'Etna' author Paul Yoon on narrating war through a dog's eyes
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What is the premise of Paul Yoon’s novel *Etna* and how is the story introduced?
Hi, I'm Alyssa Nadworny, and you're listening to Enpier's Book of the Day. The new novel Aetna is about a war hero who is a dog. It's told from the first person, so from the perspective of Aetna, the dog, he's survived a war and heads out on a journey to return to his home. Even though Paul Yoon's main character is a bomb-sniffing canine, the themes of humanity, rebuilding, and the enduring trauma of war feel relatable to pretty much any species. Yoon spoke with weekend edition Scott Simon.
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Hold Yoon's new novel is a kind of contemporary Odyssey, except the central character is a dog. It becomes part of a war. in an unnamed country. He sniffs out bombs to save lives, he sinks his teeth into enemies, makes alliances, loses friends, and goes on. And he is the narrator of his own story. Etna is the name of the dog and the new novel by Paul Yoon.
How does Etna get recruited for war and what does the mysterious woman promise him?
He's a twenty twenty one Guggenheim fellow and the author of six books of fiction and joins us from Hudson, New York. Thanks so much for being with us. Thanks, Scott. It's such a pleasure to be here. I'm so happy to be with you. We're happy to have you. How does Aetna get recruited, if that's quite the word?
Yeah, no, I think that is the word. He's a little pup in a fictional country on the coast. He sort of he's on a farm, he's living on happily on a farm with other animals and other dogs and his mom and his siblings and one day He sort of senses a change in the air, so to speak, and um a woman, a mysterious woman, comes to the farm. and says that she's looking for dogs to join her and her army for a coming war. And before he knows it, he's lifted up. and hurried into her truck. And he's gone, and so it happens pretty fast.
She tells uh Etna you're going to work hard and save a lot of lives. I found myself very touched by that.
Yeah, absolutely. And uh and you know, he's so young and he's
What is the nature of Etna’s relationship with his handler Jason and how does it evolve?
He's really disoriented at this point, and he's never been in a car before, and so He doesn't know what's going on. And I think there's a future laid out for him in that moment when she says that. But You know, for him at that moment it's hard for him to process it 'cause he's so scared and uh And alone and I think missing his mother and his siblings on the farm.
He forms a particular relationship too with Jason, his uh human comrade.
Yes, his handler,
yes, exactly. I didn't want to say handler, it sounded cold.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. They are comrades. I mean Oh, absolutely. They're comrades. I think they grow to rely on each other. They grow to protect each other and to be willing to give their lives for each other. Part of it is that when he was sort of taken away from his original family.
What does the novel reveal about the daily realities of combat through Etna’s perspective?
Jason and and his fellow dogs and his entire unit becomes a n a new family, so to speak, as the war goes on. And so he's really, really connected to Jason. Who's always by his side?
Let me ask you to read a section and this is tough stuff.
Yeah, absolutely. Here we go. We worked and fought all over the country. We walked and ran and trekked and rode in trucks and jumped through open and broken windows. And we climbed and ascended and we lived almost every day with explosions and gunfire and houses falling. And buildings falling, and everywhere fire, and bodies on fire, and the earth breaking and breaking deeper. And Jason and Brian and all the men we were with killed other men and sometimes animals. And I killed, and the other dogs killed. We lost men. We lost dogs. We slept when and where we could And some nights when it was safe and silent, we watched the men build their own fires on top of the earth that had already been burned by fires.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the premise of Paul Yoon’s novel *Etna* and how is the story introduced?
0:02–1:40
2
How does Etna get recruited for war and what does the mysterious woman promise him?
1:40–2:49
3
What is the nature of Etna’s relationship with his handler Jason and how does it evolve?
2:49–3:43
4
What does the novel reveal about the daily realities of combat through Etna’s perspective?
3:43–5:07
5
What insights about the senselessness and endurance of war does a dog narrator provide?
5:07–6:32
6
What challenges did Paul Yoon face writing from a non‑human point of view?
6:32–7:45
7
How does Etna learn the importance of a pack and what does it say about community in war?
7:45–8:04
8
What final reflections does Paul Yoon share about *Etna* and its themes?
8:04–8:08
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from NPR's Book of the Day
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