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Eva Hornung
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Dog Boy: A Novel 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Eva Hornung (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 185 ratings
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A vivid, riveting novel about an abandoned boy who takes up with a pack of feral dogs

Two million children roam the streets in late twentieth-century Moscow. A four-year-old boy named Romochka, abandoned by his mother and uncle, is left to fend for himself. Curious, he follows a stray dog to its home in an abandoned church cellar on the city's outskirts. Romochka makes himself at home with Mamochka, the mother of the pack, and six other dogs as he slowly abandons his human attributes to survive two fiercely cold winters. Able to pass as either boy or dog, Romochka develops his own moral code. As the pack starts to prey on people for food with Romochka's help, he attracts the attention of local police and scientists. His future, and the pack's, will depend on his ability to remain free, but the outside world begins to close in on him as the novel reaches its gripping conclusion.

In this taut and emotionally convincing narrative, Eva Hornung explores universal themes of the human condition: the importance of home, what it means to belong to a family, the consequences of exclusion, and what our animal nature can teach us about survival.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    9781616648169
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0670021499
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Viking
  6. Publication date
    February 25, 2010
  7. Language
    English
  8. File size
    675 KB
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This gritty, richly imagined tale of an abandoned boy in a Moscow shantytown who comes to live with a pack of feral dogs more than lives up to its unlikely premise. Hornung (Fire, Fire, etc., written as Eva Sallis) tracks young Romochka's growth over two difficult years from a four-year-old whelp to a taut, street-smart alpha dog. The boy's evolution from tolerated outsider to trusted leader of this canine crew is believably portrayed, and Hornung capably draws a tawdry world of trash-pickers, beggars, and occasional friends. As he grows, so does his curiosity about the world of humans he has fled, leading to an inevitable collision when Romochka is captured by a scientist who wants to use him to further his career. Hornung knows how to wring emotion from a scene, making the bond between boy and dog deeply felt, while rarely running afoul of sentimentality. In her hands, this engrossing story becomes both an investigation into humanity and a vivid portrait of one of Russia's millions of lost children. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Hornung offers a gripping novel featuring an abandoned four-year-old who survives desertion when he is adopted into a feral dog clan. The book’s complex structure encompasses characters and setting. Characterizations are rendered with compassion and detail. And the setting is developed with great skill—gradually broadening from the claustrophobic dog den to the ramshackle village that abuts it and into the greater city of Moscow. The plot hinges on survival—of the boy and the dogs, who are stalked by other dogs, by the poor and brutal people among whom they live, and by the military who are charged with ridding Moscow of homeless people and exterminating feral dogs. The lyrical and concrete language is carefully chosen and composed for impact. Reactions to the climax and resolution will vary: The shocking brutality will seem either tragic or redemptive or both. Hornung’s contrasting the loving behavior of the dogs to that of faithless and brutal people provokes a comparison that questions the definition of humanity. --Ellen Loughran

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0030CVR8E
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; 1st edition (February 25, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 25, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 675 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 303 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 185 ratings

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Eva Hornung

Eva Hornung

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
185 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Stephen Balbach
5.0 out of 5 stars Dog Boy
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2010
Verified Purchase
The twin brothers Romulus and Remus, raised by a she-wolf, were the founders of Rome. Mowgli was the hero of Rudyard Kipling's `The Jungle Book`. Tarzan was "King of the Jungle." Stories of feral children raised by animals have a long tradition. We are fascinated by the freedom it promises, stories of survival, of man in a perfect Rousseauian natural state, but we are also repelled by the grotesque behavior and unsanitary conditions. Such as it is with Australian author Eva Hornung in `Dog Boy`, a realistic recreation of the true story of 4-year old Ivan Mishukov, who lived with a pack of wild dogs in Moscow for two years, surviving winters of -20 degrees with no heat or cooked food. Although a fictionalized treatment, it probably goes further at achieving the truth than journalism. We learn intimate details of living as a wild dog: the sense of existing in the moment from one meal to the next, of dangers from "Strangers" (foreign dogs outside the pack), marking territory, play, social hierarchies, mating and birthing behaviors, smell and memory. This is not a "talking animals" novel, it is not `Watership Down`, the dogs and people all act in recognizably realistic ways, it is not a fable like `Animal Farm`. By the novels close you have become like a dog, thinking and acting appropriately, the world of dogs opened. For that reason alone, it's a great book for dog owners or anyone wishing to better understand animal human relations. It also implicitly questions mans superiority over animals. A great read for anyone curious about feral children, the wild dogs of Moscow or animal/human relations.
12 people found this helpful
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M. Zveris
4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly Different Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2011
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I had wanted to read Dog Boy for some time and finally got the chance on a plane. It was a short read, over in a four sitting, but every moment was engaging. The thing I found the most enjoyable was that we are not presented with a figure to pity. In the story of a boy who ends up living with a pack of feral dogs, becoming a part of that family - the author was presented with many times when that could have been the image presented - something to look down on and feel immeasurable sorrow for; a boy abandoned. Instead we are shown a stark story of survival, love, dedication, and a humanity that was lacking in great respect in the rest of Russian society as presented by the novel.

While some of the concepts in Dog Boy are complex we are faced near the end with a powerful choice as the reader: do we side with the citizens trying to be helpful by rehabilitating the titular "Dog Boy" or feel a sweep of anguish at the actions taken not out of simple desire to fix what they see as broken but to advance careers while doing so? That's the thing about Dog Boy, we're presented with a novel where emotion is so simple as to be complex. Love is layered with duties, responsibilities, and survival. When we begin to encounter humans more frequently we are bombarded with the complex psychology that we, the readers, deal with every day in society. It is placed against a stark backdrop of simple need, and the betrayals felt by the characters are something you can feel ripping through the pages into your own psyche.

I am not sure whether this book is depressing or uplifting, ultimately it is best described as a mixture of both. It leaves you wanting the simplicity of that hybrid family, the honesty that comes with the life of a boy abandoned in a building who had to survive in what we would deem as some of the harshest urban conditions imaginable. It also leaves you sad that such a thing could come to pass, a young child who with no option other than to starve is left bereft of human kindness and is taken in by a pack of dogs, filthy, starving at times, covered in sores, and in danger not only of attack from other packs but those of his own species.

Caught between and left with a chance for a new life, Dog Boy is a book about so many things it is hard to encapsulate without taking away much of the stories punch and there is a great deal of that in this short novel.

A truly different and wonderful look at emotion, experience, and life. It takes a lot to survive in the basement of an abandoned church, but perhaps more to survive in the world as we know it.
2 people found this helpful
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Yolanda S. Bean
5.0 out of 5 stars What a wonderful book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2010
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I REALLY enjoyed this! Based loosely on the story of Ivan Mishukov, a young boy who lived with a pack of feral street dogs, this fictionalized re-vamping was both a heartbreakingly beautiful and a disturbingly realistic book. Feral children fascinate so many people, as they raise so many questions about both humanity and the creatures that replace parents. While this topic is heavily covered in literature (_The Jungle Book_ being a famous example), many modern books (like Alice Hoffman's _Second Nature_ or Kristin Hannah's _Magic Hour_) are softened into more of a romance novel, whereas this book celebrates the grimmer (and certainly disgusting) realities. At times, this is a harsh, and troubling read, not for the faint of stomach, but the moments of pure love and beauty balance out the book, making it an enjoyable read.
Painstakingly researched, this book fully addresses its topics and themes in, an at times, cold light. Brief (under 300 pages), but undeniably powerful, Hornung handled a tough subject. She is a talented writer and i am curious about her past works and any future books she may write.
I will admit that I would have liked to see the story develop even more, but I was not in any way dissatisfied by the ending.
2 people found this helpful
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Naomi Raab
5.0 out of 5 stars Another world that will never leave you.
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2015
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A book that will stay with you always, this is an amazing story of a little boy abandoned and brought up by a pack of feral dogs in the streets of Moscow. From the very first page this story grabs you in its pathos and wonder. Totally believable in its details of the life shared by the boy and his dog family, the book does not spare the reader in its visceral account of life in Moscow's streets. The story progresses to the scientist couple that take an interest in the boy and their work with the homeless children of the city.
Just on a personal note, the book helped me in my fear of dogs. On holiday, I travel to Bali frequently and each morning I sit on the beach, watch the sun rise, and meditate. The local dogs bound up to me but soon snuggle in and sit quietly with me now that I am not afraid, and do not chase them away.Dog Boy taught me a lot about the company of dogs for which I am grateful.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Would highly recommend it.
Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
Riveting, could not put it down. Would highly recommend it.
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Francisco Alvarez Fernandez
5.0 out of 5 stars muy bueno
Reviewed in Spain on August 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
Me ha gustado mucho. La historia está muy bien y la forma de contarla también. Un libro para cualquier edad. Recomendable
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on July 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
I loved this tale, so believable. I have already recommended this book.
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Boxerfan
5.0 out of 5 stars Eine irre Geschichte
Reviewed in Germany on May 2, 2012
Verified Purchase
Hunde, wie sie wirklich sind. Eine irre Geschichte, die sehr intensiv geschrieben ist, in den Bann nimmt, auf die Reise nimmt, Vorurteile nimmt, aber auch das eine oder andere nicht so nette Bild von Hunden und Menschen aufzeigt. Irgendwie gnadenlos, aber gleichwohl im Ende voller Gnade.
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Mrs. Gudrun Berry
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2010
Verified Purchase
I have read a brief review of this book in a magazine and it was highly recommended. I therefore decided to order it, to use my Christmas gift voucher.
At the start I was rather sceptical, but soon realized that I didn't want to stop reading, I was totally hooked . The book's discriptions are so detailed that you are living amongst the dog, with the boy, feeling with him and through him. It was probably especially relevant that I love and have dogs myself, so I am used to their ways.
Some scenes in the book are painful, confusing and throw up important questions, but I don't mind that. It isn't a book for a sunny holiday on the beach, but if you like a book that challenges your imagination and intellect at the same time, this is it!!
16 people found this helpful
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