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leemac027's review
3.0
Esther Woolfson has written a thought-provoking book on our relationship with the animal kingdom. How we regard them, worship them, represent them in art and culture, consume them, destroy their habitats, eat them, and fantasize them in stories and in imagery.
She traces these relationships across millennia, and it is an interesting read but one where you will probably need a dictionary by your side. Woolfson is clearly very highly educated but the average reader may not immediately be able to associate with descriptions that include words such as commensalism, chthonic and interstadials.
So not a book to curl up on the couch with on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Her call for the ethical treatment of animals is one that should be heard but her turn of phrase and use of vocabulary may put people off and thus her message may not get through to the majority - a missed opportunity?
She traces these relationships across millennia, and it is an interesting read but one where you will probably need a dictionary by your side. Woolfson is clearly very highly educated but the average reader may not immediately be able to associate with descriptions that include words such as commensalism, chthonic and interstadials.
So not a book to curl up on the couch with on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Her call for the ethical treatment of animals is one that should be heard but her turn of phrase and use of vocabulary may put people off and thus her message may not get through to the majority - a missed opportunity?
nutfreenerd's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
booktoilandtrouble's review
4.0
Partly bought this book for the cover. Not going to lie! I have a love of birds on covers.
At its core, this book is concerned with animal ethics and human-animal relationships throughout history - something I have great interest in. Facts are interspersed with personal memories of the author and her animals, which I loved; it added a personal touch to an otherwise academic text. Woolfson focuses on specific ideas per chapter, and I was glued to every page. I'd describe this as a collection of ideas rather than a development of ideas, mind you.
If you've read Timothy Morton, or know anything about ecology (something I studied for a whole semester of uni, luckily), you'll understand and fly through this. Otherwise, you may need to go slowly. Woolfson's writing isn't filled with absolutely impossible jargon and she does explain some terms, so it's accessible enough for those inexperienced with academia. If you're in the ecology or animal rights space, you'll definitely recognise some of the names in here.
However, sometimes I got lost or the sentence structure hindered me, which is my reasoning for a lost star. I also wanted her to discuss taxidermy more, but that's a personal critique.
At its core, this book is concerned with animal ethics and human-animal relationships throughout history - something I have great interest in. Facts are interspersed with personal memories of the author and her animals, which I loved; it added a personal touch to an otherwise academic text. Woolfson focuses on specific ideas per chapter, and I was glued to every page. I'd describe this as a collection of ideas rather than a development of ideas, mind you.
If you've read Timothy Morton, or know anything about ecology (something I studied for a whole semester of uni, luckily), you'll understand and fly through this. Otherwise, you may need to go slowly. Woolfson's writing isn't filled with absolutely impossible jargon and she does explain some terms, so it's accessible enough for those inexperienced with academia. If you're in the ecology or animal rights space, you'll definitely recognise some of the names in here.
However, sometimes I got lost or the sentence structure hindered me, which is my reasoning for a lost star. I also wanted her to discuss taxidermy more, but that's a personal critique.
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