Going off the Island, Chapters 1-17

I’ve been highly enjoying this new read. There’s something about just having two main characters to follow, where one happens to be a dog, through a long quest into the unknown, which happens to be new Earth. Every landscape Griz and Jip roam upon is from the world I know, but seen through a child and his dog that didn’t come from this world. They came from the world after the Gelding and since then, humanity and the planet has changed. Countries, towns and neighbourhoods that used to be alive with humans are now vacant of people and reclaimed by nature. The apocalyptic cataclysm that reshaped the world wasn’t aliens, monsters or creatures. It was an inexplicable phenomenon that prevented people from having children. There are many different theories people of the new world have argued to be the cause of the Gelding, but no real evidence or proof. The fact of the matter is that the animals, plants and the world is going on, but the humans are slowly disappearing. Griz’s parents are some of the rarest human stills alive because they were able to have children. And Griz’s dog Jess is among some of the rarest dogs because she is a female and most of the pups who are born are male, another downside of the Gelding. There aren’t enough humans to keep humanity going and it looks like there aren’t enough female dogs to keep the species going either.

My favourite parts of the story have been when Griz and Jip sailed away from their ocean island home and landed in new places. I like rediscovering the world through their wanderings and scavenging and uncovering bits and pieces of what it used to be like through found treasures. What may have once been considered a common household item like a photograph or a candle becomes a monumental piece of history and what it means to be human. Griz’s relationship with his dogs is also something pretty special. I think it’s interesting that in the apocalypse, the ones left surviving together are humans and man’s best friend. The serene landscape and body of ocean surrounding Griz’s island home immerses you in a quiet paradise, built from the ground up by his family. That paradise and feeling of security from the rest of the world shifts when a mysterious traveller comes ashore and invites himself into their home. His name is Brand and is prime goal is to have Jess, the female dog. She’s rare because there aren’t many more females left to keep the race of dogs alive. He drugs the family through the drought he put in the marmalade they all shared for dessert and then steals Jess into the night. Griz was the only one who didn’t have the marmalade and he ran out onto the sandy beach to witness Brand’s boat floating away with his dog. Brand is a character that represents the unpredictability of humanity in times like these. I am sure there is more to his story that doesn’t just paint him as a bad and dark man. Though he is both of those things, wicked and dark, I am sure he has also suffered from loss, pain and loneliness that this new decaying age of humanity brings.

I like that the story has paired Griz and Brand together in an epic quest of redemption. Griz is the boy born into this new world and he is only just starting to discover about life before the Gelding. Brand was born in the old world and is now starting over and living in the apocalypse. He may look at Griz and think that this boy knows nothing of the world, how cruel and unforgiving it can be. Brand may have more wisdom and life experience than Griz does, but what Brand seemingly lost too in the Gelding is compassion for others and seeing how beautiful the world, even in dark times, can be. Something that Griz carries with him as he ventures across oceans to find Jess is courage and determination. He also sees beauty in the smallest of things and appreciates every lost artifact, structure and abandoned landscape that still remain from the old world, reclaimed by nature. When these two characters really faceoff, I think they have several lessons that they can teach each other and perhaps it will fulfill something in them that they didn’t know they needed from each other.

When Griz goes out into the unknown, he only has Jip by his side. They travel by boat and water to journey across the ocean and find Brand. Along the way, they take shelter on different island landscapes filled with old memories, keepsakes and shadows of the past. The two of them sleep in abandoned buildings together by a warm bonfire with colourful views of the sunset sketched over the skies. They hunt rabbits and explore relics of the old world. One of the coolest spaces they found was an old amusement park with the rollercoaster still standing. Griz climbed on top of it to sit in one of the carts and get a great view of the now quiet park below, empty and barren. These moments that he experiences are a little creepy, but nonetheless precious. He is feeling, imagining and taking in what the old world used to be like and how it all fits into his world now.

The chapter I ended on was Jip going missing and Griz setting fire to the house that provided them both shelter because he was scared and upset. He feels complete remorse after watching the flames leap at the house, realizing that the house never took Jip or did anything to him. The house protected and sheltered them. At the same time, burning the house down doesn’t help get Jip back. I will be so distraught if Jip isn’t found soon. Griz needs him, the story needs him and I love this dog character with such big personality that I need him to return safe and sound this instance. Otherwise Griz will be going on after Jess alone. Jip is a part of Griz and his adventure and I hope he will reunite with Griz and surprise him with his furry cuddles and a rabbit in his mouth.