Customer Reviews

Animal Rights and Pornography: Stories (Soft Skull ShortLit)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Animal Rights and Pornography goes to extremes I've rarely seen non-gratuitous fiction go. Linking the idea of animal rights issues and issues that have to do with exploitation in the human flesh trade is an interesting strategy and in J Eric Miller's work feels like a rather rich one. Miller doesn't seem to be so much offering up a mantra about the way things should be but is rather focusing on the way they are so that the stories don't feel like solutions but descriptions of problems. The book should probably come with a warning, because although these stories are literary in nature, the bulk of them are quite hard core; the stories aren't quite as graphic as the work of the Marquis De Sade, but they can be pretty graphic. You've got a variety of rapes (man against man; man against mermaid; women against man); prostitution; incest; and a lot of blood. If you can take it, it's worth the read.

I bought this book after reading a review of it on subvert.com and I was glad I did. The stories are dark, and many of them are even disturbing, but it feels to me there is also a real heart to this piece as a whole. Though you couldn't call it subtle, I think what the author is trying to do in terms of an overall message is subtly accomplished. But beyond delivering a message, the stories are simply very good reads. Most of them are very short, and almost all of them have sharp edges. But when you finish one, even those that are the most disturbing, you have the urge to read another. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. It brought to mind Charles Bukowski and Henry Miller but only by degrees. I was impressed and recommend highly.

Perverse. There's a 'Clockwork Orange' sense of forced exposure here, leaving the reader feeling something like a violent loss of innocence upon finishing the book. Poignant and sharp throughout: writing elegant, the voice unassuming and without affectation -- a difficult feat carried off rather marvelously. Dominant to most of the stories is a feeling of helplessness, sexual and otherwise (don't miss "The Space Between Us" or "Mercy Killer II"), and while there is tenderness and a loving touch here as well, they're reserved for the characters of purity -- all animals (in one case, a fur coat).

A unique combination of themes. As soon as I finished reading I started looking for more by this author. Highest recommendation.

Yes, it made me think. But it made me think about things I don't really want to think about. A female friend of mine gave this to me and said she found some of the stories "a turn on". I don't see how that could be as they were all but a few pretty twisted and somewhat mean spirited. The author is trying to make a point about animal suffering and human suffering. I tried to get more insight into it by visiting his web site, which was interesting but didn't elaborate. There was a link to a review that helped put the collection in some kind of perspective. I'm not sure even yet I got out of it the point I was supposed to get, but I recommend it anyway because it really got in my mind, especially a few of the stories like "Food Chain" and "John School" and "In the Pride of Lions". I recommend it the way I'd recommend doing anything dangerous. You don't always want to be in that position and you ought to be in the right frame of mind before you go there. But going there I think is somewhat interesting. I was reading this on a plane and was very careful not to let the person on each side of me see the text. I guess that tells you something.

I read one of the author's stories, called Invisible Fish, on an online publication a few months ago and my experience with it compelled me to buy the book. Miller seems fascinated with the incongruous nature of people. He raises the idea in the Pride of Lions of living outside of nature but after reading this work, it made me question if the very contradictions we shun, the darkness we turn away from, and the shadows where real life actually takes place isn't more actual nature than the contrived faces we show the rest of the world. Some of the stories in this book are so dark that I had to stop reading, but Miller writes with such truth that the most disturbing moments for me occurred when I saw myself in the shadows he created.

A collection of short stories that combine great writing and thought provoking ideas. A unique exploration that leaves the reader still immersed in the stories themes long after having put the book down. There is a reality of truth that flows through the stories which are at times beyond belief. This is made possible by the universal themes of domination, pride and others. A great read that gets the highest recommendation.

This book was amazingly emotionally compact. It was a mental rollercoaster. Having a wide range of intense and disturbing explicit stories that read deeper than the number of pages. Never boring.

Some of the content may be difficult to classify as entertainment. That said, this is an insightful and profound read worth every second spent with this collection of short stories.

If the title of this book suggests to you a series of essays with a clear moral or other sound ponderings which will move you to make some activist stand, you're mistaken.

It is, however, a book that will return you to the days of hiding under the covers, flashlight in hand, reading things you ought not to. Only this time, you wish your mother would walk in & catch you, so you would stop. She's right, this stuff will give you nightmares.

With taboo topics such as incest, rape & slaughter, you'll feel that if anyone were to see you reading this material, you'd deserve nothing less than a spanking & a weekend grounded to your room. And the grounding would be the worst part ~ This book makes you wish you were in a place full of people & distractions so you would have an easy way to avoid the images & feelings in your head. Then again, it may make you wonder about all the people around you, and what stories they could tell. Maybe you're better off at home, alone, after all...

If this sounds like I hated the book, think again ~ I just interviewed the author!

(Consensed Review)