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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'
Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson
9 reviews
alyssapusateri's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Excrement, Racism, Racial slurs, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Alcohol and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Rape, and Vomit
siobhanward's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.0
This reminded me a lot of Cheryl Strayed's Wild , especially since both stories involved woefully unprepared women trekking out into the wilderness and somehow managing to survive (often with the help of strangers), but Strayed was just a lot more personable.
I get that these were written in very different periods, and that Strayed wrote her book at a time where we felt much more entitled to the details of strangers' lives, but Davidson really suffered from a lack of details. After reading this whole book, I still have no idea what Davidson did this - like it seems kind of wild to just do this on a whim, especially considering she had no experience, but she never talked about what made her want to do this, or even how she pulled it off. For someone with no money, she sure managed to get a lot done.
Anyway, the story is cool, it just isn't told super well - I get not wanting strangers to know details of your life, but if you're trying to capitalize on an autobiographical story, you do have to be ready to share at least some details.
I get that these were written in very different periods, and that Strayed wrote her book at a time where we felt much more entitled to the details of strangers' lives, but Davidson really suffered from a lack of details. After reading this whole book, I still have no idea what Davidson did this - like it seems kind of wild to just do this on a whim, especially considering she had no experience, but she never talked about what made her want to do this, or even how she pulled it off. For someone with no money, she sure managed to get a lot done.
Anyway, the story is cool, it just isn't told super well - I get not wanting strangers to know details of your life, but if you're trying to capitalize on an autobiographical story, you do have to be ready to share at least some details.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty
hedleyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
justmys's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was a reread for me as I slowly start to dismantle the pile of books I own (although, as I always am when I close this book "for the last time" I'm torn about removing it from my collection). I've owned this book for years, and have read it many times as a sort of comfort read. Which is funny, as it's essentially about leaving your comfort, in whatever form that may be for you, and finding your adventure in the world.
It's not a fast paced book, it meanders and muses and cuts off in different directions mid paragraph but that feels oddly apt for a story following a journey that did the same. Journeys aren't easy nor are they linear, and this book is a good example of that.
It's not a fast paced book, it meanders and muses and cuts off in different directions mid paragraph but that feels oddly apt for a story following a journey that did the same. Journeys aren't easy nor are they linear, and this book is a good example of that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Racism
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexism
yeuphemism's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
nimrodgrrrl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Animal death, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
I have quite a few reservations about this but I am still glad I read it. I was really intrigued by Davidson's journey but she's not particularly likeable which very much affected the reading experience. She came across as quite prickly and seemed to be annoyed by people who were interested in her journey, which is a strange attitude to have in a memoir. She also never explains why she wanted to do the trip in the first place and while she's perfectly entitled to keep that private, I think I would have connected to the book more if I'd known where she was coming from. Particularly in that respect, I couldn't help but compare it to Wild by Cheryl Strayed (which I loved).
However I did learn quite a bit about Australian history and it made me realise I know almost nothing about Aboriginal peoples so now I think I'll look up more books about their culture and history.
However I did learn quite a bit about Australian history and it made me realise I know almost nothing about Aboriginal peoples so now I think I'll look up more books about their culture and history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, and Racism
sophiexxjones's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
As a reader, I asked myself two questions while reading: what did she learn from the trip, and why did she do it in the first place? The first question was answered pretty easily all throughout the memoir — even before she sets off, she is already growing, changing, and learning. The second question, however, had a blurry answer. There was mentions of factors that pushed her out of society (sexism, racism, etc.) and the beauty of nature and independence that pulled her toward the trip, but I felt like I never got a straight answer as to “Why?”.
The writing style was shocking. It’s very “I did this, then I did this, then I did this,” and so on. It’s awkward and slow to read. The story itself is incredible (I cannot believe someone did that!), but it reads like a school camp recount, not a memoir.
The content in the book is also quite heavy. There are mentions of rape and sexual assault, which shows the sexist attitudes; there’s a lot of racism, including slurs (the author does not think this way, she’s writing about what others said); there’s many mentions of animal cruelty and animal death, which can be extremely upsetting to some. I had to put the book down on a few occasions because I was crying.
Honestly, if it wasn’t part of my school curriculum, I wouldn’t have finished this book. It was boring in some areas, due to the writing style, and some themes were quite confronting. Not to mention, the author has an insanely large white saviour complex throughout, making her insufferable at times. However, some of the descriptions of the Australian desert were beautifully written and the way she described and built up the people and animals in Tracks was amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Rape, and Sexual assault
christianam's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
2.5
On the one hand, I really enjoyed reading about the country she went over, anecdotes from her time, and getting to know the camels as individuals.
On the other, her trip itself takes up less than half the book (the other half is her preparations), and Robyn spends most of the time complaining. But I could probably overlook that if it wasn't for the animal abuse - despite saying how much she loves her camels and treats them "like glass" there are numerous descriptions of her beating them violently, both as punishment and just because she was angry.
Also heads up that there is quite a bit of racist language in the book - Robyn seems sympathetic (if paternalistic) to Indigenous people, as much as a white woman in the 1980s with no strong political views can be, but the racist language is definitely there.
On the other, her trip itself takes up less than half the book (the other half is her preparations), and Robyn spends most of the time complaining. But I could probably overlook that if it wasn't for the animal abuse - despite saying how much she loves her camels and treats them "like glass" there are numerous descriptions of her beating them violently, both as punishment and just because she was angry.
Also heads up that there is quite a bit of racist language in the book - Robyn seems sympathetic (if paternalistic) to Indigenous people, as much as a white woman in the 1980s with no strong political views can be, but the racist language is definitely there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Animal death
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