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beillumined's review
4.0
I did not delve into this book expecting to like it as much as I did. I mean, really, a rescue DONKEY?
But from the moment I met Simon, my heart was won over. Of course any story about a rescue animal is going to wrench my heart, but this story was so unexpected. The way Jon Katz captivated me with his tale of how he met all his animals, came to meet Simon, and came to love him, it was all amazing.
And moreover, the story wasn't just about Simon. It was about compassion all around, not just for animals, but for humans. I found myself totally wrapped up in Katz's words regarding compassion not just for animals, but for those who love them, and perhaps even compassion for those who don't.
I think the only thing that stopped me from giving the book a full 5 stars? The lack of pictures. I longed to see the photos of Simon, Red, and Rocky as I read along. Granted, I could have easily looked them up in Katz's blog, but I wanted to see them next to the words as I lay in bed flipping through the pages, not tearing myself away to go scroll through the internet for them. So, right after I post this review, you know I'll be visiting his website.
But from the moment I met Simon, my heart was won over. Of course any story about a rescue animal is going to wrench my heart, but this story was so unexpected. The way Jon Katz captivated me with his tale of how he met all his animals, came to meet Simon, and came to love him, it was all amazing.
And moreover, the story wasn't just about Simon. It was about compassion all around, not just for animals, but for humans. I found myself totally wrapped up in Katz's words regarding compassion not just for animals, but for those who love them, and perhaps even compassion for those who don't.
I think the only thing that stopped me from giving the book a full 5 stars? The lack of pictures. I longed to see the photos of Simon, Red, and Rocky as I read along. Granted, I could have easily looked them up in Katz's blog, but I wanted to see them next to the words as I lay in bed flipping through the pages, not tearing myself away to go scroll through the internet for them. So, right after I post this review, you know I'll be visiting his website.
quiltmom14's review
5.0
This was a “deep” book for me. The first half is the story of Simon’s rescue and rehab, and the second half is musings about compassion with some animal stories sprinkled through. The author is not a philosopher, but he grapples with the concept of compassion in a variety of ways - from the question of compassion for people who commit horrible deeds, to the interpretation of the word by great philosophers. I loved the book - recommend.
wendiwoo1's review
5.0
Well this went in an unexpected and welcomed direction. I was expecting to get so philosophical, but what a gentle read about a donkey and love and humanity.
nancyinoregon's review
3.0
I love donkeys and had one of my own, and I normally love Jon Katz, but this book just fell a bit short for me. There were many repetitions of information, as though it was assembled from other writings and even an editor never made a pass through the manuscript before publication. A central theme of the book was compassion, but I wasn't sure where we ended up with that, and the ending was rather abrupt. I have great respect for Jon Katz and his writing and have had many of the same rural experiences with animals that he writes about, so it's hard for me to give it only three stars but it's harder for me to give it four. Still, we need more donkeys in our lives, so any book about donkeys is welcome, especially one like that that describes their characteristics so perfectly.
melissakuzma's review
2.0
For someone who loves animals as much as I do, I don't read a lot of animal stories, because they make me too sad. So I was aware of Jon Katz as an author but had never read any of his books. I was attracted to this one because of the adorable donkey on the cover and because of the subtitle: "How a Rescue Donkey Taught me the Meaning of Compassion." Compassion is one of my favorite topics, so despite my fear of reading about horrific cruelty that would give me nightmares, I decided to give it a try.
And horrific cruelty I got. I won't go into detail, but the first chapter of this book made me literally sob in a hair salon. But I made it through the really terrible parts and I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that Simon survives and gets well, and I thought the rest of the book would be a happy story about how this beautiful, forgiving, resilient creature teaches humans what life was really all about. And that's kind of what happened, but I also found myself getting increasingly frustrated and perplexed by attitude of the author, an animal lover and rescuer, who despite owning numerous animals and writing dozens of bestselling books about them, seems to know so little about them. Also, he continually contradicts himself and makes nonsensical arguments. For example...
He has compassion for the farmer who cruelly neglected his donkey so severely he was on the verge of death, AND WHO FELT NO REMORSE FOR IT, but has bitter contempt for the animal rescue community.
He accuses animal advocates who feel anger toward animal abusers of hating all people. As someone who loves animals and is involved in the rescue community, I am offended by this completely inane generalization. The people that I know who love animals and are involved in rescue are the most compassionate people on earth, and feel compassion toward both animals AND humans. He seems to confuse anger with hatred. I would expect an educated person with much life experience to understand the difference between these two things.
He asks, (this is a direct quote) "why do we feel so much for the animal who is mistreated but so little for the human beings who mistreat them?" Um, really? Does that question even need to be asked? I understand the need to find forgiveness for even the most horrible sins, but this is still an idiotic question.
In one paragraph he expresses sadness at people who are reluctant to get another dog after losing one because so many animals languish in shelters, and then two paragraphs later, talks about contacting breeders about acquiring his next dog.
It goes on and on...
I expected so much more from such a prolific author of books about animals, and from someone who claims to be such an animal lover. I will definitely not be reading any more books by Jon Katz and I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone. I did fall in love with Simon, and later a blind, elderly pony named Rocky (don't even get me started on what Mr. Animal-Lover Katz does to that poor animal), so I'm giving this book 2 stars just for them. Jon Katz gets zero.
And horrific cruelty I got. I won't go into detail, but the first chapter of this book made me literally sob in a hair salon. But I made it through the really terrible parts and I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that Simon survives and gets well, and I thought the rest of the book would be a happy story about how this beautiful, forgiving, resilient creature teaches humans what life was really all about. And that's kind of what happened, but I also found myself getting increasingly frustrated and perplexed by attitude of the author, an animal lover and rescuer, who despite owning numerous animals and writing dozens of bestselling books about them, seems to know so little about them. Also, he continually contradicts himself and makes nonsensical arguments. For example...
He has compassion for the farmer who cruelly neglected his donkey so severely he was on the verge of death, AND WHO FELT NO REMORSE FOR IT, but has bitter contempt for the animal rescue community.
He accuses animal advocates who feel anger toward animal abusers of hating all people. As someone who loves animals and is involved in the rescue community, I am offended by this completely inane generalization. The people that I know who love animals and are involved in rescue are the most compassionate people on earth, and feel compassion toward both animals AND humans. He seems to confuse anger with hatred. I would expect an educated person with much life experience to understand the difference between these two things.
He asks, (this is a direct quote) "why do we feel so much for the animal who is mistreated but so little for the human beings who mistreat them?" Um, really? Does that question even need to be asked? I understand the need to find forgiveness for even the most horrible sins, but this is still an idiotic question.
In one paragraph he expresses sadness at people who are reluctant to get another dog after losing one because so many animals languish in shelters, and then two paragraphs later, talks about contacting breeders about acquiring his next dog.
It goes on and on...
I expected so much more from such a prolific author of books about animals, and from someone who claims to be such an animal lover. I will definitely not be reading any more books by Jon Katz and I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone. I did fall in love with Simon, and later a blind, elderly pony named Rocky (don't even get me started on what Mr. Animal-Lover Katz does to that poor animal), so I'm giving this book 2 stars just for them. Jon Katz gets zero.
claddel's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
2.0
Das Buch ist sowohl von der Sprache als auch von Inhalt und Aussage vor allem eins: schlicht. Und was will der Autor mit seinem Werk aussagen? Viele Wiederholungen, Anekdoten und Mutmaßungen über die Bedeutung von Tieren für uns Menschen. Zum Ende hin denkt man sich zudem, dass der Typ echt keine Ahnung von Eseln und Pferden hat. Zudem geht es im Laufe der Geschichte im Großteil nur noch um den Autor und nicht mehr um die Tiere. Am Anfang hat mich das Buch noch gefangen genommen, auch wenn ich die detaillierte Beschreibung, wie sehr der Esel geschunden war, nicht gebraucht hätte. Das war furchtbar zu lesen. Am Ende war das Buch einfach nur noch belanglos und noch dazu langweilig erzählt
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
casehouse's review
3.0
This book was a mixed bag for me. There were times it felt repetitive and times the author seemed to contradict himself. His message seemed to be: donkeys are oppressed by humans, donkeys are intuitive, donkeys are spirit animals, donkeys sense what we need, donkeys can connect with humans who need healing. And on the other hand: animals are just animals - they are not good or bad. They just do what they do. The part of the book that I loved was the author's journey toward understanding compassion and mercy. That there are so many people who have compassion for animals while having no mercy for humans who screw up. The story itself was a simple one - man rescues donkey, donkey heals, man learns stuff from having donkey, and man figures out a little bit more about life in the process.
Quote: "He reminded me that mercy and compassion are not only for good people, but also for people who horrify us, upset us, and challenge our notions of humanity. He softened me and my sense of judgment, of righteousness."
Quote: "He reminded me that mercy and compassion are not only for good people, but also for people who horrify us, upset us, and challenge our notions of humanity. He softened me and my sense of judgment, of righteousness."
kingfan30's review
3.0
This is a hard book to review for me. The neglect of poor Simon is horrific and I am so glad he was found a nice place to heal and live. Simon sounds like a proper character and I almost wished I lived closer to become one of his many visitors. I also like the stories of his other animals on the farm, although his comments about getting dogs from breeders seemed a bit out of place. It was Jon himself I struggled with, he felt quite repetitive at times. I’m not sure I agree with how he felt about the farmer who was responsible for Simons neglect, everyone has a choice and the farmer really should of done something before Simon got to that state. The bond between Simon and Jon was lovely as was the bond between Maria and Rocky which is I found myself questioning how they dealt with the the Simon and Rocky situation. Living in the UK and being used to the fact that donkeys are pretty common, I had never really given much thought to the fact they are quite unusual in America.
stepgg's review
5.0
This was the best book I have read I a while. It caught my eye at a second hand store.I thought awwa donkey this looks like a nice feel good story. And it is! But it also gets you thinking a lot about compassion to animals and people. How society is quicker to feel bad and help an animal than humans. How people vary in opinion on what good care of an animal is. And lots of good donkey, dog and horse stories. I wish I could have been there when Juan met Simon. Great boom cover to cover, I am now going to look into his otherbooksi hope they are as good as this one!
emily_miller's review
3.0
I had to push myself to finish this book, it dragged. I liked the story of Simon and the deep thoughts about compassion but Mr. Katz got a bit preachy and holier-than-thou at times.