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A review by ojtheviking
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
4.0
Tender Is the Flesh is a highly allegorical story, an incredibly bleak, dystopian novel containing layers of social commentary on topics varying from quite apparent to a bit more subtle. The main message is without a doubt designed to shed some light on such things as the problematic nature of the meat industries around the world, and this is done by wrapping it in a horror scenario where humans are forced to resort to cannibalism in order to continue eating meat after a virus has rendered all animal meat poisonous to humans.
The premise may initially seem far-fetched, but if you think of this story as being in the same vein as The Handmaid's Tale, only about meat consumerism, animal cruelty, classism, and so forth, it might not be that crazy after all. There are people of certain political ideologies and social views in today's world that aren't too far removed from the extreme patriarchy seen in The Handmaid's Tale. And historically speaking, as recently as in the 1930s when Stalin ruled, there were cases of cannibalism during the Holodomor in Ukraine. And marginalized groups are still fighting for their rights to survive and be treated as equals. Society is already toying with various forms of totalitarianism, so as such, this book is another cautionary tale.
In this society that the book's main character lives in, we also get to explore the power of words. Carefully crafted phrases to sugarcoat the truth and make the circumstances more digestible (pun intended). For example, instead of acknowledging that they are eating fellow humans, they call it "special meat", and the humans that are bred as cattle are called "heads" and not regarded as individuals.
Speaking of words, I really enjoyed the writing skills of Augustina Bazterrica (although, keep in mind, I did read the English translation). She really struck me as one of those authors who can speak volumes with short, compact sentences. The narration itself is interesting in the sense that while it is partly through the perspective of the main character, showcasing his dejected acceptance yet underlying disgust with the world he lives in, it also often describes the circumstances in a neutral way that paradoxically seems to amplify the horrors that occur. The story is simply presented to us, allowing us to have our own knee-jerk reactions, without the narrator directly telling us what we should be shocked by or not. But of course, the author's intentions are still made clear in the overall context, as the sheer brutality of how this society is structured slaps you right in the face repeatedly throughout the pages.
When it comes to elements such as character development, it's hard to comment too much on that without spoiling anything. But I will say that one thing that bothered me was that the ending was in danger of feeling rushed. But I ultimately think that the author intentionally wanted the ending to come a bit abruptly just as there appeared to be certain emotions stirring within the main character, only for the rug to be pulled from under the reader. It definitely cemented the overall bleakness of the entire story, though, so maybe that uneasy feeling within me that something feels unfinished is just my denial over what happened at the very end.
As a conclusion, if someone asks me if I think this book came across as preachy, I'm not so sure it does. I mean, again, the author clearly wants to say something about such problematic things as animal cruelty in the meat industry, inequality among humans, dictatorships, etc. But it's presented in a way that's more generalized rather than pointing towards a specific ideology. While it does acknowledge the horrors of animal cruelty, I still don't feel it comes across as pro-veganism in a way that shames today's carnivores; I was even curious enough to look it up, and the author herself says that this story is not intended to be a vegan manifesto. As a comparison, earlier this year I read a book where the author's anti-LGBTQ+ and fat-shaming views clearly shone through, and it was extremely off-putting. But I don't think Tender Is the Flesh has that same insistent tone, especially when taking the author's own words into consideration.
A gruesome but interesting read!
The premise may initially seem far-fetched, but if you think of this story as being in the same vein as The Handmaid's Tale, only about meat consumerism, animal cruelty, classism, and so forth, it might not be that crazy after all. There are people of certain political ideologies and social views in today's world that aren't too far removed from the extreme patriarchy seen in The Handmaid's Tale. And historically speaking, as recently as in the 1930s when Stalin ruled, there were cases of cannibalism during the Holodomor in Ukraine. And marginalized groups are still fighting for their rights to survive and be treated as equals. Society is already toying with various forms of totalitarianism, so as such, this book is another cautionary tale.
In this society that the book's main character lives in, we also get to explore the power of words. Carefully crafted phrases to sugarcoat the truth and make the circumstances more digestible (pun intended). For example, instead of acknowledging that they are eating fellow humans, they call it "special meat", and the humans that are bred as cattle are called "heads" and not regarded as individuals.
Speaking of words, I really enjoyed the writing skills of Augustina Bazterrica (although, keep in mind, I did read the English translation). She really struck me as one of those authors who can speak volumes with short, compact sentences. The narration itself is interesting in the sense that while it is partly through the perspective of the main character, showcasing his dejected acceptance yet underlying disgust with the world he lives in, it also often describes the circumstances in a neutral way that paradoxically seems to amplify the horrors that occur. The story is simply presented to us, allowing us to have our own knee-jerk reactions, without the narrator directly telling us what we should be shocked by or not. But of course, the author's intentions are still made clear in the overall context, as the sheer brutality of how this society is structured slaps you right in the face repeatedly throughout the pages.
When it comes to elements such as character development, it's hard to comment too much on that without spoiling anything. But I will say that one thing that bothered me was that the ending was in danger of feeling rushed. But I ultimately think that the author intentionally wanted the ending to come a bit abruptly just as there appeared to be certain emotions stirring within the main character, only for the rug to be pulled from under the reader. It definitely cemented the overall bleakness of the entire story, though, so maybe that uneasy feeling within me that something feels unfinished is just my denial over what happened at the very end.
As a conclusion, if someone asks me if I think this book came across as preachy, I'm not so sure it does. I mean, again, the author clearly wants to say something about such problematic things as animal cruelty in the meat industry, inequality among humans, dictatorships, etc. But it's presented in a way that's more generalized rather than pointing towards a specific ideology. While it does acknowledge the horrors of animal cruelty, I still don't feel it comes across as pro-veganism in a way that shames today's carnivores; I was even curious enough to look it up, and the author herself says that this story is not intended to be a vegan manifesto. As a comparison, earlier this year I read a book where the author's anti-LGBTQ+ and fat-shaming views clearly shone through, and it was extremely off-putting. But I don't think Tender Is the Flesh has that same insistent tone, especially when taking the author's own words into consideration.
A gruesome but interesting read!