Racing in the Rain

Racing in the Rain

Sam Griffith

813

The book Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is about an edgy race car driver, Denny, his family, and most of all, the narrator himself, his dog named Enzo. Denny goes though many life wrecking experiences but manages to stay in control, He does this by being with his loved ones and by exercising his passion.

At one point in the book Denny’s wife catches cancer. As you would expect this is an incredibly horrible time for Denny. He is does his best to survive this tragedy by staying with his dog, and his daughter. Enzo tells of how Denny comforts his daughter but Enzo feels that Denny is comforting himself as well. He feels better when he is with his daughter he feels like his wife is still with him and that there are still loved ones involved in his life. So when his daughter is taken away from him by his in laws he spirals into drunken dazes. Staring into space feeling horrible. The fear of being alone is stressed in this book. At one point Enzo is left at home for a few weeks and ends up hallucinating about demons in Denny’s Daughter’s stuffed animals. This just shows that smaller fears become humongous and unavoidable when you are left by yourself.

The other way Denny eases the pain around him is by indulging in his passion. Race car driving. He says to Enzo that when he is in the drivers seat he forgets about everything else. He just thinks about the race. He is calm and focused and rarely looks back. He is free on the racetrack, free of his problems and fears when he is behind the wheel. He is an expert of racing in the rain, you could a comparison saying that while he was driving his problems are like rain drops, small drops of water that have no impact as Denny speeds around the track.

The book Racing in the Rain tells readers that you will not be able to get though tough times yourself. You will need love ones to stay with when the going gets tough. And if you don’t have that you will need a passion that can make you forget your troubles, and race though the slippery rain covered track like it’s a sunny  summer day.