Take a photo of a barcode or cover
270 reviews for:
The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion - Surprising Observations of a Hidden World
Peter Wohlleben
3.68 AVERAGE
270 reviews for:
The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion - Surprising Observations of a Hidden World
Peter Wohlleben
3.68 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
A good read for an animal lover, slightly gorier/graphic than the fun read I was expecting
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Really lovely and inspiring, full of anecdotes to confirm what you (someone who is interested in a book like this) already intuitively thought - that animals have a much richer and intricate inner life than we give them credit for. Pacing was brilliant, chapters are very brisk and loosely strung together to weave together a tapestry of concepts. Really nicely tied together the philosophical concepts with a real grounded perspective you'd get from a German ecologist.
I'm sorry to be harsh but this book has been such a disappointing read. After reading Wohlleben's marvelous book about trees, my expectations were quite high (albeit prematurely). I was excited to see what other gems I'd learn from him. What a letdown!
I do agree with him on so many things from hunting animals to animals having emotions and feeling love and compassion (maybe not all animals; we don't know, but still); there's no question of all that (at least for me). I'm of the same mind. However, this is not a book truly about "animals as emotional and feeling beings"; it is in fact a book about "whether humans should eat animals," a topic which I really wasn't looking forward to reading about. I was interested in the facts, which Wohlleben tries to support by only giving us his rather unsubstantiated claims and mostly emotionally driven opinions on certain things. He does indeed cite studies and research on animal behavior and all that, but they are given only to support his own opinions, not facts. His tone is not harsh but its subtle condescension and patronizing approach when lecturing us got too annoying too quick for me.
I did not buy this book to read on someone else's view on a topic on which I also had almost 100% similar views. I need my brain to be challenged, which this book failed to do so. I guess my main problem with the book is its misleading title. It should have been called "My Opinions on Whether We Should Eat Animals." With that honest title, I wouldn't buy the book.
I do agree with him on so many things from hunting animals to animals having emotions and feeling love and compassion (maybe not all animals; we don't know, but still); there's no question of all that (at least for me). I'm of the same mind. However, this is not a book truly about "animals as emotional and feeling beings"; it is in fact a book about "whether humans should eat animals," a topic which I really wasn't looking forward to reading about. I was interested in the facts, which Wohlleben tries to support by only giving us his rather unsubstantiated claims and mostly emotionally driven opinions on certain things. He does indeed cite studies and research on animal behavior and all that, but they are given only to support his own opinions, not facts. His tone is not harsh but its subtle condescension and patronizing approach when lecturing us got too annoying too quick for me.
I did not buy this book to read on someone else's view on a topic on which I also had almost 100% similar views. I need my brain to be challenged, which this book failed to do so. I guess my main problem with the book is its misleading title. It should have been called "My Opinions on Whether We Should Eat Animals." With that honest title, I wouldn't buy the book.
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
There’s a bit of speculating and anthropomorphising in this book, but it’s thought provoking and easy to get through. Definitely worth the read.
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
Solides Hörbuch, natürlich sehr pop-wissenschaftlich, aber genau das ist ja auch die Stärke von Wohlleben.
I found this book easy to read, and learned some facts and observances that I hadn’t know before. I would not say I was completely bowled over though, about halfway through I found I was struggling with how the book was written and wasn’t sure about finishing. I had previously read Wohlleben’s book ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’ which I loved and picked this book up expecting to enjoy it on the same level. In this book I really liked that he made the suggestion of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ in the sense that we should give our fellow animals the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what they can feel. It is something I personally find important and always strive to be as empathetic to other lives as possible.
While scientific research is very focused on being completely objective which as a method I believe has faults I did find that at times Wohlleben would present research and then just disregard it in a way that almost came across as him just deciding for himself what he thought is correct. I also found the use of words and phrases like ‘Ouch!’ or ‘Aha!’ to be a bit of an immature or lazy way of expressing things. Often I would also notice, sometimes at the end of chapters or after extensively discussing a point he would suddenly bring in a new point or reference to another animal, write a couple of sentences and then carry on to something new without full explanation. I found this quite frustrating.
At the point around halfway through when I mentioned I was struggling I was discussing the book with someone and expressed I almost felt this book was rushed to further the success from ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’. As if he author or publishes were saying what else can we do now, how about a book on animals and how they feel. Upon finish this book and reading the acknowledgments I was disappointed to see a thanks express for the publishers who suggested a book about animals, unfortunately I felt this indicate a level of truth to how I felt.
Although I have criticisms I would not necessarily recommend someone avoid reading this book (we should always take time to form our own opinions on things) but I would perhaps suggest another book on the subject to read beforehand, Carl Safina’s ‘Beyond Words’. Safina writes from behavioural observation with reference to scientific research, he puts this across expressing about the reasoning for scientific research being objective. He himself a maintains a level of objectivity by not expressing that he can say for certain how something might be but all the while you get a sense of his admiration and love for the feelings and thoughts of other animals. It is a beautifully written book that really altered some of my viewpoints and thought me a lot, while being gripping yet easy to read. I would probably recommend it as a starting point into this subject over Wohlleben’s ‘The Inner Life of Animals’.
While scientific research is very focused on being completely objective which as a method I believe has faults I did find that at times Wohlleben would present research and then just disregard it in a way that almost came across as him just deciding for himself what he thought is correct. I also found the use of words and phrases like ‘Ouch!’ or ‘Aha!’ to be a bit of an immature or lazy way of expressing things. Often I would also notice, sometimes at the end of chapters or after extensively discussing a point he would suddenly bring in a new point or reference to another animal, write a couple of sentences and then carry on to something new without full explanation. I found this quite frustrating.
At the point around halfway through when I mentioned I was struggling I was discussing the book with someone and expressed I almost felt this book was rushed to further the success from ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’. As if he author or publishes were saying what else can we do now, how about a book on animals and how they feel. Upon finish this book and reading the acknowledgments I was disappointed to see a thanks express for the publishers who suggested a book about animals, unfortunately I felt this indicate a level of truth to how I felt.
Although I have criticisms I would not necessarily recommend someone avoid reading this book (we should always take time to form our own opinions on things) but I would perhaps suggest another book on the subject to read beforehand, Carl Safina’s ‘Beyond Words’. Safina writes from behavioural observation with reference to scientific research, he puts this across expressing about the reasoning for scientific research being objective. He himself a maintains a level of objectivity by not expressing that he can say for certain how something might be but all the while you get a sense of his admiration and love for the feelings and thoughts of other animals. It is a beautifully written book that really altered some of my viewpoints and thought me a lot, while being gripping yet easy to read. I would probably recommend it as a starting point into this subject over Wohlleben’s ‘The Inner Life of Animals’.
Wonderful read. I did not find this one to be quite as compelling as The Hidden Life of Trees (you must read this book), but that one is hard to beat! Peter Wohlleben is a wealth of ecological knowledge.
informative
reflective
medium-paced