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172 reviews for:
Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals
Hal Herzog
3.78 AVERAGE
172 reviews for:
Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals
Hal Herzog
3.78 AVERAGE
Absolutely fantastic. Spells out a lot of moral quandaries and really makes you stop and think, spelling out your own ethical reasoning. It was a very enjoyable read. While he didn't attempt to hide his opinions, I felt he presented the factual information very well in a very objective way that allowed you to make up your own mind. Of course, I could just be saying that easily since he seems to *largely* (though not completely) agree with my views.
dark
informative
Some good ideas but often very negative and gendered about animal activism among other things.
I like the humor.
I like the humor.
Sure, this book isn't perfect. It has some strange arguments (esp. in the parts about cockfighting). However, it raises interesting questions to many animal-related questions and provides some insightful answers. Herzog wrote this well, and combines humor, intelligent discussion, and relevant self-reflection. I learned many new things from this book, enjoyed reading it, and felt like the book gave me things to think. I liked that Herzog wasn't some vegan who calls pets "animal friends" or tries to make everyone feel guilty about everything. He admitted to his own animal-related hypocrisies etc and that made the book less preachy and more relatable. Anyways, all I can ask from a book like this is to make me think, teach me something, and interest me throughout its length, and I think this book satisfied these criteria admirably.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
This was my graduate field so I want everyone to listen closely: Read this book.
There is a sharp disconnect between the way we think/feel about non-human animals and the way we act towards animals. There is a colossal disconnect between the way we treat pigs and the way we treat dogs. Under federal law, mice/rats (95% of lab research) and most livestock are not animals. The life of a gamecock (or, from personal observation, a fighting bull) is better than that of a broiler (or steer). We spend millions on our pets, sometimes in the most ineffective way possible.
Why? This book has some answers, but mostly Herzog very carefully picks apart how we (21st century Westerners) treat the non-human animals we live and die with.
It’s been on my to-read list since starting graduate school. I’m so glad I finally got to it.
An interesting book but it faltered in the end. Too much emphasis on dogs as pets. Where are the chapters about cats? Feels a little biased and shallow to me although I did learn more about the treatment of chickens and lab animals. Not enough about the food industry, the treatment of animals in the food industry or other human activities that use animals such as horseback riding, circuses and service animals. I appreciated the part about the fighting cocks but there was not much that interested me after that.
The author broke up the book into very short chapters to deal with the reader's short attention span. However, I feel that most of the concepts and ideas could be elaborated in a slightly longer chapter instead of breaking the flow of narrative. Moreover, he did not provide a solid conclusion at all, choosing to end the book in a cliched way and I felt that the book was not researched deeply enough. It only scratched the surface of human animal interactions. Also, the Hitler being vegetarian thing is definitely not going to go down well among vegetarians. It seems the author is linking a lot of negative things with being vegetarian and mentions a lot of vegetarians going back to eating meat. But the statistics were lopsided since he did not mention the lives of those who are still happily vegan and vegetarian.
The author broke up the book into very short chapters to deal with the reader's short attention span. However, I feel that most of the concepts and ideas could be elaborated in a slightly longer chapter instead of breaking the flow of narrative. Moreover, he did not provide a solid conclusion at all, choosing to end the book in a cliched way and I felt that the book was not researched deeply enough. It only scratched the surface of human animal interactions. Also, the Hitler being vegetarian thing is definitely not going to go down well among vegetarians. It seems the author is linking a lot of negative things with being vegetarian and mentions a lot of vegetarians going back to eating meat. But the statistics were lopsided since he did not mention the lives of those who are still happily vegan and vegetarian.
informative
medium-paced
A lot of very interesting topics, but overall a fairly generalized look at issues that are much bigger in their own right. This is probably a good starting point for anyone wanting to do more research on the numerous topics of anthrozoology.
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced