The World of Lonely Dog

Chaos theory says that a tiny and seemingly insignificant event can be the catalyst for something huge and different to happen.

A butterfly could flap its wings, creating the breeze necessary to spark a hurricane. In a way, this is how the world of Lonely Dog came about … except it was more from a wag of a tail than a flap of a wing.

Ivan Clarke was a landscape artist living in Queenstown. He was successful, too, with one critic in the late 1990s saying, ‘His paintings are like a vehicle for the imagination, a place the mind can rest or stray a while.’

Ten years ago, Ivan thought he’d have a crack at drawing the family dog: a dachshund (a.k.a. a sausage dog). In that original painting, Ivan allowed his own imagination to go on a ride.

The plain family hound was portrayed standing up, looking thoughtfully into the distance and wearing a hip blue suit and dark sunglasses. This painting sparked a handful of stories that he would tell his kids (and being teenagers they demanded a bit of action, hence the motorbikes, music, and political angst we’ll encounter shortly), as well as more paintings. Thus, the imaginary world of Lonely Dog began to take shape.

‘I have a gallery here in Queenstown and I introduced the Lonely Dog paintings,’ Ivan says. ‘They took off. So much so that that gallery is now pretty much all Lonely Dog artwork.’

To say they ‘took off’ isn’t an exaggeration. Ivan’s gallery has become something of an iconic destination for international travellers, with notable VIP tourists making visits. Multi-Oscar Award winner Sir Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop was so enamoured by the paintings that he came on board to produce bronze sculptures of Lonely Dog and his companions.

With this growing interest in the fanciful world of Lonely Dog, Ivan realised it was time to flesh out the characters and build a story that could further capture imaginations. So he got on the phone to childhood friend Stu Duval, who had become an accomplished author and storyteller, inviting him to help flesh out and articulate the Lonely Dog character and his world.

So, did Stu capture the vision like everyone else had? Well, not exactly. ‘I’m not a dog lover by any means,’ Stu confesses. ‘I don’t like dogs at all, to be honest. When [Ivan] first rang up and told me about these characters, I thought, “Gee, I don’t really know if I’m your man. I don’t have that affinity with what you’re talking about.” ’

Two things dramatically diffused this initial hesitation for Stu. Firstly, a trip to Queenstown from his Auckland home, to view for himself the extent of the Lonely Dog artwork. There were immaculate paintings, sculptures, a novelette and even an actual replica of Alveridge Hall, one of Ivan’s imagined and painted buildings, built by an American millionaire who’d also caught the Lonely Dog bug.

The second hook for Stu was music. The artwork portrayed Lonely Dog as a blues singer/songwriter with a guitar slung across his back. To Stu, Lonely Dog seemed like a make-believe Dylan or Springsteen, and the world surrounding Lonely Dog as ‘The Wind in the Willows meets Woodstock’.

From here on, Stu was sold. Likewise, for the reader, it’s this multi-faceted world of Lonely Dog that makes the novel so engaging for such a wide audience. Although Ivan says they were ‘just writing a story of cats and dogs’, the story and its characters take readers far deeper than this simple explanation suggests. So let’s explore that storyline a little …

The story of Lonely Dog

Lonely Dog is an orphaned pup named Arthur Snout, given the nickname ‘Lonely’ because of his inability to fit in. Compared to other hounds at the orphanage, he is described by school headmaster Rolph Flanagan as short and ‘all ears and all snout’.

On top of this, Lonely is a loner. He’s a shy dog who finds solace in climbing trees and making music.

Lonely lives in a town called Port Alveridge. Unlike any other town in the land of Alveridgea, this town is home not only to hounds but also to cats. With an apartheid-type mentality, the cats are the rich ruling class and the hounds the lower working class. Needless to say, they don’t get along well.

As Lonely grows up, tensions between the cats and hounds grow to fever pitch and, almost by chance, Lonely is thrust into the middle of the struggle.

When the few loving people in his life are suddenly taken from him, music becomes Lonely’s means of escape. He sings about his troubles and his hope for a better world. Eventually, his fame as a musician spreads and others (cats and hounds) are inspired to reach for that better world.

The question, of course, is whether that better world will come about, or whether the evil feline forces will prevent it. And even if it does come about, will the longings in Lonely’s own heart be met?

Lonely dog blues

On top of Lonely’s musical talents, each chapter of the book opens with a piece of lyrical brilliance from songs written by Stu (and attributed to various fictitious hound musical legends, including Lonely Dog himself). ‘I had the most fun writing this whole fictitious back catalogue of folk, blues and rock music,’ admits Stu. ‘Creating that was a hoot.’

Ivan professes to be a bit of a backyard muso himself and says that the inclusion of music in the Lonely Dog world caused him to explore its characters further. ‘Dogs clanging away on a guitar, a few cool riffs, and industrial looking hounds playing heavy metal appeal to me. I’d like to meet those characters. So we went off into our imaginations and we pulled them out.’

Missin’ Tooth Memphis, Buckshot Huxley and Van Trong are some of the wonderful hound musos that feature. And Stu and Ivan have created such an immense network of Alveridgea music history—including entire genres and even the story of how the jukebox was invented—that Stu’s earlier comparisons with Woodstock are certainly justified.

All that awaits now for the Lonely Dog art spectrum to be complete is (aside from a movie) a collection of great blues, rock and folk musicians to put Stu’s lyrics to music (and New Zealand’s Derek Lind has actually already begun the process).

Political parallels

Woodstock’s 1969 motto was ‘Three Days of Peace and Music’. We’ve talked about the music parallels between Alveridgea and the iconic music festival, but the two share similar political undertones about the quest for peace as well.

Ivan points out that many readers compare the struggle between cats and dogs in the novel to the racial tension of the 1960s human rights movement. It also bears resemblance to South Africa in the 1990s and even the re-uniting of Germany in 1989.

‘Imagine the fall of the Berlin wall,’ says Ivan, ‘there had to be some brave heroes that day. The ones who took the first steps [over the wall] and—on the opposing side—the ones who had to make the decision not to oppose. [Without these heroes] life just would have continued on as it always had in its ugly way. It took a lot of guts that day to take those first steps.’

So, too, in the novel, we see a small, shy Lonely Dog, armed with just a guitar, stepping up to do his part to help liberate the hounds from their moggy oppressors. How he goes about this is significant. It’s a peaceful revolution. For, in the vein of a Martin Luther King or a Nelson Mandela, Lonely doesn’t just want freedom for the hounds; he seeks to unite cats and dogs despite their differences. Inspirational stuff.

Messianic messages

Ivan and Stu both point out that there are probably as many morals and parallels in the novel as there are readers, with each person mixing their own experiences with those of Lonely. But there is one more key parallel that Stu raises. 

‘Lonely is the dog around which the story pivots,’ Stu explains. ‘He’s what I call the Christ-like figure. His birth is significant—his growing up and the things that he does change the world around him. He’s there when big events happen, and he’s the catalyst for those events.’

Unlike Jesus Christ, Lonely isn’t aware of his crucial role in history. As Stu points out, ‘All he wants to do is play music and follow his dream, but he captures up others in that dream.’ Just by doing what he was born to do, Lonely acts the role of saviour for a community, inspiring readers to do what they can to bring about a better world.

‘All the guys involved in [the Lonely Dog] project are believers,’ says Stu. ‘We have that undercurrent of belief. We never set out to write it as a parallel of Christ, but those things are evident.’

As a professional storyteller, Stu loves stories that take people on a roller coaster of human emotions. ‘I want the reader to feel that they’ve been swept along with Lonely, experiencing his pain, joy, frustrations and ultimately his success,’ he says.

‘The one thing I would want the reader to come away with is hope. Hope that you can go from the gutter to glory. That is the Bible story in a nutshell. God takes us from the gutter and imbues us with destiny. He leads us into hope. He has a plan for us and he knows that plan. Although [that plan] goes through valleys and mountains, ultimately it is for good and not for evil. And that is the underlying theme of the story.’

By Hayden Shearmen (abridged from War Cry, Christmas 2012, p 5-7)

Bringing Lonely Dog to Life

Novel: Alveridgea and the Legend of the Lonely Dog (released Aug 2012).
Collector’s Books: Almalogue (leather hand-bound collections of paintings, character back stories, fictitious newspaper clippings, and ‘found’ Alveridge artefacts).
Artwork: Available at several NZ galleries, including Ivan Clarke’s Gallery, 35 Camp St, Queenstown (ivanclarkegallery.com), and a Lonely Dog Gallery at 10 Customs St East, Britomart, Auckland CBD.
Sculptures: Limited edition bronze sculptures made by Richard Taylor (Weta Workshop) of Lonely Dog and his fellow characters.
Facebook: facebook.com/thelonelydog
Web: lonelydog.com

Giveaway

War Cry has two copies of Alveridgea & The Legend of the Lonely Dog to give away. To win, tell us your favourite childhood story.

War Cry Giveaway, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wgtn 6141 or email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org. Entries close 7 Jan.