Customer Reviews

Beauty in the Beasts: True Stories of Animals Who Choose to Do Good (reprint)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is one of my absolutely, all-time favourites books. I loved each and every page and to me the book will forever remain one of life's greatest treasures. It is one of the most sensitive and touching books ever written. For animal lovers around the world, "Beauty in the Beasts" will evoke wonder, awe, saddness, compassion, love and a bundle of other emotions all merged into one. Bring out the tissues before you begin; for all that it is a beautiful book, the tears will silently flow. The stories of each of these beautiful, magnificent animals will touch you to the centre of your soul and remain with you forever. Stories of courage, compassion, love, devotion and faith will leave you with the feeling that these intelligent beings are really no different from us. They love, feed, protect and nurture their families, they feel all the emotions that humans are capable of feeling, and they ask for so little in return. There is no price that could ever be too high for this memorable, extremely sensitive and deeply moving book. Buy one for every animal lover you know, and if you have a special animal companion of your own, love himher with all your heart....while he or she is still here to enjoy.

I had high hopes for this book, but found it didn't live up to the book jacket. It claims to establish that animals choose to do good, and I expected some in depth stories about various animals. Instead, the author seems to include very very very short stories (some only one sentence long) about animals, largely gathered from correspondence she received in response to her first book, the Compassion of Animals. She spends time arguing that animals have feelings - first of all, I'm willing to bet most people who choose to read this book already agree with that, so she's preaching to the choir, and it gets patronizing and old fast. Secondly, as near as I can tell, she has no particular credentials or studies or background she is drawing from to make the statements she does. I wasn't looking for "proof," since I already agree with her outlook on animals, but all the same I was annoyed at her apparant belief that all that is necessary to "prove" something is to make an assertion and then point to a number of anecdotal stories to make her point. If you take the book for what it is, rather than what it purports to be, it's a nice, easy read - one filled with stories about animals which do good things. It's similar to sitting in a coffee shop listening to people talk about things they've seen or heard about animals, like "I heard of a dog once who saved someone from a fire by dragging them out of bed by an ankle!" In all seriousness, that's what most of the book contains, sentences or paragraphs of things the author has heard about animals or experienced. Every now and then one animals' story is covered in more depth, but not a lot of depth. She seems to be desperately trying to argue that animals have emotions and morals without doing it well - instead she should just tell the stories and say "Here are some nice animal stories about animals being kind to people and other animals; I think they demonstrate morality and experience emotion" and leave it at that, then tell the stories. Instead you have to endure what appear to be some very poor attempts to make this book into a serious work rather than a light read for animal lovers. All in all, still worthwhile, just go into it knowing what the book really is so you aren't disappointed. If you love animals, you'll probably still love all the stories and just skip the author's rants.

I loved reading this intelligent, beautifully written book. Kristin von Kreisler takes the reader through eight important virtues: sensitivity, compassion, courage, loyalty, fortitude, cooperation, resourcefulness and generosity, all the while drawing on extensive research to demonstrate that animals are totally capable of choosing to act in ways that exemplify these virtues. She backs up her case with interviews with an astounding number of scientists, most of whom supported her ideas about "the beauty in the beasts" with their own research. Von Kreisler also describes meetings with other, less enlightened scientists who disparage animals, stating that what appears to be virtue on the part of animals is only self-interest in disguise. I can almost hear her standing up to these scientists with her own research and personal experience and making a very effective case. I would like to make one addition to the discussion. Yes, very often there is some possible advantage to the animal for acting in a virtuous way. In my opinion, that does not make the animal less virtuous! It simply demonstrates the wise and good provision of Mother Nature that when we do something for others, we also help ourselves. All life is, after all, ultimately one. Virtue, far from being only its own reward, rebounds to the benefit of all life. If animals realize this as much or more than we do, so much the better! Thank you, Kristin, for this lovely book.

This book is for everyone, especially animal lovers and anyone who has ever cared for a pet. The author brings masterful storytelling and wide-ranging research to her case that animals are fully capable of actually choosing to be courageous, resourceful, compassionate-traits that scientific convention has ascribed to humans alone. The reader meets a cast of admirable beasts, such as Beauty, a chestnut mare who fights back her own fear to save both her master and foal in a flooding river, and Misty a six-month-old spaniel who runs back into a burning house to rescue the family's two-year-old toddler. Their stories are extraordinary, but readers who have owned pets will also find echoes of their own experiences, illuminated by a larger context-and will never look at animals in quite the same way again. Passionately argued, vividly told, and rich and varied in its stories, this book catches a wave of human empathy for animals and contributes enormously (and entertainingly) to our enlightenment.

I've been waiting for a book like this to come along and believe me, BEAUTY IN THE BEASTS is worth it. It is filled with vivid, heartwarming tales of animals who act with great decency, purpose and kindness--a book the whole family will enjoy. So many people believe that only instinct and self-interest drive animals' actions. But Kristin von Kreisler argues convincingly--and very entertainingly--that animals can be driven by something much deeper, a kind of animal morality. This book contains probably 100 stories of animals who chose to do good. The stories are amazing. All the studies and interviews with scientists also add a depth that most other animal books lack. BEAUTY IN THE BEASTS made me look at animals in a completely new way. Anyone who cares about animals is going to love this book. I know I did!

I just picked this book up last night. It is so touching and heartfelt I could not put it down. I laughed and cried. This is a must read for everyone with a soft spot for animals.

This book moved me. Von Kreisler is a wonderful writer and she presents her ideas in such a balanced manner - with logic and feeling. I think the book positively challenges the reader to consider her thesis: that animals have a rudimentary moral sense, and that our own morality has evolved from it. Once people read this book, they'll never see animals in quite the same way again.

The author spends a GREAT deal of time defending animal altruism (against scientific explanation as to why there is no "beauty in the beasts") instead of focusing on the stories as the title alludes to. Perhaps her target audience was intended to be a bunch of numbheaded ego-centric humans...in which case her constant defense of animal behavior...to wear them down...is spot on. I believe animals have the capacity, beyond humans, to be altruistic and was looking forward to reading story after story about them...instead I forced myself through a sprinkling of stories over 85 pgs of the 217 pgs. I'm glad I paid only $8 and some change...actually, I'm not.

TRUE STORIES OF ANIMALS WHO CHOOSE TO DO GOOD
I READ THIS BOOK NEARLY IN ONE SITTING. I never turned on the TV at all. The Stories In This Book Are Filled WIth Emotions, Ours And The Animals. Who Ever Says Animals Have No Feelings Has None Themselves!
217 Pages Of Stories That Will BE With You A Very Long Time.
One story about a 209- pound potbellied pig who threw herself into traffic to get someone to stop for her human who was lying on the floor in her house having a heart attack will be with me always.
The woman fell and could not help herself. This pig ran out a dog door too small for her and tried to attract attention. Not having any luck she ran back through the dog door to keep tabs on her human. She cut herself up on the dog door going back and forth several times. Finally the pig went out into traffic and threw herself in front of traffic to get someone to stop. When they did she got up and ran for the house making sure the person was following her.
The woman was saved and the pig was treated for her own wounds. Both recovered.
A horse named Beauty who just had a foal and ran to be with her companions but there was a strong current in the river that caught her foal. She ran back to get her baby when her human dove in after the foal. He was swept away and the mare dove in the waters, pushed the man close to the bank so he could get out of the freezing water. She then dove back in and got her foal to safety on an island in the middle of the river.
These stories will make you feel your own emotions, cry, laugh, and they will make you appreciate the critter you have even more.
One in my own pack is a small Rat Terrier who in his mind, thinks he is a Great Dane. We were all out at the dog park when a large mix breed dog came running torwards me. My pup had no idea the dog was just being playful and got in front of me and tried with his 24 pounds to push me backwards while facing this huge beast snarling for all he was worth! He was in attack mode with no care for himself. I had to quickly dive on top my baby to prevent any misunderstandings. The big dog just stopped, looked at the tangle of dog and human and went back the way he had come.
I have no doubt my pup would have defended me with his life....
We animal lovers are deeply gifted.

The premise of the book is clearly defined in the title -- it doesn't make a claim to be scientific discovery, rather the book consists of compelling and overwhelming anecdotal evidence to support its assertions. Anyone who has positive, lasting relationships with animals will find these stories fascinating and often moving. If you're looking for science-method accounts of animal behavior, likely as not the word "Beauty" will not figure in the title. Otherwise, I was most satisfied by this book.