weepies, exploiting that most pure of relationships: a boy’s love for his dog (I am NOT crying right now). Set in Texas in the late 1860s, the novel begins with a frank prophecy of the emotional pain to come: our narrator, 14-year-old Travis Coates, remembers the moment a dog strays into their cabin on Birdsong Creek, seemingly out of nowhere: “He made me so mad at first that I wanted to kill him. Then, later, when I had to kill him, it was like having to shoot some of my own folks. That’s how much I’d come to think of the big yeller dog” (I’m keeping it together…keeping it together…)
Much like Charlotte’s Web (review coming next month), Old Yeller exposes children to life and love utilizing beautiful prose, deep emotions, vivid descriptions – and profound loss (still dry-eyed, damnit). The book is as crisp, laconic, deadpan and straight as any classic cowboy/rancher story could be; yeah, it tells the story of Old Yeller, but even more it tells the story of ranching in Texas in the 1860s and it does so in the most clear-eyed, upstanding, realistic way possible. Travis is as authentic as a mesquite switch and this is a classic coming-of-age story; every line is a gem of no-nonsense western storytelling and it is filled with multitudes of little incidents and bits of ranch life that ring true and inspirational. Hell, even Travis’ realization of the extent of his affection for his annoying little brother after a bear attack makes the book worth reading, even if no Old Yeller had ever showed up.
NOT crying.
Be warned, however; if you were raised on the (it must be said) excellent Disney adaptation from 1957, then the amount of animal cruelty described in the book may come as a shock (for that it is a faithful adaptation, which it should be, seeing as Fred Gipson wrote the screenplay). This is a great example of showing what good things in life might come your way, if you let them, and showing that in life one cannot have the good without the bad – that wasn’t a sob – and that, for all of life’s many challenges and hurdles – didn’t gasp just then – you cannot shut yourself off from the world in expectation of never feeling pain. Old Yeller is yet another example of how a past masterpiece can teach us so much more than any modern-day piece of Woke trash could ever hope to, and how, for however many trials and tribulations we may suffer – here we go – life is for the living and suffering makes us stronger…
…ah, hell, where’s the Kleenex…
