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A review by plantbasedbride
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"The human being is the cause of all evil in this world. We are our own virus."
Tender is the Flesh is incredibly disturbing... and yet, also, in a way, mundane.
Let me explain.
While this novel seeks to explore an alternative world where human slaughter for human consumption has become the norm and to show in stark black and white (and red all over) how horrific this reality would be, the reality of the conditions the "heads" are kept in, the way they are slaughtered, and the way they are toyed with for sport, are all carbon copies of how we currently treat non-human animals considered disposable and consumable.
I wasn't shocked by what I read in this novel. I've seen slaughterhouse and factory farming footage. I know how animals are objectified and tortured for the whims of humans. This kind of horror shouldn't shock anyone. It goes on each and every day to provide the meat, special or otherwise, on your plate.
I wonder if this book would encourage anyone to consider how non-animals are treated and consider a more compassionate lifestyle. I think Agustina Bazterrica has found a clever way to highlight the cognitive dissonance so many people suffer from when it comes to the treatment of animals labeled "livestock" so as to be stripped of their individuality and right to a life free from abuse. We may love animals categorized as companions, but those who are arbitrarily assigned the label of "food" become a commodity and a possession - free to be branded, mutilated, and tortured at will.
"No one can call them humans because that would mean giving them an identity. They call them product, or meat, or food. Except for him; he would prefer not to have to call them by any name."
As this novel so viscerally points out, that distinction is meaningless.
Tender is the Flesh is incredibly disturbing... and yet, also, in a way, mundane.
Let me explain.
While this novel seeks to explore an alternative world where human slaughter for human consumption has become the norm and to show in stark black and white (and red all over) how horrific this reality would be, the reality of the conditions the "heads" are kept in, the way they are slaughtered, and the way they are toyed with for sport, are all carbon copies of how we currently treat non-human animals considered disposable and consumable.
I wasn't shocked by what I read in this novel. I've seen slaughterhouse and factory farming footage. I know how animals are objectified and tortured for the whims of humans. This kind of horror shouldn't shock anyone. It goes on each and every day to provide the meat, special or otherwise, on your plate.
I wonder if this book would encourage anyone to consider how non-animals are treated and consider a more compassionate lifestyle. I think Agustina Bazterrica has found a clever way to highlight the cognitive dissonance so many people suffer from when it comes to the treatment of animals labeled "livestock" so as to be stripped of their individuality and right to a life free from abuse. We may love animals categorized as companions, but those who are arbitrarily assigned the label of "food" become a commodity and a possession - free to be branded, mutilated, and tortured at will.
"No one can call them humans because that would mean giving them an identity. They call them product, or meat, or food. Except for him; he would prefer not to have to call them by any name."
As this novel so viscerally points out, that distinction is meaningless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent