Book Review: Tongue Tied

 Image: The cover of the book is a light sky blue. Across the top in two lines taking up almost half of the cover is the title "Tongue-Tied" in a tangled pink bubble like script font. Below that is a white dialogue bubble with the point to the left of the upper title. Inside in black letters with cracks resembling a cracked window is "Breaking the language barrier to animal liberation." In the bottom right corner is a white thought bubble with the smaller bubbles decreasing towards the lower corner. Inside is the author's name in small pink print.

Going into Hạnh Nguyên's "Tongue-Tied: Breaking the Language Barrier to Animal Liberation," I expected a book that would lean to the academic side of things. While it does have academic aspects, it is clear that Nguyên intended to write this book for a wide variety of audiences- including those who may be new to the idea of animal liberation. While I am pretty far away from my pre-vegan days, I do think Nguyên succeeded in this. This is no easy feat. Quite often I will find a book is all introductory or all highly specialized discussion. Yet, Tongue-Tied manages to pack a lot of information for several audiences into a small space. I suppose one could even call it a well-researched manifesto on the importance of language and inclusion of who she calls other-than-human animals. Nguyên's writing style really appealed to me and I found myself breezing through what could easily become a cumbersome topic. This book manages to make very strong, direct, unapologetic statements about these subjects without assuming that the reader has a PhD in animal studies. I am sure that, as a 14 year vegan who has read a lot on these themes, I may grasp it better than someone new to it all. But, I do think a wide variety of people could read and enjoy this. Even before I had finished it, I decided I was going to add it to my repertoire of books that I recommend to those new to the ideas of animal and collective liberation.

Nguyên starts us off with some history about herself and a brief linguistic and philosophical history of human interaction with other animals. Here and throughout the book, she effectively argues the extreme importance of language in the fight for animal liberation- including humans. Humans can and have weaponized language against other animals, allowing us to obscure who they are by labeling them as products, possessions, fashion accessories, test objects, entertainment attractions, and other forms of exploitation and oppression they face. Nguyên also discusses how animality has been used in conjunction with other methods in order to oppress marginalized humans on the basis of disability. gender, race, class, national origin, and other facets. The author herself is a Vietnamese American "third culture kid" who has unique experiences in both USAmerican culture and Vietnamese culture. She utilizes this well to discuss many human-other animal interactions and relationships that aren't often highlighted in texts about animal liberation and linguistics.
 
Nguyên is also adept at discussing how both animal rights or other advocates for animals AND those who don't follow this path hold speciesist views, use speciesist language, and make many mistakes regarding interaction with other-than-human animals. Because I bookmarked about 1/3-1/2 of the pages in this book, it would be impossible to add all of the quotes I admired to this review. This one captures an important point for those who seek to ally themselves with other animals: "Other than human animals are the owners of their experiences; they are the protagonists of their stories... When we stop characterizing other animals as "voiceless," we can properly reposition ourselves as their allies." When we refer to other animals as a homogenous voiceless group, we take away their already existing collective and individual voices. She explains how doing things like describing animals by instinct and reproduction erases their relations with one another. We often describe the same behavior in humans as completely devoid of choice and emotion and other animals- a huge pet peeve of mine when I read books about other animals written by journalists or scientists who obviously have not seen other animals as much more than things. She also makes a very important point about fighting "animal cruelty." In fighting only the most severe forms of cruelty, we still support the idea that the exploitation itself is defensible provided it is "humane," which often just means "slightly less horrible." Non-advocates and welfarists are known for doing this, but many other more radical animal advocates contribute to this idea as well.

The author explains very well her reasoning for using language about other animals that emphasizes their individual personhood. While she is direct and firm, she does not beat the reader over the head with things. The book inspires critical thinking, questioning, and experimentation. She is also very aware of the shortcomings of humans interpreting for or writing about other animals, even when we do try to implement these things:

"Each person's story is known to them, if no one else. It is a rather unsettling realization: that human perception and understanding are not required for an other than human person to exist and persist or for their subjective experience to be extraordinary - that without any need to be seen and known by a human or validated by human constructs of reality, other than human animals continue to live with meaning and purpose."

Nguyên wraps the book up with an excellent summary of her thoughts and arguments. This book was fairly short, but has given me an immense amount to think about regarding my interactions with and how I think about other animals. There is so much more than is in this review and it was very difficult to choose which quotes to select or what to focus on because the entire book is full of fantastic, thought provoking, and important information.

This summary is followed by an unexpected set of portraits of other-than-human animals she has encountered throughout her life. It took me off guard as I looked through the images of everyone from animals at sanctuaries to her personal companions. I found myself in tears, practically sobbing by the end of the images when we meet a rat (or possibly a mouse) without a name who has sacrificed so much and that the author expresses desire to have known. I am currently providing end-of-life care to a rat with an advanced pituitary tumor while I was reading this book, have lost one other rat and dog of about 15 years within the past year, and have been exposed to massive amounts of loss, cruelty, and exploitation of other animals. Those undoubtedly played a part in my emotional response. At the same time, I found this to be an extremely creative way of approaching a conclusion. It really brought everything full circle- the individual personhood of other animals, their inherent existence for their own reasons, the important places they hold in our lives, the effects they have on every aspect of humanity, and how very serious and urgent an issue this is. It can be quite overwhelming when we try to wrap our heads around numbers in the trillions of animals killed per year for food alone. But, when we look at each individual, our human minds can grasp who this is happening to and this creates an understanding that is critical.  

I cannot recommend this book enough. It is fairly accessible, informative, passionate, well written, rational without being cold, emotional without being hyperbolic, and most importantly, it brings new ideas to the conversation.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Note: I made the mistake of writing this review first in blogger instead of a word processor. As a result, while editing, I lost a large chunk of my review and blogger autosaved the draft. I tried to rewrite it, but it's still shorter and pieces are still missing. I will update this review if I can remember them.

Book Review: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Image: The cover of the book is a graphic illustration with bold colors composing the trunks of trees or possibly vines with small, short, pointed branches or thorns sticking out of them. The 10 lines making up the trunks are mostly of similar size. 6 are all black and 4 are pink on the bottom and black on top. The background is a cerulean blue. On the second tree from the left, in small script, is the worlds "a novel" in white. The next trunk over has "drive your plow over" in larger white letters. The next two lines have "Olga" and "Tokarczuk" in capital black letters on the pink sections and "the bones" on the white section. The next over has small pink letters too small for me to read. The next trunk has "of the dead." There is a gold nobel prize stamp on the upper right corner.

It will be difficult to review Olga Tokarczuk's "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" without giving spoilers, but I am going to do my best. I chose this book because I saw others on my feed rating it highly, but I went into it only really knowing that it was a small Polish town murder mystery. I didn't know ahead of time that the author was a vegan feminist. I was pleasantly surprised, as the book progressed, to see speciesism, sexism/mysogyny, ageism, ableism, and other oppression as themes central to the novel. They are themes pleasantly smashed into bits by the novel's protagonist. It feels somewhat odd to call a murder mystery "pleasant," but this book was truly a joy to experience.

Not only did Tokarczuk include feminism, animal liberation, etc in her story, her story was well researched. I enjoyed the mentions of the very long and interesting history of consideration for animals within social and legal realms going back centuries. Most people don't know about this history. There were times were certain animals were given (likely quite unfair) trials and appointed attorneys (and sometimes won) their court cases. There have been a large variety of ways that humans have interacted with various species over time. I think we often learn about animals suffering immensely in current society and captivity and we tend to think it has always been that way. Some even think things have gotten better for animals over time which, in the big picture (most mammals in the entire world for instance, are farmed animals, followed by humans) they have certainly not. The history is more complicated, ever changing.

The biggest things that stand out in this novel for me is that the murder mystery is only really a small part of the story. It is mostly about our vegetarian astrologist narrator, Janina and her musings on the world. She is a not-young woman (to be honest, I never know what words to use anymore, but basically she is old enough to be called an "old woman" pejoratively often.) She suffers from chronic illness, much of which as a mystery, echoing the worldwide issues with womens healthcare. She is outspoken about her beliefs but also has the cooperative nature of someone living in a small town with rough, cold terrain. She still uses some animal products throughout the book, but seems like the type of vegetarian that would go vegan (in whatever ways were possible and practicable for her) in a heartbeat after having a conversation with someone who explaineddairy, egg, down feather, etc sources to her. She is human and imperfect like all of us, but immensely likable, relatable, and interesting. She has an appreciation and adoration of other animals that she expresses widely to the people she interacts with. Most of all, it's about Janina not being taken seriously, especially by the men around her. She is called crazy and dismissed due to her gender, age, love for animals, and outspoken nature. We eventually learn that the community refusing to take her seriously and see her as a valuable member of their community (despite her constant care taking and helping others) is one of the main reasons they can't solve the case. Janina helps us figure out and understand what happens over time, and the big reveal in the ending is very rewarding.

I adored this book as a vegan feminist but also as someone who enjoys good writing. Many books include great themes, but lack decent plot or writing. Some books with wonderful writing have horrific mistreatment and misunderstanding of marginalized people. This book excels in both arenas. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

This was also posted to my goodreads. 

Book Review: Catch and Kill

Image: The cover of the book is a black background with blocky, solid illustrations and letters in white and/or red. Across the top is small red letters it says "new york times bestseller." Under that in very large white letters, each word on a new line, is "Catch and kill." Next to that in small red letters is "Lies, Spies, and a conspiracy to protect predators." Under and to the left of the title is a large cutout of a red hand that is sewing shut a pair of cutout white and grey lips. Below that is the author's name- Ronan Farrow- in white letters and below that in smaller red letters is, "winner of the pulitzer prize."

Content warning: this review has many direct mentions of many kinds of sexual and other violence, but no graphic descriptions.

I followed many of the sexual misconduct news stories around when the events in Ronan Farrow's "Catch and Kill" took place. The words "sexual misconduct" feel inappropriate to use as they make it seem more acceptable than it is. I understand the use of these words both as a method to cover a wide range of offenses and also perhaps to reduce the triggering effects of more intense words like rape. It is difficult to know exactly what words to use. I know this may seem like I am getting hung up of words, but this book taught me how serious words can be in these situations. Catch and Kill chronicles not only a movement to expose sexually violent men in media industries, but also just how rampant and terrifying interwoven sexual violence, power differentials, intimidation, stalking, libel, and other ways of literally destroying the careers and lives of women is a central part of many media industries. 

I knew that the vast amount of rape and other forms of sexual violence and intimidation at the hands of Harvey Weinstein and others like him were horrific, widespread, and hidden for a long time. What I did not know is what they and those who tried to expose these things went through after the initial events of sexual violence. It is infuriating and terrifying just how hard Ronan Farrow had to work to get these womens stories out there. While Farrow constantly repeats that he wants the story to be about the women and not him, it is clear that compassionate reporters must also be included in the pile of victims of these powerful, criminal men and all the men (and some women) who fight to protect them. It is clear that a great many reporters before Farrow were never able to publish their findings due to pay offs, intimidation, stalking, threats, and a climate of terror that was created by rapists and their protectors. Farrow himself mentions going into the fight thinking it would be stressful, but laughing it off when an informant told him he should consider getting a gun or some form of protection. By the end, he was no longer laughing. The sheer amount of harassment, intimidation, homophobia, misogyny, stalking, threats, loss, and everything else Farrow had to power through just to get this story out is immense. I kept asking myself, "How many more women did this happen to after every survivor, whistleblower, and journalist was intimidated and threatened into silence? How many artists did we lose? How many women could have become more prolific in their fields had they not been privately and publicly destroyed by these campaigns to silence them after they experienced sexual violence?"

I am not going to list everything that happens in detail for a couple of reasons. The first is that so many things happened that I don't think I can accurately summarize it in a review that remains reasonably short enough for its purposes. Second, I want everyone to read this book. It not only contains important information, but it is written and presented very well. I found myself completely immersed in the same ways I would reading a well written thriller or watching an exciting series. Not only do we get to dive deep into the occurrences around a long history of attempts and failures to expose sexual violence in and around media industries, we get to be entertained in the process. I use the word "entertained" because I couldn't think of another, but let me be clear. I don't mean that this is a fun read. I mean that it is an immersing, well written, exciting and terrifying account of real events.

Despite how well composed and exciting the book was, it was incredibly difficult to get through at times. Farrow manages to highlight these womens struggles in ways that were so realistic and accurate. So often in stories of sexual violence, there is an image created of the perfect virgin Mary type of victim and the horrible evil love wolf perpetrator because human beings tend to like binaries and black and white representations. They like stories that are easy to comprehend and they like villains that seem to be of a world outside their own. The problem is that these false representations make it all that much easier for people like Weinstein to use all of his resources to malign his victims publicly. Oh, this woman was possibly a sex worker and this woman had a lot of sex and this woman was flirtatious and this woman acted like this and this woman is just plain crazy. The truth of the matter is that rape and sexual violence happens to people- real people with real diverse struggles and histories. It happens at the hands of people we love, know, trust, and look up to. In fact, most violence happens at the hands of people we know, not strangers. 

Some survivors of sexual violence do everything in their power to find some way to avoid what happened being real. This can result in a variety of responses including continued association with the aggressor. Furthermore, when someone's entire career or their life itself is dependent upon her silence, then it is not surprising at all that she may remain silent. Those things are coping mechanisms of people facing aggressors without the kind of resources and power Weinstein had. Adding the power into the mix makes it all the more terrifying. The women who chose to come forward astounded me and undoubtedly saved many women that could have come after them. Now, I want to be clear, victims are not at fault for any victims that may suffer after them (unless they voluntarily become a honeypot or something.) But, one survivor of sexual violence at the hands of Matt Lauer mentions that many women before her likely fear for the women to come after them and that she felt the same about women that could be hurt after her. It captures the reality of how the actual aggressors and ones with the most power not only get away with sexual violence, but they also manage to place all responsibility for their actions onto their victims. Not only are survivors of said violence struggling with the violence itself, they rack their brains looking for what they did wrong and what will happen as a result of their actions. This is one of the ways that sexual violence creates a particularly vast power dynamic. 

I could go on and on about this topic, but others have said many things I could say already. I want to also echo Ronan Farrow in hopes that the womens struggles and stories will remain at the center of this story. The greater the power dynamic, be it socially, physically, financially, professionally, or in other dimensions, the more possibility there is for struggle and damage. This story involves extreme events in a setting that completely normalized them to the point that some people, mostly but not all men, saw it as just a necessary facet of the industry. Through the courage of survivors and related people who came forward knowing they could or would lose everything and the journalists like Farrow that were willing to go against intimidation by almost everyone they knew, a vast realm of abuses was exposed and consequences finally took place. It was not and will never be enough to make up for what happened. But, there are successes and when people can fight, they can win. As far as I am concerned, Catch and Kill should be read by everyone- both for the story itself and the far reaching implications of what happens in stories like this. I don't have a witty sentence to end this with as my mind is still reeling. Just go read it.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

 

Book Review: Underland

 

Image: The cover of the book is a brightly multicolored illustration of a tunnel like shape surrounded by trees. The end of the path is yellow moving back into red, and then multiple layered chaotic colors. The top half is covered by leafless tree silhouettes. Each tree silhouette is a different bright color. The ground is a painterly mix of black, reds, greens, and yellows mostly whereas the sky is a mixture of blues and purples. Across the center of the book is the word "underland" in large block white letters, divining the word in half on separate lines. Below that in small letters is the byline. Below that in slightly larger letters is the author's name. Below that in very small letters is a reviewer quote too small to read. Along the right side of the cover is a red stripe with white letters saying "national bestseller."

We are living in a time where a great many of us worldwide are physically distancing ourselves from the rest of the world if we're not forced out as an essential worker. (About that: I already believed food/service workers, delivery persons, medical staff, and so on were critical to my existence, but now I hope we'll do something to honor these people for being damned superheroes out their risking their lives to literally save ours.) Those of us taking the pandemic seriously- as we should- are all likely feeling at least some of the deep loneliness pervading our world, even us introverts. I mention this because "Underland: A Deep Time Journey" by Robert Macfarlane was truly a journey to places most never get to go. It is a poetic exploration of not only the science, but of the psychology, culture, and experience that go into exploring and studying the most inaccessible and unfamiliar parts of our world. It took me out of my house and out to locations that were fascinatingly immense and vast.

Macfarlane is a very talented writer as he beautifully captures the emotionality of each of these experiences in which he accompanied experts to visit the underlands of the world. Some of his descriptions of things that I already knew about made me think and feel differently in immense ways. Regarding the unknowns, he brought a well-rounded and accessible understanding. This is the kind of book where you learn quite a lot without needing a PhD to be able to read it. Some of the biggest wow moments for me were finding out that scientists look for dark matter using dangerous underground mines, French anarchists have built a liberated zone for themselves in the abandoned catacombs below Paris, the understanding of tree and fungal networks has been regularly disrupted by authoritarianism and capitalism being forced onto what is more comparable to a mutualist structure, that the ice of glaciers is constantly moving and morphing in ways that are still baffling to this day, and more. The author also captures the serious nature of the histories of many of the locations visited such as the constant danger to workers, a history of war and suffering of an area, and the impact of radioactive toxic materials with half lives of billions of years sitting throughout the world.

We also meet lots of interesting people that are very well captured by Macfarlane. He captures these peoples personalities and interests well and manages to share his thoughts and assessments with us in ways that don't come off as leading or heavy handed. The book made me wish I was physically able to travel to these very difficult to access locations and brave enough to go on these journeys. However, for most of us, it is far safer to live vicariously through Macfarlane in this book. He definitely takes us on the journey promised in the title and I appreciated the chance to leave my house- at least in my head.

This was also posted to my goodreads.