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A review by tarasque
Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders
3.0
Wow this was painful to read. It's a kids classic, so I thought I would rip through it pretty quick...but no...
Beautiful Joe is the story of a dog in his own words. Think Black Beauty if you've ever read the book or watched the movie. The only difference is book really encompasses all kinds of animals, rather than just focusing on one type.
So Beautiful Joe is a dog who was abused by his first master. Had his ears and tail chopped off with an axe because the guy got in a bad mood. Luckily for him someone with a better heart came along just as it happened, heard the noise poor Joe was making, and rescued him after laying the owner down low. The gentleman we later learn is named Harry, takes Joe to his cousin's house (farm, really. This all takes place out in the country) where he is visiting and the family soon sets him to rights.
Now this family has a thing for all animals. They have quite the menagerie going at their home: horses, dogs, birds, a cat, cows, guinea pigs, you name it there's probably one kicking around the property that these folks have saved. And honestly it warms the heart to think that there are people like that out there.
The rest of the story is Joe telling us about his life with these people, and the stories he hears along the way about the myriad ways people are cruel and abusive to animals. Some things are typical and you would expect, and some things, if true, chill your blood.
It's a really good book, but I would have liked it better if not for a few things. First off, it's the wrong choice of book for me. I consider myself a kind hearted soul, and it was hard for me to read the abuses that the animals suffered in the book. Even though they're fictional, the abuses they undertake are quite real.
The other fact is that it is steeped in Christianity. Always referring to how Gad made man and beast to be such-n-such and not so-n-so. Not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, I can see where it would have installed some good morals in the kiddies reading it when it first came out, but if you're not a religious person it does tend to hamper the reading I find.
That and the fact that every time people were talking about animals, be it as a whole or an individual, they were always "poor dumb beasts". And then the animals would be lauded for their intelligence. Can't decide if that's ironic or hypocritical...
So all in all I did like Beautiful Joe. It is a touching, heart warming, and at times fun story. Worth picking up if you're interested in animal stories, I just would have like it better if it wasn't for the aforementioned factors.
Beautiful Joe is the story of a dog in his own words. Think Black Beauty if you've ever read the book or watched the movie. The only difference is book really encompasses all kinds of animals, rather than just focusing on one type.
So Beautiful Joe is a dog who was abused by his first master. Had his ears and tail chopped off with an axe because the guy got in a bad mood. Luckily for him someone with a better heart came along just as it happened, heard the noise poor Joe was making, and rescued him after laying the owner down low. The gentleman we later learn is named Harry, takes Joe to his cousin's house (farm, really. This all takes place out in the country) where he is visiting and the family soon sets him to rights.
Now this family has a thing for all animals. They have quite the menagerie going at their home: horses, dogs, birds, a cat, cows, guinea pigs, you name it there's probably one kicking around the property that these folks have saved. And honestly it warms the heart to think that there are people like that out there.
The rest of the story is Joe telling us about his life with these people, and the stories he hears along the way about the myriad ways people are cruel and abusive to animals. Some things are typical and you would expect, and some things, if true, chill your blood.
It's a really good book, but I would have liked it better if not for a few things. First off, it's the wrong choice of book for me. I consider myself a kind hearted soul, and it was hard for me to read the abuses that the animals suffered in the book. Even though they're fictional, the abuses they undertake are quite real.
The other fact is that it is steeped in Christianity. Always referring to how Gad made man and beast to be such-n-such and not so-n-so. Not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, I can see where it would have installed some good morals in the kiddies reading it when it first came out, but if you're not a religious person it does tend to hamper the reading I find.
That and the fact that every time people were talking about animals, be it as a whole or an individual, they were always "poor dumb beasts". And then the animals would be lauded for their intelligence. Can't decide if that's ironic or hypocritical...
So all in all I did like Beautiful Joe. It is a touching, heart warming, and at times fun story. Worth picking up if you're interested in animal stories, I just would have like it better if it wasn't for the aforementioned factors.