"Eating Animals" Novel Review by a Vegetarian going Vegan
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Goodreads Summary: Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between carnivore and vegetarian. As he became a husband and a father, he kept returning to two questions: Why do we eat animals? And would we eat them if we knew how they got on our dinner plates? Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, and his own undercover detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales justify a brutal ignorance. Marked by Foer's profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, huge bestsellers, Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we've told--and the stories we now need to tell.
For those who are unaware, I recently became a Vegetarian in October and am currently between the process of becoming Vegan. During this journey of changing my lifestyle, I became interested in the research aspect of it all and asked my vegetarian Economics teacher if she had any books I could borrow on the subject; obviously, this was one of those books.
I have read about 10-15 vegetarian research based novels and done extensive research on the topic to include reading articles, writing essays, and watching documentaries. This novel, was by far, my favorite about becoming vegetarian.
Jonathan Safran Foer writes his novel in an investigative/research style throughout the novel; rather than completing all his research prior to writing the novel, the reader feels that they are on the same journey as Foer for answers. Keeping the terminology simple and the stories interesting, the novel has a memoir feel about it but also contains plenty of facts.
I would highly recommend this well-rounded written novel to anyone interested in the current social discussion around the globe about eating animals and the animal industry as well as someone purely interested in becoming vegetarian/vegan. Although many believe it is purely a diet, it is in fact a lifestyle and belief system; which is why research is the best way to get involved in the movement and to be truly educated on the topic.
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