Scan barcode
A review by lisa_setepenre
Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger by David Owen
4.0
As a resource on the thylacine (aka the Tasmanian Tiger), David Owen's Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger is absolutely fantastic. Content-wise, there's very little that I feel is missing, and what is missing tends to be things that have occurred post-publication.
For example, when discussing thylacine cloning, Owen says that it's hoped to be completed by 2010 – reading this in 2013 I'm aware that the deadline has been missed. As this was first published in 2003, it's understandable – but as a new edition was published in 2011, I wonder if the opportunity to update the text should have been taken. But it's a moot point, really.
Probably what sticks with me is how hideously depressing and frustrating the tale of the thylacine's extinction is. The thylacine was deemed a pest for hunting sheep – yet the amount of sheep killed by thylacines is nowhere near half the amount killed by dogs. It's enough to make me want to go back in time to punch (some of) the people responsible in the face and, at one stage, I was in tears.
For me, the writing lets the book down a bit. It's not bad, but it's not truly brilliant, and hence the four stars, not five.
For example, when discussing thylacine cloning, Owen says that it's hoped to be completed by 2010 – reading this in 2013 I'm aware that the deadline has been missed. As this was first published in 2003, it's understandable – but as a new edition was published in 2011, I wonder if the opportunity to update the text should have been taken. But it's a moot point, really.
Probably what sticks with me is how hideously depressing and frustrating the tale of the thylacine's extinction is. The thylacine was deemed a pest for hunting sheep – yet the amount of sheep killed by thylacines is nowhere near half the amount killed by dogs. It's enough to make me want to go back in time to punch (some of) the people responsible in the face and, at one stage, I was in tears.
For me, the writing lets the book down a bit. It's not bad, but it's not truly brilliant, and hence the four stars, not five.