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Following is a discussion question from the author for the December 2014 book of the month, "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein.

In the book, we get glimpses into the mindset and mentality of a race car driver. What parallels can you think of between the art of racing and the art of living?

I think there are so many. It is an awesome metaphor. That is what I like most about this book!

What do you think?

To me, there are many parallels, yet in a way, there aren't. I can see how the sense of having to, paraphrasing Denny loosely, drive into the corners in just the right way that you'd only know if you've done it a lot before spoke to me big time. To me, it stands to believe that you've got to do the same in life. You have to dive right in, in just the right way, so that you can make it out alive. One wrong move and you're toast, so you have to NOT make it many times before you can make it.

I agree that it was a great and well articulated metaphor. I enjoyed gaining some perspective on a world that I knew close to nothing about.

Similar to racing, many people in life go as hard and fast as they can to make it to a finish line (career, family, money) and burn out in the end. Race car drivers live in the now, and are focused on the car immediately to their front and back, and although they are working on a goal (winning) they can't go any faster than they are already going.

Life is similar in the fact that many "get rich quick schemes" and "lose 10 pounds in a day" can make us want to be like the race car driver and go hard and fast to reach the goal. And like race car drivers experience, life can be full of "crashes."

Many people refer to life as a road or race. Numerous songs, books, movies, and poems have all been published using the metaphor. The analogy of the race car driver can be applied to someone who is focused on a goal and is determined to get there in the shortest amount of time possible. Race car drivers also have to be able to anticipate changes (a driver pulling out in front of them for example) and in life we try to anticipate changes - like promotions, or job loss, etc. and not let it lead us into a "crash." However, sometimes we can't see it coming and do "crash" like the race car driver whose reflexes don't respond as quickly as he needs.
The race car analogy can also work in the sense that a driver who keeps winning races gets to move from race to race until he ends up in the world cup or whatever their top race is (I don't follow race car driving). And in life if we want "success" we try to win each race - for example have the highest SAT score possible to get a scholarship to the best school, graduate with honors, to be selected for the best job, get the promotion, etc.

The Art of Racing in the Rain seems like a good analogy of the Art of Living. Rain is an impediment to a race car driver, a challenge he has to overcome to finish and possibly win the race. He has to anticipate the ways in which his usual car ride is going to change. Same is true in real life. There are many obstacles in life that you have to foresee and overcome to live a life you dream of. These obstacles and the manner in which we overcome them define who we are as a person.

This stuck out to me because like racing, we tend to live our lives at a fast pace. We have to live our lives determining the sped of which we choose to go.

I think one of the best metaphors is that there seems to always be another turn to take until we either crash or finish the race. Enzo seems to constantly be telling a story that has major turns, some that seem analogous to taking a turn to quickly or things in life that just come up too fast that even drivers may not be prepared for. I also like that in the ending Enzo is told by Denny that "it's okay, he can go" which sort of feels like Denny telling Enzo that he can race into the next life happily having finished his race or life rather as Dennys companion.

For me the metaphors were abundant in this story. One of the big ones that I noticed was that we are in charge of our destinies. We have to look to where we are going and not to where we have been. Instead of life happening to us we have to take charge and drive into the race because if we react to the track we have already lost. So before we start the race we have to drive it ourselves.

For me, the author used the to describe the life or living in a form of racing in the car. Sometime during I read this book I bit confuse if the dog is or person/child. But in all the book is great I rate it 5 over 5.

In a way, much of life is a race. Either against the others competing or against yourself. We try to better ourselves (or our record time). Life is a slow race towards death.In that case, the winner is getting the shaft.

What I like about the racing/life metaphor is the idea of controlling chaos. Life, like racing, may be on the brink of spinning out of control, and if it does, you're toast. Holding onto control, whether driving around corners at high speeds or dealing with tragedy and confusion in life, comes from lessons carefully learned and a lot of practice. Learn how to do it, do it a million times and million more, and then you might be able to make it through the real test when it comes.

I enjoyed reading this book. I came to know about many things about which I did not know anything, after reading this book. There are indeed many parallels that can be easily drawn from the book.

In Garth Stein's The Art of Racing within the Rain, what's the metaphoric which means of the second paragraph in Chapter three as to what is essential to a racecar driving force? What are the implications of Enzo's insights into existence as he talks about riding?

In the second one paragraph of Chapter three in Garth Stein's The Art of Racing within the Rain, the extended metaphor that relays recommendation approximately driving immediately parallels Enzo's own view of a dog's afterlife and of steps had to take to attain the afterlife.One of the maximum essential detailsin the metaphor is Denny's explanation that racecar drivers should force "having no reminiscence" of even things executed handiest a second previous no matter.