The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (2015-09-03)

This story is so traumatizingly sad. I watched the movie and I decided to read the book but it breaks my heart. The sadness of the dogs loyalty to humans despite all that's happened is just heart wrenching.

There are characters who speak in heavily accented English but while it slows you down in some parts but its far from unreadable- later editions address this and there's a glossary where you can look it up.

Sad sad story about animals and people and how we interact with each other. I hugged my cat afterward and told her I loved her.

If you watched the movie there are some more scenes that are just as heart wrenching.

Richard Adams never ceases to amaze me with his great books on animals. This book is a good find such as Watership Down. I will agree that this book has a slow start in the middle of the book it gets downright EXCITING with the introduction of Digby Driver a London newspaper reporter. I LOVE THE WAY HE PULLS OUT THE DIRT ON PEOPLE! Ill admit the book can be somehwat....TEDIOUSE at times like the intro of Driver witch talks of his past WAY WAY WAY back their in his past. And the part of the book where snitter meets the ghost of a dog who guards its dead master was a most disturbing part for me since when i grow older i want to be a parapshycologist (lamens a GHOST BUSTER that studys the things)Please read this book it is full of crowd pleasing POWER i find it comical at times too! VEARY REALISTIC LOOK AT ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION. makes me hate freaks who do it!

This book was a drag to read. I thoroughly enjoyed Adam's Watership down so I expected the same from The Plague Dogs but only to be disappointed. Some of the problems I had with the book is the writing and characterization of the two main characters. To start off the writing feels all over the place and incoherent at times when the author is jumping to one of the many characters within the book. Next is how Adams developes the characters, which I'd argue that he doesn't really, partly due to the fact that the two main characters are only the focus for the book for about half the time. The rest of the book then revolves around a reporter, scientists from the lab, and the inhabitants of the area in which the book takes place. None of these characters I listed above as well as the two main characters are given enough time to fully flush them out into anyone memerable or interesting.

No, really ... how? Plague Dogs and Watership Down are two of my all time favorite stories and your words are so beautifully sewn together and you create these amazing, rich, real characters who I fall in love with, and they break my heart, and make me cry, and laugh, and I'm despondent when the last page is read, and wish the stories could go on longer. You have an amazing voice and I'm so glad I found your books and the beautiful stories inside them. I think I'm a better person for having read your novels.

"The Plague Dogs" isn't nearly as accessible as "Watership Down" & it's not a children's book. Don't start reading Adams with this book--start with "Watership Down." ... Some of the dialect (especially that of the Tod) will be very difficult for American readers (though it was slightly toned down for American editions) & it's perhaps hard to follow if you've never heard the real thing, but even it is brilliant. I have heard the real thing & Adams captures it perfectly. It works best if you read it quickly. ... Adams does some wonderful experimentation with the writing in the book, experimentation that draws on a vast literary heritage & demonstrates very wide reading, experimentation that is itself a tribute to his literary forefathers. ... The characters, especially the canine ones, are very well-drawn (I'm tempted to call my next dog Rowf). ... Good plot twists, evocative geographical description, a singularly haunting passage about a ghost, great description of snow. ... The animal experimentation theme is very well done, not overstated (all of the experiments Adams described were real) & while it's obvious where Adams stands, he has the guts to balance the debate with an unexpected portrait of a dying child. ... The true brilliance of this book lies in the ending, which is just an absolute work of art, drawing together narrative strings, switching narrative styles, switching points of view, speeding up & slowing down (& even incorporating the author's tribute to his own friends without becoming excessively idiosyncratic) until it becomes positively lyrical. The book is worth it for the ending alone ... & Adams is a master of making the incredible credible so we willingly suspend disbelief ... maybe because Rowf & Snitter are so well portrayed we sorely want them to live. Not an easy read, but SO good.

Many reviewers here have found this a difficult read and it is that especially if you don't enjoy dialects that aren't your own. It is a very British book and no apologies are necessary for that.
Many have either loved or hated the didactic theme of the book regarding animal experimentation, but it is really about much more than that. The overriding theme of this book is that of the relationship between humans and other animals. Adams is not ranting here. He doesn't offer any facile conclusions other than that life deserves respect.
Like Adams' other works, once you become acquainted with the characters, the narrative is compelling in the extreme and all the characters are kept interesting and multi-dimensional. The work depends on your caring about the two dogs' fate and here ultimately succeeds. I wasn't moved to tears here, but I did gasp at Adam's sheer narrative audacity towards the end of the book. He pulls out quite a few postmodern stops (and a bit of deus ex machina) but still manages to guide the reader into almost believing, but certainly caring about the ending.
The only aspect of this novel that bothered me was that occasionally the author let his judgmentalism peep through an otherwise fair-minded narrative. For example, at times he feels it necessary to denigrate all anti-establishment radical types while sanctifying "honest" establishment types such as soldiers and christians in order to defuse criticism his arguably radically anti-establishment point of view regarding animal experimentation. This struck me as a sour note in an otherwise high-minded and otherwise successful satirical narrative, though you can tell that his natural impulse is not to rely on one-dimensional characterisations
Overall, I would rate this book's success slightly below that of Watership Down and Shardik among the works by Adams that I have had the pleasure to read, but I highly recommend it nevertheless.

...and, so what? Unlike other reviewers who seem to have a problem with the fact that Adams did NOT hide his bias against - one would be tempted to say hatred towards - animal experimentation, and those who conduct such experiments, I believe he should be proud for standing up and giving a voice to those who have no voice of their own. It is not a "false premise" that animal testing and experimentation is wrong - it is an opinion, and a valid opinion that many people share. Remember that most of the experiments described in the book were not being performed in order to find cures for horrible diseases - they were being performed just to see what would happen in someone sprayed hairspray in their eyes; or to see how many cigarettes might cause lung disease; or to see how animals respond to psychological conditioning. I have no way personally of knowing whether the specific experiments described have even been done in real life (though, based on those I DO know about, I would not be surprised). The point is that Adams is trying to demonstrate the sanctity of life - ALL life - and the sin of wasting a life.
The dialect can get somewhat difficult, but, as another reviewer suggested, reading it quickly, sometimes aloud, helps. The descriptions of the terrain the dogs travel is wonderful - it makes me want to see it in person. And all of the characters are expertly drawn, especially the two dogs and the tod (but also Digby Driver, Mr. Boycott, and Mr. Powell). There may be a tad too much background information given on a couple of the characters, but not enough to bump this from five stars to four.
This is a must for animal lovers, but have a hankie ready!

My first instinct was to claim that whilst this book is wonderful, it does not quite meet the precedent set by "Watership Down". However, this is not really the case. "The Plague Dogs" is simply a far more adult, mature read than "Watership" and whilst it can by no means be described as easy reading, it is certainly worth that extra bit of concentration. The writing style is amazing as always, and the storyline gripping and fascinating. Adams' ability to switch from the perspective of the two dogs, Rowf and Snitter, to the humans is incredible. The book's witty contributions, gripping story line and happy ending make a wondeful story without diminishing any of the underlying concerns. It is an incredible masterpiece, and should be devoured eagely by dog-lovers and book-lovers alike!

I loved this book and the incredible story of these dogs. The book is relatively long but it was hard to put down. There is heartbreak involved but also sweetness.I fell in love with these animals. I thought it was incredibly well-written and I felt like I was on this journey with them. I think everyone should read this book and it would be a good book to assign young adults to read in school. The story will stay with you long after you've put the book down.

Watership down was a great book, with humor and warmth and lots of discriptive paragraphs. I love watership, in fact, it's my favorite book, but some of the discriptions got a little tiresome after a while. In the plague dogs, it just dosn't end. Discribing and blah blah blah blah blah blah about all this stuff that no one cares about. How do you finish a book like this? I sure don't know, because I just couldn't do it. The plague dogs could have been a great book, it really could have. But it was totally ruined by pages and pages of junk. If you are a fan of Watership Down, I suggest you skip this book, unless you actually LIKE spacy paragraphs of discriptions. This book, in my opinion, is nothing but ad nausuem......

Reading through past reviews, one person mentioned that it is a one sided story to make the lab scientists look bad. And yes it was to make them look bad. The scientists in this story were not trying to cure cancer or aids. They were not trying to save babies from getting Downs Syndrome...they were doing expermentations SOLELY to see "gee, if I do this, what will their reaction be?...Let's drop a dog in a pool and see how long it will swim before it drowns, then we'll give it CPR and do it again tomorrow...He lasted a whole extra minute today then yesterday...Let's open this dogs brain up and move it around a bit, see what happens..." THESE are the scientists the story was geared at. And if they were real scientists, they would have told the public, they were doing these experments on them for whatever reason they had. Instead they tell the public the animals carry a plague and to stay away, so as the people not find out the truth. For anyone to see this as bad mouthing the scientists who are trying to cure a disease, then you obviously weren't reading this story. (which on a personal stand-point, I can't see how a rat has the same genetic sequances as us that we can use them to cure our diseases. Prob lost more cures because it killed the rat, might not have killed us)...I say take the sickos in jail like Susan Smith and put tobacco in her eyes :)

The Plague Dogs is a beautiful novel about two dogs, Snitter and Rowf, who escape an animal research center (A.R.S.E) after being cruely tested on, in the name of science. After running away, they befriend the nasty trickster, the tod. A rumor also starts that Snitter and Rowf are carriers of a plague. People are forced to shoot and kill them. I'm very pleased with the ending. Five golden stars for Richard Adam's Plague Dogs! Also check out the rare animated film "The Plague Dogs" based on The Plague Dogs. But you'll need to read the book, first.

I speak English as second language and this book was quite a challenge. The British dialect was hard to understand.

I wish there was no author's speech (mumbling) included in the story. It took me a while to figure out who was talking.

This is a great story. Prepare a box of tissue because you will cry a river of tears.

Great book, highly recommend!

Well, I have rather mixed feelings about this book. I always enjoy a good dog book - and this one certainly had points that were good, but I was a bit bogged down by the style. It feels overly wordy, with few sympathetic characters and contains no women to speak of. There are some interesting characters and aspects - I particularly like the depiction of Snitter's madness. The premise is quite interesting and I would have liked it more had it been executed in a different way. Really, the ending is the entire book's saving grace. Overall, it seems that Diane Jessup's The Dog Who Spoke with Gods, may have been inspired by this. It most certainly shares the theme of depicting animal cruelty - though they both display about it in a different way. Jessup's novel is a much more engaging novel.

This is my favorite book by Adams, and possibly my favorite overall. Even though I'm not (or wasn't) too fond of dogs, I was still gripped by this book. For once I actually read a book a chapter or two a day to make it last. The plot takes plenty of turns, and if it weren't for the number of pages left, I was almost sure the book was nearly over at places... but then Adams would work out a great twist to make the story a little more optimistic. You can't really be sure how the story will end until the last few pages. In conclusion... buy it! Read it! You will definately enjoy it!

The dogs escape from a Research Facility and
each animal has its own personaility/fears and
afflictions resulting from their captivity/abuse.

Not just for Animal Rights activists but for the
general public by virtue of the excellent writing
style of Mr Richard Adams (the author, also, I believe of Watership Down and of Shardik).

Thoroughly recommended (all 3 publications).

I read "The Plague Dogs" after I'd read "Watership Down," which is also written by Richard Adams. And while perhaps "The Plague Dogs" is a bit more difficult of a read than "Watership Down," and may lack the narrative flow of his first book, it is a tremendous novel, nonetheless. His central characters, two fugitive dogs from a testing laboratory named Rowf and Snitter, are distinctly drawn and reminiscent of some of the great tragic characters in English Literature. Their flight from captivity will draw you in from the moment they escape the laboratory, and will continue to hold you breathless as they ellude their captors and seek a new master. The novel works on two levels: both as a commentary on the mistreatment and abuse of animals in laboratories, as well as a look at humans from an animal's point of view. Be warned, however, you may not like what you see. On a negative note, the author often slips into a confusing slang, common to the area in which the novel takes place, when creating dialogue for certain characters like the lab workers and the Tod. At times, the lingo can become tedious and the reader may be tempted to skim over it. Also, the background information leading up to the introduction of Digby Driver midway through the novel can seem unnecessary; however, skipping over these aforementioned parts only denies the reader essential information and dilutes the novel from the author's translucent vision. With that said, Mr. Adams is at his lyrical best when the story focuses on the dogs and away from their human counterparts. Mr. Adams's ability to write from an animal's perspective remains unchallenged in fiction today. Not only is Mr. Adams a gifted storty-teller, but his mastery of the English language is hypnotic. "The Plague Dogs" and "Watership Down" are two masterpieces of modern literature that will haunt the reader long after the final page has been read. On my best day I aspire to be as human as a character in a Richard Adams novel.

Not surprising... only three reviews. After all, who goes to the book store and picks up a book named "Plague Dogs?" Certainly not a crowd drawer of a name. Not surprisingly, then, until I ran into it at the far corner of the book store, I had never heard of it... But since then, rest asured, no one who has run into me has NOT heard of it. Why should you read it?... Because it painfully shows us (humans) our ugly face? Because it clearly and beautifully tells us of our duties as "top-species" on the planet. Because it is packed with adventure, depth, emotion, knowledge, and tenderness? Beacause it will grip you from the first chapter (and if it doesn't, then don't bother with the rest) and it will swallow you whole, and it will spit you in the end, sobbing and smiling, and with a new, fresh (and more responsible) outlook on the universe about you?...Nope... read it because it is one of the best stories ever told (one of the best I ever heard,! anyway).

In all likelihood, you'll already be familiar with Watership Down when you first hear of Plague Dogs. It's a gripping tale of characters you can indeed care about-- two dogs who escape captivity, and a fox they meet (mainly). The three suffer trials and uncertainties, at turns frank, touching, or even spooky. A tale of survival. There's a strong secondary plot involving various humans, too, that is quite compelling.
Adams added a number of relatively silly things into the formula this time around, however. Probably he *indended* for these things to be rather heavy-handed and goofy, but that they were deliberate doesn't prevent them from interfering with one's enjoyment of the book. Adams' awkward and inconsistent transcription of thick scottish accents plagues much of the book. There's a reason they tell you to avoid this in fiction writing 101!
His villains, too, are rather unconvincing-- on one hand, the book as a whole tries to take itself rather seriously as social commentary. On the other, the villains' motives are intentionally made into utter caricatures.
I would scorn a lesser story for silly decisions of the author. Nevertheless, it's a great adventure, with real, and moving, character development. I unhesitatingly give it four stars.

I just recently finished this book and can say with much sincerety that Adams has created a wonderful piece of work in "The Plague Dogs." It's true that some of the dialogue is especially tough to get through especially being an American reader, but after a while I found myself going through it with a fair amount of ease once I was finally used to it. The best part of this book by far has to be the characters of Rowf and Snitter whom I found tremendously more interesting than any of the human characters. Their struggles and perception of the reality around them is quite remarkable. As far as how the message was presented I thought it was done quite fairly on both sides of the issue of animal experimentation. Finally, there's the ending which made the entire book worth the read.

I found the book very slow. Infact I stop reading it altoghter. I thought it was another Watership Down. Dont get me wrong I did enjoy it once I got done reading the book. The books starts out slow but is slowly begins to pick up. The book is well set in which he gives wonderful descriptions of places, smells, (hey, half the plants and flowers I have never heard of)and locations. Like many of his books this one deals with man vs nature. The heros two dogs are living off their wits. One is a dreamer who feels that there is love in every mans heart and the other is truth, who knows what man is capable of doing. This book is well worth the time and the read.

Probably the best book of Adams (well, The Iron Wolf is not so bad, too). I have read it for my bachelor exam in English literature and just loved it - altough you would think that it is a worthless Thriller if you only read the title.
I will study veterinary medecine, so this book was interesting to me - hope that I'll never become a Boycott or Powell.

this book is perfect much much better and more emotional than Watership Down. its a story of struggle and harrowing adventure between two dogs. they are alone and fighting the world of men, trying to survive in the most inhospitable lands of northern England. it is a great read for animal lovers, and furries (people interested in anthropomorphic animals in art and literature) id call this a modern day call of the wild like how Jack London got inside the head of buck, Richard Adams gets into the head of Rolf and Snitter.

One truly great book.
I believe that reading this in one's young adolescence will contribute to making a more humane person that would love children and beasts better than they would if they didn't read this.

This really is a super novel. The copy just acquired is my third copy, having had the film tie-in before and prior to that the late seventies original paperback. Read first when at school, I fell in love with the book having absorbed the wonders of Watership Down - although Plague Dogs is far from a childrens book. Mixing the wonderful companionship of Rowf and Snitter, the horrors of the animal testing station, the excitement of escape and the evocotive Lake District countryside the story charts the dogs' progress on their journey without sidestepping the realities of life in the wild - for 2 dogs used to having their food provided for them; rather than becoming hunters and scavengers themselves whilst the worst hunter of all, man, is hunting them. Buy this book and treasure it. This copy has a beautiful glossy cover of the two escapees and as an American print the northern dialect has been slightly toned down but without losing the charm of the book. Prepare to enjoy, enthrall, laugh - and probably cry too.

England is thrown into confusion when two dogs escape an animal research station in the Lake District. Rowf - a black mongrel who has been repeatedly drowned and revived - and Snitter - a domesticated fox terrier who has undergone extensive brain surgery - escape the hell of the research station into the almost equal hell of a wilderness in which they have no idea how to cope.

Aided by a saucy fox with a heavy brogue (which has been toned down for American readers), the dogs manage to eke out an existence for themselves - an existence free from the sadistic "whitecoats." But when ace reporter Digby Driver is sent to the scene in search of a hot story and accuses the dogs of carrying bubonic plague, Rowf and Snitter are abandoned by the fox and left to their fates. Hunted by farmers, newspapermen, and even paratroopers, they struggle through Rowf's fear of water, Snitter's increasing insanity, and the all-consuming belief that "it's a bad world for animals."

Adams, while laying on rather thick with the sadism of the scientists, manages to avoid coming across heavy-handed. He unflinchingly portrays some of the cruelest aspects of animal research, but leaves his readers to make their own decisions. Indeed, his cynicism is directed more pointedly at the media and politics than anything else.

The book, although blessed with a unique and moving premise, never manages to rise above its own tedium. With the exception of the dogs and the tod (fox), the characters are unengaging and in some instances downright farcical. The ending, while certainly benefiting from a beautiful and completely unexpected twist, is all but ruined by the use of a heavy-handed deus ex machina. Overall, I would recommend this book only to those who are interested in the grimier side of animal research - and only if they haven't weak stomachs.

Adams is a fantastic author with great insight into non-human animals.To understand what he has done here, you must understand what role animals play in scientific research. Chemicals come with material safety data sheets, or MSDSs which include toxicity information. These toxicity measures,LD50(Lethal dose,50%) and TLV(threshold limit value)are derived from exposing animals to injections of the chemical or by respirating it until a specified percentage of the animals die. LD50 means that at this concentration of chemical, 50% of the animals die. TLV is the concentration of gas or vapor at which breathing that chemical causes death.So for every chemical introduced, a population of animals must die. Animal testing is a prerequisite for commercial manufacture of a chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act of the 1970s overseen by EPA.And similar research is required by the FDA in introducing new drugs for medical use.

I really hate writing bad reviews, but I review what I'm reading, and this book was hard to keep up to my eyes.
I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for something really dramatic and exciting to happen, but I'm getting nothing but internal conflicts in the characters.
Yeah, ever once in a while there is a tiny bit of action, but lasts for only a few seconds and then dies totally, and nothing happens again for 100 pages.
To tell the truth, I'm on "FIT 10" (the very long chapter). I'll very much intend to finish this book, only because Mr. Adams really is getting me to think these dogs aren't going to make it. So I'll finish it to see if the dogs live or die.
Like everyone is saying, this is a hard book to read. It's very confusing and uses lots of big words and bad words and such and such. I started reading this book because I am a huge fan of Watership Down and I wanted to see what other things Adams wrote. Oh well.

Although at times it can be a tough and confusing book to read it is well worth learning the language used in the book. I cared more about these two dogs than any human character written about. The ending will leave you both joyous and profoundly sad.

This is just a great book, especially for animal lovers. No, it is not "Watership Down"; it is entirely different. You can get the idea of the plot from other reviews. But if you like dogs, you will root for these two, following their adventures after they escape from the tortures of animal experimentation. And the ending is wonderful.

Might I suggest a new novel inspired by Mr. Adams' titled "Buddy & the Jack?" Let me preface this by saying that I am an admirer of Richard Adams and this novel is my tribute to his writing.
The story takes place in the fictional community of Mt. Canaan, Pennsylvania, a sleepy Victorian hamlet and tourist detour. Straddling the border between the hard coal regions and the Pocono Mountains, the timeless appeal of Mt. Canaan's cobblestone streets and quaint shops provide a welcome respite from the manufactured kitsch of the Pocono resorts.
Visitors to the town marveled at its history and Old World charm, until the day the feral dogs appeared. Now the streets just don't seem safe for man -- or beast -- certainly not for a blind dog.
Buddy is blind. A violent encounter with a madman left him that way. Stumbling about the lightless corridors in his own head, the stray mongrel led a bleak existence -- until a chance meeting with the Jack.
The Jack, a young scrappy Jack Russell terrier, takes an instant liking to Buddy and becomes the mongrel's own "seeing-eye dog." Together, they embark on a perilous journey in search of a place where they can live in peace.
And when Buddy's captured by animal control officers and slated to be euthanized, The Jack single handedly takes on the vicious feral pack and their seemingly supernatural alpha male. But he soon learns the real enemy may be man himself.
From the desolate coal fields of rural Pennsylvania to the provincial streets of Mt. Canaan, Buddy & the Jack is a sweeping tale of adventure, friendship, and the most unlikely of heroes.<

I cried several times while reading this book, and I didn't want it to end.

I guess it is pretty hard to get into, and sometimes it's a little tiresome, but I think it's well worth it. I loved this book. Makes me want to go out and adopt a cute little Snitter and make sure nothing bad ever happens to him.

Also, I was so thankful for the ending. I was dreading the end because I thought it would be terribly tragic,

P.S. poor tod.

Another wonderful tale by the late Richard Adams. If you love dogs this is the one for you! It takes a bit of an effort to get started & to get used to the awkward language but in no time you're off to the races. This story could have gone on for another 100+ pages. I dare you not to cry at the end!

"The Plague Dogs" exists solely to condemn scientists who conduct medical research on animals. By anthropomorphizing dogs and other animals from a research lab, Adams hope to convince readers that medical testing on live animals is wrong.
I wonder if Adams (or anyone opposed to animal testing) thinks that it's a shame that we have antibiotics and vascular surgery. Neither would exist (along with most modern medicine)without animal research.
Given that the book is written on a false premise, it's very readable. Adams is a good storyteller, and the book is generally interesting if a bit treacly. It is, however, filled with difficult Scottish dialect.
My verdict: It's a decent read as long as you remember that dogs don't talk and they don't reason and that the author has an agenda.

Prefer experiments on rodents, thanks.

Like in Watership Down, the animals are the main characters from a point of view perspective in this novel. For a recent techno take on this see We3, for example. Here, the dogs are just being experimented on, not being made into weapons.

When they escape, they have to forage to survive, and get help from a fox. One of the animals is a bit brain damaged from what has been done to him at the vivisection lab.

The title comes from the fact that a reporter of the less than ethical variety spreads the story that the animals are infected, as a cover.

This book's dialect is too hard to read! Example: "Awreet. Dem durgs's deed bah noo." And that is only one sentance! The diolect was so bad, I had to quit reading this book. Donot get this book. I strongly suggest Watership Down, a much better book.