The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter
Wangerin
Excellent Book
Walter Wangerins profound fantasy concerns a time when the sun turned
around the earth and the animals could speak, when Chauntecleer the
Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceful kingdom. What the animals did
not know was that they were the Keepers of Wyrm, monster of evil long
imprisoned beneath the earth ... and Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free.
Personal Review: The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin
Winner of the 1980 National Book Award in the category of Science Fiction
(soft cover division), Walter Wangerin, Jr.'s The Book of the Dun Cow, is a
work like no other.
In a fanciful plot set-up where the sun revolves around the earth, thereby
enabling the animal inhabitants to have a humanness and clarity of voice,
thought and feeling all their own, life is as it is for all human beings in

present day times: work, family, eating, play time, et cetera. But with the
casual facade of everydayness, the animal citizens of the coop and of the
fertile land which they occupy, there is something evil and unloosening
hidden deep in the crust of the earth and yet slowly trying to break free and
unleash an apocalyptic nightmare beyond the scope of their thinking
prowess.
The dark force is Wyrm, and his leader minion is Cockatrice, along with his
vile helpers, the serpent-like Basilisks. But for every evil creature, there is
the good warrior against evil, starting with the lead rooster, keeper of the
coop, Chauntecleer and his band of animal citizens: Pertelote,
Chauntecleer's wife, Tick-tock, the black ant, Beryl, the nanny hen to
Chauntecleer's three children, Mundo Cani Dog, a drifter animal whose
sacrifice is the climax of the whole story, to a whole bombardment of other
animal characters who play a vital role to the defeat of evil and livelihood of
peace and tranquility.
With each passing chapter, the intensity of realization of what the animals
must confront, in conjunction with the Lord of Heaven darkening the skys
in order to open the animal's eyes conveys an unspoken terror that all
living things have a purpose which thus leads to choices: good or evil. The
Book of the Dun Cow states that message in no uncertain terms, and its
affect is chilling, for evil must be pushed down and stopped, and the
destiny of those chosen to do that is more-often-than-not less than
desirable, at best.
Walter Wangerin, Jr., a Protestant minister and family man knows
Scripture well, and he is able to convey it in a manner of not just simplicity
but in the commonness of everyday living, paying bills, watching the kids,
going to work...His message, in the framework of a science fiction novel,
offers something accessible yet honest: Truth and all the baggage that
goes along with it.
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