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.
More...