Customer Reviews

Rhinoceros (Reaktion Books - Animal)

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

 

 

The book is a pleasure to handle - well sewn with sturdy glossy pages, almost like a children's book, something you never see anymore. It starts out with a fascinating history of human attitudes and perceptions of the animal through the ages, but chapter after chapter continues being devoted to mankind's feelings, fears, and mythologies about rhinoceroses. In the end, there is one paragraph each devoted to a description of the different species' natural habits in the wild. Perhaps it isn't fair to criticize the book on this point because apparently rhinoceroses are elusive. Still, I kept hoping and waiting for some natural history of the beasts' habits, talents, shortcomings, food supplies, reproductive mannerisms, social behavior, nursing behavior, conflicts with other animals, etc., all of which was treated barely in passing. I wound up disappointed in not knowing as much as I had wanted to about these splendid animals. A better title for the book would have been, How People Through the Ages Have Thought About Rhinoceroses.

Very nicely written narrative about a species that needs protection to survive in nature. Massive animals, unlike elephants, not very useful to man as beasts of burden. You will learn that they don't eat people, how they relate to unicorns and how their horn(s) are used as medicine even today. Hope to see more from this new author, it was a pleasure to read and now I know a lot more about these rare and wonderful creatures.

This is a wonderfully different book about the rhino. If you want natural history and behavior of the rhino, there are many other books on that subject. This book covers the rhino in human history, mythology and popular culture, and it covers it all. I couldn't stop reading it. Please keep writing Ms. Enright.

I really enjoyed this book far more than I expected to. I stumbled across a review in the Atlantic that peaked my interest and found that it was difficult to set this book down. The Author's perspective offered a fresh take on what might have been a tired natural history. This prompted me to check out some of the Author's other works and I was disappointed to find only one other book. Rather than write a base history of what we know about the animal, Ms. Enright has written a brilliant anthology of what we have thought we have known about the creature. I found this intriguing and interesting. There are plenty of history books out there, but few that pursue the human perception of history, which is, after all, all history really is. Well done Ms Enright. May we please have more?

This book is about people's perceptions of rhinos rather than rhinos themselves. I was hoping to learn more about these animals that amaze me so much. This quote from page 9 sums up my review:
"I have not, I admit, met a rhino in the wild. Nor have I had a close encounter with one in captivity."
What credibility do you have after admitting this?