It turns out that Wangerin's book isn't just strange. It's a strange allegory, and I've never liked allegories--the characters are too obviously masks for the author's message, and it's no more interesting watching them prance around than to watch Faith, Modern Society, and the Gold Standard do the tango. And it's not just a strange allegory--it's a strange religious allegory. Suffice to say that I am not the right audience for this book. I opened it expecting to find a fun story (after all, it's compared to Lord of the Rings and the wonderful Watership Down). Instead, I got hit by a morality play with a message.
At least the characters are wacky. The Book of the Dun Cow takes place on a farm ruled over by the arrogant rooster Chauntecleer, a gruff old bird who's really a sweetheart (but don't call him that). His companions include the fierce but uncultured John Wesley Weasel, the moping mutt Mundo Cani Dog, and, at times, the mysterious and gentle Dun Cow, a glowing and inspirational bovine phantom. It seems, Wangerin informs us, that God has set these animals up as Keepers of the Earth. In particular, they're meant to prevent the escape of the deadly Wyrm, who is a Satan-like figure bound up in the center of the world. But, of course, the Wyrm manages to escape (in one of the book's more harrowing and tragic scenes--poor Senex!), and everything quite literally goes to hell. The only thing standing between Earth and the destruction of all life is...a chicken.
Well, I make fun, but to be honest the concept isn't all that bad. And there are lots of genuinely funny moments in teh book. I first laughed out loud when Chauntecleer, upset about Mundo Cani Dog's constant self-pity, pecks him hard on the nose, and the mutt cries out, "My friend is a surgeon, a doctor sent from heaven with healing in his beak." And I laughed even harder at the chapter where the turkeys--not the brightest of birds--decide to pout. But as humorous as the book sometimes gets, most of it is written in this vaguely formal, vaguely aloof fashion, appropriate for an allegory, that makes it hard to connect to. And enough very surreal events happen in the course of the book that you soon feel detached from its characters, as if they are merely symbols--which, I suppose, they are. There's a lot in this book about religion, especially religious obligation and the nature of faith despite the presence of evil, but most of the religious stuff I didn't think about for long. There's also a surprising amount about aristocracy and, I suppose, the natural order--concepts that I found much less appealing.
I don't actually have any problem, per se, with Christian allegorical fiction. C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, for instance, I found immensely enjoyable, even if its ultimate message was religious. What Wangerin's book lacks is Lewis's genius at storytelling and deft touch with characters. Unlike Narnia, the farm at the heart of The Book of the Dun Cow ends up feeling like a cold and distant place, even when the Wyrm is finally vanquished.
Copyright © 2004 Steven Wu 