INVISIBLE DOGS by Charles Boyle

Of the many, many awards out there, I think the Republic of Consciousness Prize might be one of my favourites. Eight years into its existence, it has unearthed more hidden gems than any other and consistently gives the Goldsmith a run for its money on innovative, left-of-centre and downright screwy lit. If the recently long listed Invisible Dogs is anything to go by, 2025 might be its best year yet.

Styled as a fragmented travelogue, this delightfully peculiar novella recounts a book tour undertaken by its author and a much more famous friend in an unnamed totalitarian country. For the most part, the oppression and claustrophobia exists in the background but for the regime’s insistence that there are no dogs in the country. Of course, the writers see dogs everywhere. But they are not allowed to mention it.

Invisible Dogs is a book sparse on detail that gives its underlying ideas room to breathe. It’s also a heck of a lot of fun. Boyle explores themes of freedom, literary success and our perceptions of reality with wry deftness and, even if it goes a little too meta near the end, I simply loved it.

#RepublicOfConsciousnessPrize

Invisible Dogs by Charles Boyle
CB Editions, 2024
111 pages