Joy Sorman

Is it a novel about a man's love for a trade, a piece on the language of meat, or a dissertation on an industry? Maybe some, maybe none.

This is one of those works where you're immediately wondering if the author is trying to convince you of something. If you were vegan this novel will keep you firmly vegan, assuming you make it through the dripping viscera of its bloody innards. If you're a carnivore I don't think this will nudge towards veganism or vegetarianism. Mostly I felt that this book tries to overload your senses to make a point and missing it altogether. Instead it accomplishes the same as adderall does for ADHD: it pushes you over the edge of caring and numbs you to the very effect it tries to create. This dissertation on butchery confuses litany for literature, characteristics for character and narration for narrative.

Do I like the language? Yes actually. Even with the constant summing up of things it still glides along nicely. It has that quality where you want to keep going, regardless of its content or subject matter. Quite an achievement if you consider what it's about and how it handles that about. I wish we learned more about Pim, the protagonist. Only at the very end does he make a story move that's interesting and adds depth, even though it feels tacked on.

Originally I was going to give this book 3 out of 5 stars but I have to admit to myself that I'm a negative and jaded bastard and should rate this book better than my gut feeling. I will probably read this again in a few years and I'm curious to see if I feel differently about it.… (mer)