Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole cover art

Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole

A Novel

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About this listen

Told through the eyes of a very grumpy yet lovable mutt, a funny and touching tale of aging, death, friendship, and life that proves sometimes a dog's story is the most human of all.

Tassen has always been a one-man dog. When his human companion, Major Thorkildsen, dies, Tassen and Mrs. Thorkildsen are left alone. Tassen mourns Major by eating too many treats, and Mrs. T by drinking too much. But the two unexpectedly find common ground in researching Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole led by a pack of intrepid dogs.

But the quiet days Tassen and Mrs. T spend together at the library researching the explorer’s arctic adventure are disrupted by the arrival of her son and daughter in-law. Eager to move in to the Major’s spacious house, they plan to send Mrs. T to a nursing home. As he contemplates his own fate, Tassen shudders to think what might happen to him! Yet Tassen and Mrs. T aren’t about to give up. Inspired by Roald Amundsen and his dogs, this unlikely pair are ready to take on anything life throws at them.

Good Dogs Don’t Make It to the South Pole is a darkly comedic and whimsical portrayal of aging and death told through a dog’s friendship with an elderly woman.


Animals Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Polar Region
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To enjoy this heart warming book, the reader has to forget about its necessary inconsistencies. Of course dogs can't read so Tassen needs help with that. Nor can they speak - but Tassen's conversations with his beloved Mrs T are real and moving and essential to the story.
As an English reader, I found it odd to be listening to a Norwegian story, translated into American English, read by an English narrator.
This is not only an amusing insight into mind of a loveable, faithful dog but a great history lesson about the 'conquering' of the South Pole and the fate of the dogs who died there in the service of their Norwegian masters. I wanted a slightly different ending to Tassen's story but the whole book is very satisfying indeed.

HERO TASSEN

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