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Nightmares of Nature by Matthews, Richard (1996) Hardcover
In a book that augments the BBC television series myths and misconceptions about the animals most feared by man are discussed, dispelled, or validated, including those about lions, tigers, bears, sharks, snakes, toads, dragons, and spiders
- GenresNatureNonfictionScience
Hardcover
First published August 1, 1996
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December 30, 2025
Much to my chagrin and general unhappiness in life, I was not able to finish this book I ultimately failed to resist giving five stars. I really am a terrible writer when I'm drunk, so let's unpack that awful sentence piece by piece ...
"Chagrin?" Yes. Indeed, sir. This was another victim of the legal woes facing Internet Archive. I was currently reading this - t0 be precise, some 80-90% in - when it, along with many other titles of the Archive, were removed. So, there you go. I cannot finish it in the form that I had been reading it. Instead, my only option aside from saying "Oh, for fuck's sake" and just rating it as it stands, was to go and buy a used copy from some asshole on the internet. And look ... while I do adore this book and would love to have a physical copy on my shelf, I just don't have that kind of money, mate. Perhaps it will show up in some charity store someday. One can only dream.
"General unhappiness in life?" Well, yes - I am sinking into what seems to be a very unfair OCD relapse; I feel increasingly isolated from all those that are supposedly around me; the only place I seem to find some semblance of comfort, a temporary brain-pause, is by getting shit-faced while I work the midnight oil on my latest bid to write a novel. I am a lousy father, a shitty husband, a disappointing son, a worthless brother, an increasingly fat fuck, and a disgraceful Christian.
"Was not able to finish the book?" Aye, that's right. But it wasn't because I was incapable, or that my OCD had gotten so bad that it made me throw it into a compactor in some warped belief such a ritual would finally bring me mental peace. No, dear friends - it was because of (see above - that shit about Internet Archive, etc, etc).
"Ultimately failed to resist giving five stars?" Well, yeah - it's fucking amazing. John Aitchison, take note. This is how you do it. Not whatever you did. All I got from your book was a subsequent telling-off from an irate Goodreads prick who bristled at my subpar education: I had referred to birds as mammals in my review. Fuck would I know?
Oh, any that whole "failure to resist" bit? By that, I simply mean that dangerous animals, and people getting eaten, stung or bitten by them is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. I'm not an evil psychopath: I always think it's a tragedy whenever someone gets killed by one of the many formidable creatures God put upon our earth. It is not the suffering or the grotesquery that appeals to me: it is more the humbling realisation that this world, contrary to the actions and attitudes of many, is not ours to whip into submission. I do truly believe that human beings are a special being - I am a shameless anthropomorph in that sense - but I wholly reject the idea that all nature is ours to dominate and control in the way that modern sensibilities would interpret that. Shepherding is not dominating - it is caring for and nurturing, living off and harvesting to a reasonable but not excessive degree. But what self-respecting shepherd sticks his hand into a snake hole like it were lucky dip of chocolate bars and gummy bears? Or go for a careless dip if croc-infested waters?
If you failed to take anything of value from my rant just now, I guess what I'm trying to say is I felt kind of embarrassed, giving five stars to a book like this. But then, firstly: Why? Who gives a shit? And secondly, this book really isn't what one who hasn't read it might assume it is. Hell, even the very title is a bit misleading because, while it does do a fantastic job in telling you which animals you ought to be afraid of, and why, it is far from being the paranoid ramblings of a nature-phobic lunatic who thinks a good anything is a dead one.
Rather, Matthews lives and breathes this world of nature. He admires all these animals, even the ones that could rip us a new one if we failed to respect its place and its power. And that, the fact I read it with my six-year-old son, and many other reasons, is why I just loved this and could not honestly give it less than five.
"Chagrin?" Yes. Indeed, sir. This was another victim of the legal woes facing Internet Archive. I was currently reading this - t0 be precise, some 80-90% in - when it, along with many other titles of the Archive, were removed. So, there you go. I cannot finish it in the form that I had been reading it. Instead, my only option aside from saying "Oh, for fuck's sake" and just rating it as it stands, was to go and buy a used copy from some asshole on the internet. And look ... while I do adore this book and would love to have a physical copy on my shelf, I just don't have that kind of money, mate. Perhaps it will show up in some charity store someday. One can only dream.
"General unhappiness in life?" Well, yes - I am sinking into what seems to be a very unfair OCD relapse; I feel increasingly isolated from all those that are supposedly around me; the only place I seem to find some semblance of comfort, a temporary brain-pause, is by getting shit-faced while I work the midnight oil on my latest bid to write a novel. I am a lousy father, a shitty husband, a disappointing son, a worthless brother, an increasingly fat fuck, and a disgraceful Christian.
"Was not able to finish the book?" Aye, that's right. But it wasn't because I was incapable, or that my OCD had gotten so bad that it made me throw it into a compactor in some warped belief such a ritual would finally bring me mental peace. No, dear friends - it was because of (see above - that shit about Internet Archive, etc, etc).
"Ultimately failed to resist giving five stars?" Well, yeah - it's fucking amazing. John Aitchison, take note. This is how you do it. Not whatever you did. All I got from your book was a subsequent telling-off from an irate Goodreads prick who bristled at my subpar education: I had referred to birds as mammals in my review. Fuck would I know?
Oh, any that whole "failure to resist" bit? By that, I simply mean that dangerous animals, and people getting eaten, stung or bitten by them is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. I'm not an evil psychopath: I always think it's a tragedy whenever someone gets killed by one of the many formidable creatures God put upon our earth. It is not the suffering or the grotesquery that appeals to me: it is more the humbling realisation that this world, contrary to the actions and attitudes of many, is not ours to whip into submission. I do truly believe that human beings are a special being - I am a shameless anthropomorph in that sense - but I wholly reject the idea that all nature is ours to dominate and control in the way that modern sensibilities would interpret that. Shepherding is not dominating - it is caring for and nurturing, living off and harvesting to a reasonable but not excessive degree. But what self-respecting shepherd sticks his hand into a snake hole like it were lucky dip of chocolate bars and gummy bears? Or go for a careless dip if croc-infested waters?
If you failed to take anything of value from my rant just now, I guess what I'm trying to say is I felt kind of embarrassed, giving five stars to a book like this. But then, firstly: Why? Who gives a shit? And secondly, this book really isn't what one who hasn't read it might assume it is. Hell, even the very title is a bit misleading because, while it does do a fantastic job in telling you which animals you ought to be afraid of, and why, it is far from being the paranoid ramblings of a nature-phobic lunatic who thinks a good anything is a dead one.
Rather, Matthews lives and breathes this world of nature. He admires all these animals, even the ones that could rip us a new one if we failed to respect its place and its power. And that, the fact I read it with my six-year-old son, and many other reasons, is why I just loved this and could not honestly give it less than five.
Displaying 1 of 1 review