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    The Dog Stars: A Novel
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    The Dog Stars: A Novel
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    The Dog Stars: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Dog Stars: A Novel

    Written by Peter Heller

    Narrated by Mark Deakins

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A riveting, powerful novel about a pilot living in a world filled with loss-and what he is willing to risk to rediscover, against all odds, connection, love, and grace.

    Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life-something like his old life-exists beyond the airport. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return-not enough fuel to get him home-following the trail of the static-broken voice on the radio. But what he encounters and what he must face-in the people he meets, and in himself-is both better and worse than anything he could have hoped for.

    Narrated by a man who is part warrior and part dreamer, a hunter with a great shot and a heart that refuses to harden, The Dog Stars is both savagely funny and achingly sad, a breathtaking story about what it means to be human.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 7, 2012
    ISBN9780449013120
    Unavailable
    The Dog Stars: A Novel
    Author

    Peter Heller

    Dr Peter Heller is Head of the Department of Qualification at the Institute of Solar Research, German Aerospace Center, Germany.

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    Reviews for The Dog Stars

    4/5

    1,021 ratings134 reviews

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    • 4/5
      There is a beautiful tense here between circumscription and expanse. The world here is both large and small, as is the range of the narrative voice. Imagine David Quammen writing a post-apocalyptic first novel. In retrospect, I think of this book as one of mile-markers for the recent crop of post-apocalyptic quality fictions. Worth it for the Cessna manual.
    • 4/5
      This book was not my favorite, yet it wasn't the worst book that I've read. It was a fine book that kept my interest. I liked the premise of the book, and was especially appreciative of the relationship between Hig and his dog. I definitely shed a tear when Jasper passed away. Although the author's writing style was an annoyance for me, I thought it worked well during this time of the book. The second half of the book was less interesting to me than the first half. I was not moved by the new relationships that Hig found. I would have been satisfied reading about the life of him and Bangley in the hanger. Overall, this book was perfect for me to read right before bed. It often put me to sleep within 10-15 pages. I was able to finish it, and I'm glad that I did. It served its purpose.
    • 5/5
      It's been nine years since a super-flu pandemic essentially wiped out the world, but Hig has survived. He lives at what was once a small airport in Colorado with a gun nut he maybe can't exactly call his friend, his aging dog, and a small plane that he still flies regularly, even though there are a very limited number of places to go.This is definitely on the literary end of the post-apocalyptic subgenre, full of all kinds of highly affecting emotion: pain, grief, numbness, hope. The writing is terrific, in a way that calls to mind the old adage that you can break all the rules, if you know what you're doing. Heller very much knows what he's doing, and he makes this feel, for the most part, like an effortlessly believable look inside his character's head.I will say that I found the first half or so of the novel better than the second half, just because when Hig finally meets some other human beings, there's something about them that doesn't ring quite as true to me as Hig and his partner-in-survival do. Which is probably the only reason I'm giving this four and a half stars instead of the rarely-bestowed five.
    • 5/5
      This book shifts between heartache and adrenaline pumping! Heart-wrenching is the first word on the back cover- this author's descriptions of grief are incredibly well-written.Several favorite phrases, this is one of the shorter ones:"I wake from dream into dream and am not sure why I keep going. That I suspect only curiosity keeps me alive. That I'm not sure any longer if that is enough."
    • 3/5
      Diese Dystopie habe ich als Hörbuch gehört und so viel vorweg, es ist hervorragend gelesen. Das kann man wirklich ganz ausgezeichnet anhören.Aber mit dem Buch habe ich mich dennoch schwerer getan als gedacht und habe auch ewig zum Hören gebraucht. Nach einer schlimmen Krankheits-Katastrophe haben neun Jahre später nur noch wenige Menschen überlebt. Und diese wenigen Menschen bekämpfen sich, es herrscht ein gnadenloser Überlebenskampf. Auch Hig und sein Nachbar Bangley, die im Hangar eines verwilderten Flughafens leben, töten jeden, der sich nähert. Und doch bliebt Hig menschlich. Sein Hund Jasper ist sein treuer Freund, der ihn auch noch an die Vergangenheit bindet. Die Dystopie selber finde ich stimmig. Der Untergang der Zivilisation, wie die Natur sich langsam verändert, wie die Menschen sich arrangieren, das ist überzeugend beschrieben. Auch Higs Persönlichkeit kommt, natürlich auch durch das Hörbuch, sehr gut raus. Weniger gefällt mir das ständige Gemetzel, wenn man auch sagen muss, dass auch das überzeugend wirkt. Am Ende sind es zwei alte Soldaten, die überleben und sich gegenseitig auf die Schulter klopfen („Wo hast du gedient?“), typisch Amerika vielleicht. Ich fand, dass die langsame Entwicklung der Geschehnisse Stärke und Schwäche des Buches zugleich ist. Man muss sich auf Hig und seine Gedanken, Gefühle, seine Entwicklung einlassen. Das geht aber ohne großen Spannungsbogen voran.
    • 4/5
      Can't find it now that I am looking for it, but someone reviewing this book compared it to Shute's On the Beach and that comparison upended my own read of it . . . A few of Shute's characters live still in my memory in a way that I doubt these will - but I think heller's novel is about something quite different in the end reminds me more and more of day of the triffids as time passes . . .
    • 5/5
      While the language and phrasing choices took time to get used to, the overall beauty of this story was a huge draw.The combination of personalities, the depth of characters despite the sometimes shallow understandings of the main character, and the emotional growth... All made this a masterpiece for me.
    • 5/5
      Nine years have passed since a flu pandemic wiped out 99% of the population. Hig and his dog, Jasper, have somehow managed to survive, living under the stars at a small regional airport just north of Denver. Hig gardens, hunts and fishes, flies reconnaissance missions over the perimeter of their safe area, and helps the Mennonite families who live nearby who suffer from a blood sickness. Hig’s airport neighbor is Bangley, a well armed survivalist type who is a good counter-balance to the generally nice guy Hig. Their teamwork is one reason why they have managed to survive. Many animals and fish have been wiped out, drought and heat are the new normal, and the small remaining human population is vicious and not to be trusted. But Hig still sees the beauty of the land around him as he grieves for his wife and the life he no longer has. He is the everyman forced to live in a new, dangerous world. A faint transmission from the Grand Junction airport, heard three years previous, is a temptation he finally feels the need to follow and so he soon sets off on a flight from which he may not return. The writing is spare and clipped. A sentence may end with "and.” but it’s rhythmic and soon feels perfect for the narration and the conditions in which Hig lives. We know what he is about to say. He doesn’t need to spell out everything. But it is also lyrical and several pages had me near tears. Where most apocalyptic fiction seems to take place in a desolate world, Hig’s world is still beautiful and recognizable – from Coke trucks to beetle killed pines, the action is not so far in the future that it feels unlikely. A delightful, horrifying, heart-breaking apocalyptic page turner!
    • 3/5
      Memorable though sometimes formulaic per the genre (a lot of "securing the perimeter" and other bouts of boredom in flight). Hig's oscillation between a pragmatic survivor, a hopeless romantic, and a seasoned pilot yields a broad spectrum of literary potential, but also a less credible narrator.
    • 5/5
      I think this is my all-time favourite post-apocalyptic novel. It made me cry when I read it and I still get a pang when I think about, years later. This may not sound like a ringing endorsement but how often do you a read a book that moves you so deeply? I read tons of books and some of them I forget completely almost as soon as I’ve read them - but I remember every bit of The Dog Stars. It’s a beautiful book. I’m glad I read it.
    • 4/5
      A post apocalyptic book that isn't completely filled with death and despair. While there is still sadness there is also kindness and hope showing as well. Worth the read!
    • 4/5
      I finished this book this week but forgot to mark it read! Oops!

      This is the first dystopian, post-apocalypse novel that I've read and enjoy. The author, besides writing fiction, also writes poetry and brings a wonderful poetical, lyrical quality to the writing. It's a haunting tale of Hig; pilot, gardner, carpenter, survivor. Who lives out his days in a small airport in Colorado. Joining him is Bangley, soldier, fighter, and gun nut. The two live out an uneasy trust until Hig goes flying off into the wild blue.

      I loved this book too much to be able to talk coherently about this book, let alone write about it. The writing reminded me of Cormac McCarthy in the way that Heller takes liberty with how we write. Unlike McCarthy, in the end it's not so bleak. It's fairly uplifting.

      My favorite quote in the book is long. It's when a character, Cima, describes life with her husband before the pandemic flu and collapse of society. It's about the time in between life's big events. We all say it as we try to rush through life; when I get married, when we buy a house, when we have kids, when the kids go to college.

      This is our ritual while we waited for our lives to truly begin and i think now that maybe true sweetness can only happen in limbo. I don't know why. Is it because we are so I sure so unsure, so tentative, and waiting? Like it needs that much room, that much space to expand. The not knowing anything really, the hoping, the aching transience: this is not real, not really, and so we let it alone, let it in unfold lightly. Those times that can fly. That's the way it seems now looking back. Like those pleasantly exhausted bike rides up the side of a country highway on a warm evening. To a bridge. To a little rootsnaked trail through heavy maples. Where we padded barefoot upstream to a swimming hole. Even getting poison ivy so badly one weekend I missed two days of work. Seems from here that was the sweetest time ever vouchsafed to two people. Ever. On earth. While we waited for him to finish his degree, for me to have a child, to do the real work of living.


      Just love that.

      Anyhoo. One of my faves of the year, maybe in the best of life for my life. Just achingly, hauntingly beautiful writing and story.
    • 3/5
      An okay read, but nothing like the example he has to live up to. McCarthy's "The Road" is and remains unique in it's tone, the drawing of the atmosphere, of the thoughts of the main character. It isn't fair to compare the two titles, but yet that is what is done, and Heller wrote the lesser book.
    • 4/5
      A stream of consciousness type read of life, love, loss and the struggle to go on.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the better apocalyptic scenarios - real characters and carefully thought-through situations. Among all the chaos and desperation and alienation, there is space for love and hope.
    • 1/5
      I tried over the course of three (3) nights to read this novel but I was moving at a snail's pace. In the midst of my 3rd effort, I decided it was best for me to stop and move on to another novel before I turned off the light for the night. Perhaps I'll try to read this novel sometime...but perhaps not.
    • 3/5
      As paradoxical as it sounds, the best description I have for this book is "pastoral dystopia". There are so many nature scenes, descriptive passages, and contemplative introspections, that despite the diseases and anarchy that have destroyed the known world in this book, it is a very serene narrative of life post-apocalypse.
      Two guys, a dog, and an airport, just trying to survive. Then the one has a bit of a personal crisis and goes off on to search his soul. Lots of guns, lots of picturesque nature. Paradoxical, as I said. Welcome to life in the new world.
    • 5/5
      Hig is among the 1% of the population that has survived a deadly flu. To survive in this post-apocalypic world, he lives at an airport with Bangley, a man with an arsenal of weapons and no qualms about using them. Hig contributes to the partnership by scouting the area for intruders in his small plane and providing food by fishing, hunting, and gardening. But the magnitude of loss that Hig has experienced leaves him longing for connection that is increasingly difficult to find. Although this book has been compared to The Road, I found it to be much more about the psychological challenges in a post-apocalyptic world than about the terrors in the outside world. Yes, there are confrontations with bad guys, shoot-outs, and grenades, but the book is most compelling when we are inside Hig's head, feeling his losses and wondering where he finds the strength to continue to hope. Heller's experience in writing for magazines like Outside also comes through in his beautiful descriptions of the fading natural landscapes. I'm fairly new to post-apocalyptic literature, but from my viewpoint, The Dog Stars broadens the field, shedding new light on what might come after.
    • 4/5
      THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONI would not have thought that there was such a thing as a literary dystopia, but Peter Heller has managed to write one. At times lovely and poetic, at other times crude and violent, The Dog Stars is one of the most realistic and lovely postapocalyptic tales I've read. (It reminded me a bit of Laura Kasischke's In A Perfect World and, as Ti and Alyce both said, a lighter and gentler version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.) The writing is often lyrical and gorgeous. The passages on grief and loss were some of the best I've ever read. In addition, the descriptions of outdoor pursuits like fishing and hunting made me think of Norman McLean's writing in A River Runs Through It. Yet for all the lovely parts, there are equal measures of stream-of-consciousness fragments that take some getting used to. There are also moments of brute violence that contrast sharply with the more lyrical parts. It is an interesting book, and I enjoyed it once I got used to its odd rhythms and pace.As in many dystopias, The Dog Stars takes place in a world where almost the entire human (and animal) population has been wiped out by a virulent flu. Our narrator, Hig (an outdoorsman, pilot and poet), is eking out a living at a small airfield in Colorado with only his dog Jasper for company. His closest neighbor and ally is Bangley, a taciturn weapons expert who lets his guns do the talking for him. Together, Hig and Bangley have carved out a life and routine for themselves. Hig patrols their "territory" from the air in his 1950s Cessna, while Bangley provides firepower and tactics for dealing with the less than friendly strangers who sometimes visit their lonely outpost. This is a world where you shoot first and ask questions later--an approach that doesn't naturally fit Hig and his lack of commitment to Bangley's methods often get him into trouble. With Bangley being such a closed down person, Hig's best friend and constant companion is Jasper, with whom Hig talks to as if he was a person. After life-changing events shake up Hig's world, he decides to leave the relative safety of the airfield and go past his "point of no return" to chase after a long-ago radio transmission he heard years earlier.The things I liked most about this book was how grounded and realistic it felt. Heller really seems to have considered what might work and not work given the situation he created for his characters (how long gas would last, what kind of food would be available). It felt like Hig and Bangley were the type of people who could survive in such a world. In addition, I liked how Hig and Bangley form a kind of symbiotic relationship that becomes richer and deeper over the course of the book. But what makes the book work most of all is Hig's voice--his confusion, ambivalence, practicality, optimism and poeticism made him a deeply likable character. You want things to turn out for him. Although it takes awhile to get into his head and the rhythms of his thoughts, you'll like what you find there. If you're looking for a dystopia written for grown-ups, this would be an excellent choice.About the Narration: Narrator Mark Deakins had quite a challenge as sentences were often choppy and fragmented. There were also times when I was a bit confused about whether something was a conversation or just Hig thinking. But Deakins did an excellent job and created a voice for Hig that felt authentic. His voices for the other characters (particularly Bangley and Pops) were terrific, and it was easy to tell when they were talking. Although this might be a book where reading it in print might be easier than listening on audio, it was a worthy listen.
    • 4/5
      If Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" is literature I suppose "The Dog Stars" must be considered literature as well. Both stories are set in post-apocalypse settings with an unusual style of telling the tale. There the similarity ends. The Road is so bleak and inhabits such a dark place I could not identify with characters trying to live in a world such as was depicted. On the other hand in "The Dog Stars" we have a story with a better heart, and a character I COULD identify with. Hig, our protagonist has lost a lot - but there is still a remnant of the world to love and live in. There are bits of fine poetry scattered through the story as well. I don't consider this a "great" book but it was a story done very well in most places that engaged me and kept me reading at a good pace. When I wasn't reading it, I was constantly thinking about it. I began this book as an audiobook at the library which I read along with at the start. I found this very valuable to quickly accept and inhabit the slow unusual rhythm of the storytelling. The second half of the book is told in an increasingly "normal" manner, which I think parallels the change and direction of the story. Recommendedby the way, I was wondering about the time the story was set in because it seemed very 'Now'. However, our main character flies a 1956 Cessna that I believe is stated several times as 80 years old. That would make the time of the story 2036.
    • 5/5
      Although I had some difficulty with the start of this novel, getting over the almost complete decimation of the human race along with bands of marauders killing or being killed, I was unable to put it down after the first couple of chapters. A captivating story of survival, endurance, grief, friendship, and love with the seeds of humanity sown in a desperate time and place.
    • 5/5
      Two very different types of men living on the Colorado plains at the edge of the Rockies join together to protect their perimeter from invasion by other survivors of the sickness that has decimated the population. Narrated by the soft-hearted Hig who just wants to fly his plane and hang out with his dog Jasper, the stark phrasing goes along with the austere life they lead where an occasional Coke is the most they have to look forward to. Hig owes his existence to Bangley, a survivalist who prefers to shoot first and ask questions later. It's a very unlikely combination of personalities but it works to keep them both alive. The life is lonely for Hig so, when he is on reconnaissance in his small plane and sees a man and woman who seem to be living well in their secluded canyon, he decides to land and make contact.I was surprised by how quickly I was absorbed into this incredible story of survival. The short sentences allowed me to fly through this book pausing only for the poetry that Hig loved and for some of the many beautiful passages: "I could almost imagine that it was before, that Jasper and I were off somewhere on an extended sojourn and would come back one day soon, that all would come back to me, that we were not living in the wake of disaster. Had not lost everything but our lives.... It caught me sometimes that this was okay. Just this. That simple beauty was still bearable barely, and that if I lived moment to moment, garden to stove to the simple act of flying, I could have peace." (68) This book has much to offer in the face of destruction. It is a story of friendship, grief, love, and the will to survive. It is a hopeful book that has one of the best endings I have read in quite awhile. I recommend this book to anyone who believes in humanity and who doesn't mind a little grit and violence along with an unforgettable story about the irrepressible spirit of man that shines on amidst great loss. I read it this time quickly, but I will read it again someday very slowly to savor Hig's thoughts that refuse to forget that beauty and ashes can exist together.
    • 3/5
      Set in Post - Apocalyptic Colorado, a story of grief and recovery. Even for all the death and depravity, Dog Stars is a fun book to read. All the victims of the violence are generic "others", so the shoot first and ask questions later mentality isn't as grating as it could be. The narrator's skill as a pilot give him a "superhero" vibe, and open possibilities for daring choices that are not found in other "survivor" stories.
    • 4/5
      I generally don't read apocalyptic novels but this came highly recommended. I was captivated from the beginning. Connection is powerful and often found in unlikely places.
    • 4/5
      Lovely. I fell in love with Higg, for his situation and his character. Love reading post apocalyptic novels to see how people deal with their new world. I liked the characters in this book more than the progression of events, but overall it was beautifully written and poignant. Oh yes, and the dog Jasper, you have to love him!
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book. It's one of the ones where you don't want it to end and you feel like the people are real. Peter Heller is an awesome author. Can't wait for him to write another novel.
    • 3/5
      I'm a sucker for post-apolcalytpic adventures. Based on thebook's theme and the rave reviews it received, I was confident that I would love The Dog Stars. I was wrong. With apologies to the book's fans, I found it to be incredibly tedious in all but a few sections. It wasn't Heller's unique writing style that spoiled the experience for me. Unlike some reviewers, I actually liked his somewhat "staccato" narration. The problem, in my humble estimation, is that he overdid it in so many spots. I'm all for authors using vivid details to paint memorable mental pictures. But by the time I was done reading some of the passages, I forgot what the picture was supposed to be! I do agree that Heller's characters (especially the protganist) did spring to life. But when the tale ended, I found myself basically saying "Glad that's over."
    • 5/5
      Nine years after an apocalypse, Hig lives at an airport near the front range of Colorado. He survived the flu, his wife died. His mysterious neighbor, Bangley, is a weapons expert. Bangley does not hesitate to kill and helps protect them from plundering bands. Hig contributes to the unlikely partnership by flying a vintage plane, a 1956 Cessna 182, on daily sorties to monitor and search the countryside. He also hunts, fishes and raises a garden for food. Hig's constant companion is a dog, Jasper. When Jasper dies in his sleep, the impact of the loss triggers a dangerous trip by Hig. Hig's quest for something more in life is a 'can't put it down' read. (lj)
    • 4/5
      If the scenario of this book appeals to you -- an intelligent narrator reporting his experience after a flu wipes out 99% of the population -- you will love it.

      I can't go into a lot of detail because of the potential for spoilers. OK, one spoiler: No zombies! This is serious work of fiction.

      But the real surprise here is the structure of the novel. In my experience, few novels have a better 2nd half than the 1st half, and conclusions of novels fall into a variety of stereotypes and cliches (the worst is the "race against time"; there's a little of that here).

      The reason the novel takes off in the 2nd half is because is switches from a story about two people (and a dog) to a story about four people. There's an injection of tension and complexity at the half-way mark that really brings the novel up. Meanwhile, in the last ten pages, there are some small plot points that open up the scope of the story.

      A lot of people will give this five stars because of its grace in writing. But I found the interior monologue to be a bit more tedious and stilted than it needs to be. But, as I say, if the topic is a favorite: read it.
    • 4/5
      Nine years after a flu epidemic has swept the world, only a few people remain. One of them is Hig, a pilot with a small plane. Hig has had to adopt some of the violent kill-or-be-killed manners of his neighbor Bangley, but a humane core remains.This book is getting rave reviews from others, so I expected to love it. I liked it, but fell short of loving it. I do think it is one that will stick with me, though.I listened to an audiobook version, and thought the writing style really lent itself well to audio. Some readers have not liked the staccato style in print, but it makes for a very believable audio narration.