The Book of Sorrows (Chauntecleer the Rooster, #2) by Walter Wangerin Jr.

The Book of Sorrows (Chauntecleer the Rooster, #2) Reviews

• 
  Emily

  This is a hard book for me to review. Don't mind me if I take a minute to cry a little bit more, dry up, and get back to reviewing.
  
  This, the second installment in the trilogy of Chauntecleer the Rooster, improves on the first. Plotwise less occurs, it's slower moving, and there is little to celebrate at the end of the story.
  
  That said, the story is stronger. It has to be as it's telling the biggest story there is, attempting to encapsulate the biggest truths there are. The writing is even more beautiful than in book one, more deliberate, more illustrative, like a painting (but not in an obnoxiously descriptive way). Wangerin is a master with his pen. I can't believe that could stay in bed all day and find myself gasping over the demise of a small Coyote,
  but I did.
  
  I strongly encourage anyone that loves reading to attend to these books. Be open to what he's trying to say -- his religious themes are unabashed, and they have to be in order for these stories to work. Wangerin doesn't shy away from death or murder or violence, but he doesn't shy away from holiness and penitence or objective truth, either. Using animals! I can't get over how effective this device has been.
  
  In a commonality that I'm seeing most of the books I've read the last few years share, The Book of Sorrows challenges the reader by braiding up evil and good within the main character and compelling us to decide how we feel about what happens to them.
  
  Totally brilliant and moving. Looking forward to reading the third and last installment -- once I've recovered from this one.
• 
  Olivia

  {March 2023 Reread}
  
  

  Finally, Cock, at the bottom of things, this is the truth that controls the universe: that everyone hurt, hurts back; that everyone cut, cuts back and double. And it has a name, cried the worms inside of him. Its name is Chaos.

  
  
  Truly, as Wangerin writes in the epigraph to one of its parts, “the book of our sins” – our human sins visited upon the innocent and the lowly and the unspeakably, intrinsically noble. The novel is brutal and cruel and comforting and true, eviscerating in its use of anthropomorphism and spirituality to expose how human man has failed in his most primal, most profound Creational calling: to steward, nurture, and protect all animal life. It meditates on grief, priesthood, and the innate nature of good and evil. An immense and intimate book, encompassing firmaments and offering a salve for the wounds it righteously inflicts.
  
  

  The Animals were a broad, dark company in the background, Creatures of the earth caught for the last time in a universal assembly, all the breeds and tribes and tongues and nations under heaven. Perhaps they would lie down and sleep right where they were. Perhaps they would travel home in the morning.
• 
  Kaylene

  This book should be more of a a thing.
  
  I read it after Tish Harrison Warren mentioned it in Liturgy of The Ordinary as an excellent read for Lent. So, I have yet to actually read the first or any others in this series. I am still processing, but it definitely took me by surprise how the Creatures captivated me while capturing and displaying elements of my own soul.
• 
  Claire

  I tend to consider myself pretty tough when reading those "emotional" kinds of books. Those gimmicky "oh this book is totally gonna make you cry at the end" books that become national bestsellers and eventual film adaptations usually have little to no emotional impact on me. I have claimed in a few past book reviews that "oh this book left me in tears" or "oh this book had me crying like a baby." To be honest, though, I exaggerated a little. When I said that "this book had me crying like a baby", what I really meant was that that particular book was very beautiful and touching, but my tears were really only a faint wateriness of the eyes, or one or two silent tears.
  
  This book left me with SO MUCH MORE than just a wateriness of the eyes or a few silent tears. I was weeping so loudly and so conspicuously that my dad actually stopped what he was doing and asked if I was okay. I told him that I had just finished reading an emotionally devastating book. He responded, "That's a very special book right there. It's rare for an author to bring out such powerful emotions in a reader."
  
  This is indeed a very special book. It's so special, and so heart-rending, that I would probably never be able to read it again (just too damn sad, even if the ending is somewhat bittersweet)...but happily there's a third and final book to follow, meaning that there's still a chance for a brighter future for Chauntecleer's kingdom in the wake of all this tragedy.
  
  Because my god, do these characters DESERVE a happier ending.
  
  Although this is where things get sticky. The Book of Sorrows was published in 1985 and was intended to be the final book in Chauntecleer's story. However, years passed and I suppose Walter Wangerin Jr. felt that the book did not properly reflect his current worldviews, or that it did not have the more hopeful ending that he intended, so he went back and rewrote Sorrows and republished it in 2013 as
  The Second Book of the Dun Cow: Lamentations, a much sleeker version of the original, apparently with some characters and situations changed, and an ending that leads into the third and final book:
  The Third Book of the Dun Cow: Peace at the Last. I think I'll read Lamentations before I go straight into book three, just in case too much was changed from the original second book to be consistent with the third book.
  
  But not right away, of course. This book ripped my heart into tiny bite-sized pieces. I'm going to wait until my emotional wounds heal before I read it again.
• 
  Jay

  this one hits so close to home.
  
  it makes me believe again.
  
  
• 
  Ben

  What to say about this? The first book surprised me, but I was totally unprepared for the sequel. It’s devastating and essential reading.
• 
  Christine Norvell

  So many precious moments of love, care, and comedy within this tiny animal kingdom. Pertelote, John Wesley Weasel, and the Tags shine with ease. Their lives are delightful single short stories woven into Chauntecleer's.
  
  I was most touched by the sweet story of Ferric the Coyote who, for me, replaced that of the protagonist Chauntecleer. I realize that Chauntecleer had to face the consequences of his selfish choices, but his deep losses drained my empathy. Yes, his humanity is realistic but ultimately, it is absolutely tragic.
• 
  Jordan

  Walter Wangerin, Jr. here produces a sequel that explores the emotional, relational, and spiritual themes of its predecessor in even more depth. The book is not a children's fairy tale. It is sometimes graphic, but always powerful. I sometimes laughed and sometimes had to turn away and catch my breath. On several occasions I nearly threw the book across the room. The Book of Sorrows is not misnamed. It is sad, one of the saddest stories I have ever read, and one of the most lingering. You can't shake it. But you won't necessarily want to, because the tale has much good to say about how we view ourselves and how we give and accept love. Accepting love may sometimes be harder, and accepting forgiveness can be as difficult as forgiving others.
  
  The characters in this story cannot be forgotten. They have life and breath. They feel. They enter into your heart. But they are not alone. Evil is preparing for the pounce, and that is much as things are in the world we live in, where evil is always ready to overtake us if we are not on gaurd against it. I think of God's warning to Cain in the book of Genesis: "Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
  
  Do not read this book without reading The Book of the Dun Cow. But once you have, don't neglect The Book of Sorrows.
• 
  Carolynne

  I know this is called the book of SORROWS, so I should not have been surprised by how deeply sad this book was. And so very difficult to read at parts. But it was also deeply GOOD. Even though he wrote it from the point of view of animals, it was the entire human experience - all the bad that we bring to the world and the mess that we make of things. And the ultimate redemption, which we don’t deserve.
• 
  Sarah

  Heart wrenching. Rushing to start the third book. John Wesley Weasel shines.
• 
  Claire

  This 2013 rewrite of
  The Book of Sorrows is...interesting.
  
  On one hand, it helps to create a somewhat stronger sense of continuity between Lamentations and
  The Book of the Dun Cow. In Sorrows, certain memorable side characters that made a strong impression in the first book didn't make any appearances whatsoever. It was as if in the decade-long gap between Dun Cow and Sorrows, Wangerin completely forgot about those characters and didn't bother to skim through the first book before writing the sequel. Lamentations remedies this by including these characters in the main plot, and not just shoehorning them in where he can, but actually integrating them into the story.
  
  There are also some interesting implications of a literal connection between this realm of talking animals and the Garden of Eden.
  
  On the other hand, because this book has been so heavily streamlined (one could even say abridged) from the original, many of the elements that made Sorrows such a powerful and devastating book are missing, making this rewrite seem a bit shallow by comparison. Many of the dramatic scenes from Sorrows are shortened down to only a few pages or a few paragraphs, and in some cases are changed entirely. Chauntecleer's motives for confronting Wyrm seemed much more complex in Sorrows, going beyond mere pride as it is in Lamentations. Jasper, who was originally a clumsy and rough-mannered but well-intentioned character, becomes an outright villain in this book. The final battle between Chauntecleer and the wolves in Sorrows was not only an awesome action sequence, but also evoked pathos because it showed the full and hideous extent of Chauntecleer's insanity, and how if not for Ferric's forgiveness, he would have become a monster just like Cockatrice. This scene was removed completely in the rewrite. Boo.
  
  In short, there are some interesting ideas and nice continuity nods, but not nearly as strong a story as in The Book of Sorrows. I will give this book some credit, however. If it wasn't for this rewrite, we would have no third and final book:
  Peace at the Last, because the conclusion of Sorrows, as magnificent a book as it is, would have been a SAAAAAAAD note to go out on. Now at least there's still a chance for these characters (who have been through absolute hell) to get a well-deserved happier ending.
• 
  Pewterbreath

  All I can say yet is that it is as good as Dun Cow. Also that one would definately have to read Dun Cow before touching this--it would make sense I guess, but it wouldn't have the emotional power with the opening chapters (you wouldn't know how these characters connected, nor the distress at not having a home--)
  
  I finished this in one big gulp, and I can confidently say that there hasn't been a set of books that had so many Characters I loved since Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass. I love the Tags (the seven little mice brothers), I love Pertolote and Chalcedony, but most of all I love John Wesley Weasel.
  
  If I was a publisher, I would put this in one set with The Book of Dun Cow and sell it two for one. Neither is complete without the other, that's for sure.
• 
  Joel

  This book knocked me out. Wow. Heavy, powerful stuff. The follow up to the Book of the Dun Cow is a tale fiercely fought for redemption from evil, a tale of what it means to bear with those suffering, about never taking salvation into our own hands. The salvation in the book is beautifully rendered because it is tragically needed - when all hope seems gone. It is in these moments, where the currency of the world, where "everyone cut cuts back twice" is shown for what it is, and bearing pain instead of inflicting it is the power of grace. There is so much here, so much sorrow, so much tragedy, and it is in these moments where we realize what we really need, not to save, but to be saved from ourselves, from others, from the way things work here. It is an important book in my understanding of the workings of grace.
• 
  GoldGato

  This sequel to
  The Book of the Dun Cow is almost as good as the original, featuring a frightening war between good and evil as represented by Chauntecleer the Rooster and Wyrm. Yes, this is fantasy fiction, but beautifully written and spellbinding at times.
  
  This sequel is darker than the first book, due to Wyrm taking center stage. The reader feels for the Rooster and his bouts of self-doubt. At times it takes on a Homeric tone, one mirroring the same Cold War reality of the 1980s. I certainly identified with each animal and view this book, along with its original, as a true fable for the modern world.
  
  Book Season = Autumn (Wyrm's season)
• 
  Chris - Quarter Press Editor

  There haven't been many books that have affected me as much as this one. I can't even put it into words, but I needed this... the depression and all...
• 
  Ketutar Jensen

  DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.
  Read Dun Cow and then no more. Forget this book exists. It will spoil all the good you read in the Dun Cow. It will taint everything, it will make everything ugly. This is what it did to me.
  
  People are not wicked. People are good. People are kind. People are gentle and loving. Goodness is what makes us human. The inborn will to be good and kind to each other, to protect, to defend, to help, to support, to comfort, to love each other, this is what has made human species so successful. Anyone, anything, any thing, that tells differently, is wrong. Wicked. Twisted and tainted.
  
  Remember that authors write books. Even when we like to say things like "the story tells itself", "the characters will do what they do, even if you wanted them to do differently". No. The author tells the story. The author creates the characters. The author is 100% responsible for what happens in the books. The author is the god of his creation and his story.
  Walter Wangerin jr. chose to make Chauntecleer question himself and feel guilt. Chauntecleer from the first book wouldn't have done that. The singlemindedness and security was what made Chauntecleer Chauntecleer. Walter Wangerin jr. made Chauntecleer refuse the Cow.
  Walter Wangerin jr. chose to make John Wesley do what he did and bring Wyrm to the world.
  Walter Wangerin jr. killed everyone who died in this book. He put all the misery and suffering on the animals. He is alone responsible for that. And I don't condone animal abuse, even when the animals are fictional and the abuse is imaginary and the suffering and misery doesn't "really" exist.
  That this is an allegory doesn't make it any better.
  No.
  This is a wicked, wicked book, and shouldn't exist.
  
  I read it because I loved the first book. I was so excited and happy to find a sequel. I thought it was about how they rescued Mundo Cani the Dog, and how all the things that went wrong would be corrected and everything would end happily and gloriously. Love and life would conquer and the rooster would be stronger than ever.
  I borrowed it to my sister who also loved the first book, before I had had time to read it, and she read it.
  Her experience was so horrid that I forced myself to read this. And I cried. It was so cruel, cruel and wicked and didn't offer me any comfort. I am not Christian. I don't find any solace in the Christian "ora et labora", "suffer, suffer, the crown will be brighter" and the "oh, he was so cruel but she just loved him and forgave and so saved his soul" crap I have met in so many Christian books. The only book where that message is delivered in a meaningful way I have read is
  Wonderful Fool
• 
  Tasha Robinson

  To this day, I'm still mildly baffled that this book was ever published. The first book in the series, Book of the Dun Cow, is a symbolic fantasy about a war between good and evil, which is finally won through great faith and sacrifice, at great cost. It's a book about how duty, love, and heroism just barely triumph over darkness. This sequel, on the other hand, is about how duty, love, and heroism are all as empty as pride or greed or wrath. Dun Cow guts its hero, the rooster Chanticleer, again and again by having him give in to blind pride or fear or self-pity. Here, he continues to fail himself and the animals he rules by being blind to his own follies, and consumed with grief and self-hatred for his failings. Everything he tries turns out poorly, most of the noble or hurting characters left over from the previous book or introduced in this one die horribly and in misery, and the book is just one grievous, weighty loss after another. And in the last couple of pages, Wangerin suggests that the only cures for the endless sorrows of Earth are love and forgiveness. Certainly a powerful message, but after such a horrible series of tragedies, it feels like too little, too late — especially with so little gained.
  
  I understand that Wangerin finally wrote a third book in the series a few years ago, decades after this one, and I look forward to reading it and seeing whether it finally pays off the grief and feelings of emptiness this one leaves behind.
• 
  Fyo

  The horrifying and heartbreaking continuation of Paradise Lost for Animals. I should have known from the title, Lamentations, that there was even more sorrow to come. There is. It continues the theme from the first book of the ugliness of sin and evil, and the deceitful power it has. In this book Chautelcleer becomes an illustration of what happens when this deceit worms its way into your mind and soul, and what happens when you lean on your own understanding. Painful to read, but again just as fascinating and moving as the first.
  
  That all being said, I keep wondering: who built the coop that was in the first book, and also, apparently pre-Fall chickens could fly.
• 
  Michelle

  This book was very heavy but also punctuated with beautiful writing and ultimate hope. It was interesting to read it just after reading the forgiveness section of the marriage book by the same author. Although this animal fantasy is not a direct allegory, looking at the world through non-human society provides a fresh way to present deep themes of goodness, evil, guilt, sin, and sacrifice. A book to talk about with someone else! As a side note, the author also does a good job of giving his important animal characters different voices, attitudes, and even speech patterns.
• 
  Ben

  Total slog. Couldn’t finish. Misery without moral or redemption. Less of a tragedy and more of unremitting suffering. I have better things to do with my time. I’d respect it more if I felt that it was attempting to impart a lesson, but it just felt like I was assumed to have a lurid interest in the dismal plight of Chanticleer the Over-proud Rooster, who was noble in the last book but turns Byronic with all the grace of a World Wrestling Entertainment plotline.
• 
  RAW

  I didn’t like this one as much as the first. To many tragedies and Chanticleer going bad. The sadness of evil affecting the leader and causing sadness and tragedy for the flock was too sad. Author again spins a wonderful tale and makes the animals human like and relatable, but to much I just didn’t get.
• 
  Liz

  Still beautifully written. The kindle edition has a ridiculous number of spelling errors (hugely distracting to me). The content held a deeply sad and at times horrifying sense of helplessness... watching confusion, sin, and death spiral in slow motion.
• 
  Michael

  I'll be curious to see where the lasr book leads as this one has a pretty definitive and sad ending. Very moving at points. I'm sure I would have gotten more out of it if I were familiar with Christian doctrine though.
• 
  Shawn Smucker

  This book is not for the faint of heart. Perhaps the most achingly sad book I've ever read, Lamentations has left me no choice but to read book three, if only in the hopes of finding hope.
• 
  Dan

  Judge this book by its cover--it's possibly the saddest book I've ever read. But it's by Walter Wangerin, so it's an absolutely beautiful dagger to your heart.
• 
  Samuel Duarte

  I good ending to The Book of the Dun Cow. An amazing animal allegory. However, it didn't wrap up all the loose ends.