The Incredible Journey

The Incredible Journey

Hardcover - UK - First edition.

Author Sheila Burnford Published 1961-??-?? Type Fiction Genre Adventure, Drama Themes Adventure, Animals, Friendship, Survival, Wilderness Age Group Children

The Incredible Journey is a book written by Sheila Burnford and published in 1961. The book is often claimed to be based on real events, but it isn't; the author stated the animals were based on her own pets, but merely their breeds and personalities, not a cross-country trek, however, since the publication of the book, several real-life incredible journeys of pets have been recorded which helped lead to the rumor. Burnford also said she didn't write the book for children, but the story's content and length no doubt caused it to have since been deemed a children's book. The book has been adapted to film twice by Disney, first in 1963 as The Incredible Journey then, in 1993, as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey which is only loosely based on the book.

In the story, three pets — a young Labrador retriever named Luath, an old bull terrier named Bodger, and a feisty Siamese cat name Tao — fearing they have been abandoned by a temporary caretaker, strike out to find their master, unaware returning home means traveling over 300 miles through the Canadian wilderness.

Personal

Own?	1986 mass-market.
Read?	1986 mass-market / Audiobook read by Megan Follows.
Finished	2002-10-20 / 2024-06-02.

My grandfather had recorded the 1963 movie adaption and I watched it several times with my brother and sister when I was little. It wasn't until I was an adult that I noticed the dog who plays old Bodger is female, also, the cat Tao has its name mispronounced as TAY-oh instead of the proper Tao. My mother had the book, which I put on my shelf as a child and took with me when I moved out, but it wasn't until I was in my 20s that I finally read it. I initially found it slow going, but enjoyed it by the end. I re-read it in my 40s and liked it even more.

Review

Overall:

Good

• I like the comradery between the three animals. They share food amongst themselves, are patient with each other, and tend each other's wounds.
• The description of each animal's instinct and breed particulars come up frequently, which I found enjoyable. Luath has a very hard time hunting for himself since he's been bred to retrieve without damaging, Bodger, despite his age, is a powerful fighter, and Tao is frequently stalking and killing small game.
• I like inclusion of various cultural stories, even if they're folklore rather than factual.
• Tao leaving the little girl who saved him is a touching scene, and the ending is very and emotional as well.
• The books has some nice pencil drawings by Carl Burger which help illustrate the story.

Bad

• The book has a fairly dull introduction with the humans before finally getting to the more interesting parts with the animals.
• I wish there was more description of Luath's internal conflict to leave the home in order to find his original master. He just sort of goes.
• While I like the inclusion of the of Ojibwe Indians and their myth of the white dog that tests people's compassion, I couldn't find any existence of it being a real myth. I might be wrong on this, but it appears to have been created by the author. I don't think it's proper for people to inject fake myths into other people's culture.
• The scene with the dimwitted hermit doesn't go anywhere and should have been removed.
• I prefer the 1963 film adaption where the animals accidentally break the old beaver damn rather than one upstream just happening to give way completely unrelated to Tao's crossing.
• John Longridge being able to deduce the animals left to find their way home by recalling Luath was slightly out of the ordinary the day he went hunting was a bit of a stretch. Likewise, the family choosing the correct spot to camp to intersect their traveling pets was equally unbelievable.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

• 

  Hardcover - UK - First edition.

• 

  Hardcover - USA - First edition.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	The Ojibwe crone, though a minor character, displays wisdom and compassion. The little Finnish girl who helps Tao is nice as well.
Bechdel test?	Fail	I think both the American and Finnish daughter and mother speak to each other extremely briefly, but not enough to count.
Strong person of color character?	Pass	The Ojibwe Indians, particularly the crone, feed and protect the animals proving their compassion.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

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