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The Wolf / Taurus
'I am the wolf, taker of life: the predator. I attack with my eyes open and see death bright and fierce leap in the glance of my prey'
In a bleak winter landscape a wolf is starved and weakening. He is the predator, but the harshness of nature, the death that stalks all of the wild forest, beings to challenge his supremacy, and his understanding of himself.
'I can see myself - I can see the large black shape planted on short legs, the thick shoulders and neck and the huge broad head with horns pointing skyward. I swish my tail and snort and stamp and I can see a bull, doing these things'
Under a blazing sun a bull paces back and forth, his skin flickering in the heat. Weighed down by his own mass, his senses are dulled by the dust and lethargy of the farm. A boy tends him from a distance, and in this boy he senses the possibility of a different path: of swirls of colour and movement, of his own power and strength - a premonition of what he might create through violence.
In these two novellas, presented here in one edition for the first time, Joseph Smith transports the reader wholly into the mind of an animal, exploring the violence of the forest and the bull-ring from a new perspective, in writing both immediate and incandescent.
In a bleak winter landscape a wolf is starved and weakening. He is the predator, but the harshness of nature, the death that stalks all of the wild forest, beings to challenge his supremacy, and his understanding of himself.
'I can see myself - I can see the large black shape planted on short legs, the thick shoulders and neck and the huge broad head with horns pointing skyward. I swish my tail and snort and stamp and I can see a bull, doing these things'
Under a blazing sun a bull paces back and forth, his skin flickering in the heat. Weighed down by his own mass, his senses are dulled by the dust and lethargy of the farm. A boy tends him from a distance, and in this boy he senses the possibility of a different path: of swirls of colour and movement, of his own power and strength - a premonition of what he might create through violence.
In these two novellas, presented here in one edition for the first time, Joseph Smith transports the reader wholly into the mind of an animal, exploring the violence of the forest and the bull-ring from a new perspective, in writing both immediate and incandescent.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2011
14 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Smith
5 books20 followersJoseph Smith is the author of the novellas The Wolf , Taurus and a collection of short stories Finally My Ambulance. He is a dad and a husband, and lives and works in France.
He is passionate about great books that he has read, some of which are reviewed on this site.
In his time he has been an administrator, a student of philosophy, a secretary, an estate agent and a professional gambler.
Inspired by Barry Lopez's Of Wolves and Men, he wrote his debut novella The Wolf while living alone in the snowy north of England. It is a tale of a lone animal facing an increasing struggle against nature, a mixture of nature writing and fantasy. The villain of fairytales and traveller's myths, turned hero of his own adventure.
The Wolf was Irish Times Literary Event of the Year 2008, and was published worldwide.
Taurus is the opposite story: the shadow of the wild wolf, the tale of a domesticated fighting bull trapped in routine and boredom, slowly becoming aware of his own power, and what he might do with it.
Joe Smith's most recent book is Finally My Ambulance, a coherent flow of short stories, best read as a whole, linked in theme and tone.
He continues to write.
He is passionate about great books that he has read, some of which are reviewed on this site.
In his time he has been an administrator, a student of philosophy, a secretary, an estate agent and a professional gambler.
Inspired by Barry Lopez's Of Wolves and Men, he wrote his debut novella The Wolf while living alone in the snowy north of England. It is a tale of a lone animal facing an increasing struggle against nature, a mixture of nature writing and fantasy. The villain of fairytales and traveller's myths, turned hero of his own adventure.
The Wolf was Irish Times Literary Event of the Year 2008, and was published worldwide.
Taurus is the opposite story: the shadow of the wild wolf, the tale of a domesticated fighting bull trapped in routine and boredom, slowly becoming aware of his own power, and what he might do with it.
Joe Smith's most recent book is Finally My Ambulance, a coherent flow of short stories, best read as a whole, linked in theme and tone.
He continues to write.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 8, 2021
Taurus was unreadable. There was no story, no plot, just a lazy angry bull having an existential crisis, almost philosophical.
Wolf was worth reading. It had a plot and continuity from one chapter to the next. The character arc was more fulfilling. The three stars are only for the Wolf.
Wolf was worth reading. It had a plot and continuity from one chapter to the next. The character arc was more fulfilling. The three stars are only for the Wolf.
Displaying 1 of 1 review