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thegrimhobbyist 's review for:
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell
Finally, I have read this book. It's one I somehow managed to not read during my 'read every horse book ever' phase back when I was a child. I watched the movie, but never read the book. I would like to say, from what I remember, the movie surprisingly followed along with the book rather well. Anyways, this is about the book, not the movie haha!
Anna Sewell wrote this book while confined to her room due to bad health. Afraid she wouldn't live to see this published, she worked tirelessly at it and lived long enough for her mother to find a publisher and see her book in print before passing five months later. It was the only book she ever wrote and it lived on as a classic. Amazing, right? I thought that was pretty neat, if not a bit sad (much like this book is).
This book, written like a biography told by a horse, is basically a letter to people out there to be kind and gentle to horses (and in general for that matter). Which means, we get to see the rather dreadful things certain horsemen do to abuse horses as Black Beauty bounces from owner to owner. Some good, some awful, others uneducated. It's certainly not a book for the faint of heart, but I enjoyed the message behind it. For the most part. You get educated along the way on the treatment of horses, something Anna was an advocate for (for animals in general).
I could have done without the random chapters put in that veers off from a horse telling his story and more into lessons about getting good with God. Not so much for the religious aspect of it, Anna grew up in a strict Quaker home and everyone can have their beliefs, I won't judge anyone for that. So long as they don't judge me for my own beliefs. I just personally felt like they were out of place, if this is indeed written in the eyes of a horse who has repeatedly said in the book he doesn't understand everything humans say. I doubt he'd know the first thing about religion or politics that got squeezed in this with a few tossed in chapters.
All in all, a good book, and I'm glad I finally read it to complete my horse book phase.
Anna Sewell wrote this book while confined to her room due to bad health. Afraid she wouldn't live to see this published, she worked tirelessly at it and lived long enough for her mother to find a publisher and see her book in print before passing five months later. It was the only book she ever wrote and it lived on as a classic. Amazing, right? I thought that was pretty neat, if not a bit sad (much like this book is).
This book, written like a biography told by a horse, is basically a letter to people out there to be kind and gentle to horses (and in general for that matter). Which means, we get to see the rather dreadful things certain horsemen do to abuse horses as Black Beauty bounces from owner to owner. Some good, some awful, others uneducated. It's certainly not a book for the faint of heart, but I enjoyed the message behind it. For the most part. You get educated along the way on the treatment of horses, something Anna was an advocate for (for animals in general).
I could have done without the random chapters put in that veers off from a horse telling his story and more into lessons about getting good with God. Not so much for the religious aspect of it, Anna grew up in a strict Quaker home and everyone can have their beliefs, I won't judge anyone for that. So long as they don't judge me for my own beliefs. I just personally felt like they were out of place, if this is indeed written in the eyes of a horse who has repeatedly said in the book he doesn't understand everything humans say. I doubt he'd know the first thing about religion or politics that got squeezed in this with a few tossed in chapters.
All in all, a good book, and I'm glad I finally read it to complete my horse book phase.