Όταν τα κοτόπουλα τραγουδούν

by Lucie Rico, Μαρία Γυπαράκη (Translator)

"Έχει στεναχώρια μεγάλη για το Σούσι, το τόσο καχεκτικό και τρυφερό κοτόπουλο που δεν αγαπήθηκε. Ούτε νεκρό δεν το θέλει κανείς. Στην ετικέτα του έγραψε με ευκρινέστατα γράμματα: "Λυτός που εδώ τώρα αναπαύεται, περισσότερο τον οίκτιραν παρά τον μακάριζαν, χίλιες φορές πέθανε πριν χάσει τη ζωή του". Η Πολ, χορτοφάγος, γράφει τις βιογραφίες των κοτόπουλων που αναγκάζεται να σκοτώνει. Τα γνωρίζει ένα ένα προσωπικά· πριν καταλήξουν συσκευασμένα σε κενό αέρος στον πάγκο της λαϊκής, συνοδευόμενα από το καρτελάκι που διηγείται τη ζωή τους, ήταν φίλοι της. Μαζί έχουν πιεί, έχουν χορέψει, έχουν δει τηλεόραση, έχουν κοιμηθεί στο ίδιο κρεβάτι. Τα βιογραφημένα κοτόπουλα της Πολ ενθουσιάζουν τους καταναλωτές, που προτιμούν να μπήξουν τα δόντια τους σε μιαν αξιοφάγωτη προσωπικότητα, παρά σε ένα ανώνυμο μπούτι. Η αγορά πεινάει, ζητάει κι άλλα. Και η Πολ σκοτώνει για να γράφει, γράφει για να σκοτώνει. Με την ίδια ψυχραιμία, η Λουσί Ρικό, μια από τις ριζοσπαστικότερες και πολυβραβευμένες νέες φωνές της γαλλικής λογοτεχνίας, αποστάζει στα έργα της τη σύγχρονη δυτική κοινωνία από τις παθογένειες της. Με το άρρωστο υλικό που της μένει στα χέρια, χτίζει παράλληλες πραγματικότητες που ισορροπούν μεταξύ του εφιαλτικού και του γελοίου. Στο μυθιστόρημα "Όταν τα κοτόπουλα τραγουδούν", το χιούμορ είναι διεστραμμένο, η ωμότητα σου λερώνει τα χέρια, η συγγραφή ταυτίζεται με τη δολοφονία. Την ίδια στιγμή, η τρυφερότητα της Λουσί σπάει κόκκαλα. Στην κυριολεξία. (Αλεξάνδρα Κ*, από την παρουσίαση στο οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου)

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Contemporary, Roman, School, French Literature, Humor

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2020

Reviews

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has spent a good deal of time with domesticated birds (in my case, racing pigeons) I loved the way Lucie Rico gave space for her protagonist Paule to delight in her chickens, to recognize each of them as individuals with their own personalities and quirks, and to honor them for their unique contributions before she slaughters them for market. It's a confounding miracle to me that birds, and I imagine all living things to some extent, really do have their own individual ways of being in this world. Ok, I'm not sure about sheep. I hear they are a little one-note. But birds, yes. There is so much to enjoy in this novel for this reason alone, that it dares to suggest how creatures with bird-brains somehow have an individuated glorious uniqueness to be celebrated. I can imagine a god that has told birds each feather on their heads is counted. Rico takes this premise to the furthest possible, ridiculously dumbfounding extreme, and I was here for it.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were planning on cooking a chicken dinner any time soon, do it now before you read Fowl Eulogies.

To say this book is imaginative and absurd is an understatement. It’s a tour de force, and I promise, nothing like anything you’ve already read. Imagine this premise: a vegetarian city-dweller named Paule Rojas fulfills her dying mother’s last request and takes over the family chicken farm. While killing is a fact of life at the farm, Paule is determined to give each of their short lives meaning by writing a brief bio on the label that goes with each chicken she sells at the market. In little time, this differentiator – giving consumers insight into the chickens they digest – begins to capture attention.

But creating a new cultural norm is just the beginning. Soon she attracts the attention of a supermarket industrialist, who sees a goldmine in selling Paule’s chickens for mass consumption. She accepts his partnership, and a marketing campaign ensues. The outcome is not pretty.

Interspersed with dark humor, cringe-worthy and even brutal descriptions, surprising warmth and heart wrenching insight, the book does nothing less than explore the tenuous connection between poultry farmers and the consumers they serve. The eulogies alone are worth the price of admission.

I loved this bred-to-kill chicken dystopia and the originality behind this premise. I owe gratitude to World Editions for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

[mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paule grew up on a chicken farm. Now she lives in the city, and she is a vegetarian. When her mother dies, Paule has to take care of her family home and farm and decides she will continue with the family tradition. But she is innovative in the process and writes a eulogy for each chicken she sells on the market. I love how Paule treats animals with respect and names each individual animal.

Fowl Eulogies is a bit quirky novel. I usually like this in novels, and I expected to love it, but something didn’t quite work for me. Otherwise, I’m still glad I read it. It will definitely stay in my mind, but I wish I liked it more.

Thanks to World Editions for the advanced copy and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

[Стефани Витанова · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Песента на вакуумираното пиле" е една от онези книги, които четете чисто изследователски, заради характеровите особености на персонажите, а не за удоволствие или защото очаквате да ви хареса.

След смъртта на майка си Полин се завръща в семейната ферма, където я чака наследство от триста пилета. Пилета, за които трябва да се грижи, но трябва и да убие и продаде.

Привързана към своите пернати, всяко със своето име и индивидуалност, Полин решава да им отдаде посмъртно почит с кратък разказ за живота им. И така, към вакуумираната опаковка на пилето за продан, се добавя неговата ръкописна биография-епитафия.

Книгата е особена. Брутална бих казала. Няма красота в нея. Остра, лишена от всякаква топлота. Изреченията се точат без читателят да може да си вземе глътка въздух между тях.

Романът е силно смущаващ. Засяга темата майка-дъщеря, съпружески отношения, консуматорството, странна почит към животните, която от любов и грижа прелива в диво наслаждение от собственоръчното им убиване. Омразата в малката общност.

Трудна за преглъщане книга. Психологически и нравствено любопитна, но не бих препоръчала. Трябва особена нагласа за прочита й.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

lucie rico’s “fowl eulogies” explores the relationship between those who farm and the animals they slaughter. when paule’s mother falls ill and passes away, paule is left in charge of a poultry farm with about three hundred chickens. she builds a relationship with each chicken, lovingly naming them and taking care of them. she notices things about them that other people don’t, and writes eulogies when they die naturally or are killed. paule sells them at a small market. when the opportunity comes to move the chickens to an industrial facility, paule agrees to it. this is the story of what happens when profits are put over the well-being of animals.

this novel struck a chord with me. i used to be an animal science major before i was an english major, and i switched because i could not handle exploiting animals for profit. industrial farming is absolutely horrendous, and the small farms you believe are organic are actually factory farms. watching paule lose her humanity and empathy was particularly heart wrenching. this is a phenomenal novel about not only the human psyche, but animal rights. the prose is extremely well written and the eulogies are poetic and emotionally driven.

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Sookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect industrial chicken keeping book to be funny with erratic humor. While there is an underlying tragedy with eulogies and poetic obituaries for a dead bird, it celebrates the life along the way.

Thank you to Netgalley and World Editions for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

[charlie medusa · Rating 5 out of 5]

au début je me suis dit oui bon ce sera un simple 3 étoiles puis au milieu j'étais comme un chouette 4 étoiles en fin de compte et puis parvenue à la dernière page je me suis rendue à l'évidence que serait mon 5 étoiles car quelle raison valable avais-je de soustraire la moindre étoile à cette histoire si exactement, si pleinement parvenue au bout de ce qu'elle est ??? aucune je ne suis personne et Lucie Rico ne serait-ce que pour le fait d'avoir créé le concept de "scénariste de biographie de poulet" mérite chacune de ces 5 étoiles

c'est un formidable merveilleux fou roman précisément parce qu'il n'est PAS fou. je m'explique. si je vous décrivais l'intrigue en détail (ce que je ne ferai pas parce que contrairement à pas mal de livres dont je trouve que le spoilage n'enlève pas grand-chose à la lecture, celui-ci gagne vraiment à être découvert à l'aveugle) vous vous diriez : "c'est fou." alors que non ça n'est pas fou du tout. c'est plein de bon sens. du point de vue de l'héroïne en tout cas. tout tombe sous le sens. tout obéit à une logique bonne et éthique qu'on ne peut pas ne pas suivre. c'est très réel. c'est tout. et ça aboutit à une fin dont on peut trouver que c'est dommage qu'elle ait lieu mais en se trouvant également incapable de la juger immorale car c'est le simple aboutissement d'un processus de pensée qu'on n'a pu qu'approuver tout du long en s'ancrant dans les valeurs morales et le système de pensée de l'héroïne. également l'écriture sert à merveille le livre, en restant d'une simplicité constante, directe et nette et précise dans ce qu'elle décrit. ça aurait tué le livre que l'écriture tente des effets de style ou de lyrisme, et je suis trop heureuse de voir que l'autrice a trouvé le PARFAIT ton pour équilibrer la dinguerie des proportions que prend cette histoire, et la sinistre et indéniable logique qui motive chacune de ses progressions. hyper hyper intéressant aussi sur ce que l'on pardonne aux femmes et sur les bons meurtres VS ceux que l'on va juger indicibles. bref dingue livre !!!!!!!!!!

[Giordana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide whether I liked this book or not... it was such a strange story, with a very strange main character - I found it hard to actually like her. Yet the writing was excellent and the plot sort of made sense despite being a bit whacky. Not sure I would recommend it though. A bit of a question mark for me!

[Maja Palm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riktigt jävla konstig, loved it

[Veerle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no rulebook for grief. Vegetarian Paule returns to the village she grew up in when her mother dies. She continues her mother's chicken business after her mother asks her on her death bed to kill Théodore, the one-eyed chicken.

Paule develops a taste for killing her chickens after making sure they have a satisfying life on the farm in which they get the opportunity to self-actualise. To make up for slaughtering them, she writes beautiful and funny eulogies about who they were. Fernand, a businessman, discovers her at the market and convinces her to embark upon a journey of urban farming where the chickens will lead an equally blissful life.

But is the city a place where chickens can belong? And where does Paule belong? This is a book that will resonate with all of us who felt out of place in the countryside when growing up. This is a book about the struggle to reconcile your roots and your dreams of another life. Because your roots keep turning up whether you like it or not.

I loved this book because it was absurd, funny and unsettling at the same time. You keep wondering whether Paule is okay, yet you’re laughing at the human level she’s interacting with the chickens. Those chickens even get a doll house I could only dream of as a child

I chuckled quite a bit with the eulogies. They were my favourite bits of the book. Lucie Rico is an excellent observer of chickens. My parents have always had 2 or 3 chickens and I could totally imagine one of the biographies was about one of them.

Thank you Net Galley and World Editions for this great book!

[Andy Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the splendid Of Cattle and Men comes this, a similarly themed fable for the ethical carnivore, but this time with a much lighter dose of horror.

When her mother dies, 36 year old vegetarian, Paule, returns to her childhood rural home from the city to deal with the chicken farm. Her initial thoughts of selling up are put on hold when she discovers that the work she feared so much, is actually quite enjoyable. She gives the chickens loving attention, names them, lets them roam the house, and with reverence, then dispatches them. She then writes a few sentences as an obituary which she attaches to the vacuum packed produce that heads to the shops. Her caring approach is loved by customers.

This is a quirky and fun short read that deals with some more serious topics, those of relationships, grief, and amidst it all, violence.
It makes an excellent soul mate to Ana Paula Maia’s aforementioned, Of Cattle and Men, as the latter is far darker.

[endrju · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soundtrack: Orion Rigel Dommisse - Chickens

I have been reading the novel from the point of view of the ahuman, as Patricia MacCormack would put it, which as a conceptual practice aims to liberate the animal from the human in absolute terms. Seen from that point of view, whether chickens are individualized (through naming, biography, eulogy) and supposedly properly "grown", or killed on an industrialized scale where individuality is a simulacrum as later in the novel, matters little. Both approaches are equally detrimental to the animal life, and only serve humans. The biting humor and oftentimes rather uncomfortable turns of phrase underline cul-de-sac of vegetarian/carnivorous dichotomy when faced with the real of animal exploitation. The dichotomy's all too human.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first discovered Fowl Eulogies it sounded so interesting that I couldn’t resist requesting it from NetGalley!

Paule’s mother owns a farm on which she raises chickens for slaughter. Paule is a vegetarian who, although she feels a closeness to the chickens, becomes obsessed with killing them once her mother forces her to kill her most beloved chicken Théodore.

After Paule’s mother passes away, the chicken farm becomes Paule’s. As Paule writes eulogies for the chickens she raises, kills, and tries to sell at the market, she attracts the attention of an entrepreneur, and their relationship will forever change her life and the lives of her chickens. Fowl Eulogies is at times humorous, devastating, infuriating, touching, heartbreaking, and disturbing. For Rico to be able to evoke those feelings in her readers is impressive!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, what I enjoyed most were the eulogies. But I think that Paule’s relationship with the chickens and her character arc were also what I loved about this publication. It’s easy to feel frustrated with Paule’s decisions because, as an outsider, we can see how manipulative and terrible some of the people in her life are. But her wholesomeness and her ability to look past others’ flaws is admirable: she believes in others—even if they’re flawed, especially because they’re flawed.

Even though this is a shorter work of fiction, Rico does a great job of presenting readers with a complete story of loss, rediscovery, connections across species, consumerism, capitalism, migrations to cities, animal rights, and how to prevent senseless death.

If you enjoy reading about relationships between people and other animals, the repercussions of consumerism on animal rights, humorous eulogies about chickens, or how one woman attempts to build a life for herself after her dominating mother passes away, then this book is for you!

Also, this translation is fantastic, so Daria Chernysheva deserves to be praised as well! I can see how a poorly translated version of this book could have been a disaster. Instead, Chernysheva did Rico’s story justice and, more importantly, gave it heart and soul!

I highly recommend this shorter work of fiction and hope many others pick it up and enjoy its quirkiness! Many thanks to World Editions and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of Fowl Eulogies in exchange for an honest review!

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

No es un libro que hubiera elegido para leer voluntariamente. La historia no me parece nada extraordinario, pero Paule, su amor por los pollos y finalmente el desenlace al que le lleva esta obsesión me parecieron cosas que "admirar" en cuanto al arco de corrupción del personaje.

[Elin Isaksson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't been able to stop talking about this book and immediately gifting it to a friend after finshing it a couple of days ago. It's a super unique and wacky story.

After her mother's death, Paule returns to her mother's small chicken farm to kill her mother's favorite chicken. When she does this she decides to eulogize the chicken and stick it on the packaging to sell at the market. From there the story goes and it's a wonderful satire and exploration on marketing, authenticity, death, life, and lots and lots of chickens and eulogies.

[Grace Rust · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this — definitely made it onto my favorite books list

[Anika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chicken dystopia written with lots of heart . . . and brutality. Fun, absurd, and disturbing, this made me glad to be a vegetarian and also made me want to go give my three urban backyard chickens extra treats and cuddles.

[Kate File · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un sujet particulier pour une histoire étrange et bien ficelée.

[Jax · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paule failed to give a eulogy for her mother. She wrote one for a one-eyed chicken instead: Theodore, the one she killed to honor her mother’s last wish. She will linger on the poultry farm, an old and unprofitable one that now belongs to her, trying to conquer something, she’s not clear what. But killing and selling Theodore is the first step. Then there are others whose eulogies are packaged with them and sold at the local market. The villagers aren’t pleased with Paule’s return or the eulogies. They will make this known in ways that are too threatening to ignore. She leaves the farm but will later question if someone else was behind the threats. Paule’s attachment to her roots, to the chickens, and to the need to honor their deaths will lead to an unraveling, an explosive twist that readers won’t see coming.

This debut novel by French writer Lucie Rico was awarded both the Ecology Prize and the Cheval Blanc Literary Award.

Thank you to World Editions and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC.

[Sylvia Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I can best describe as quirky. It is about a vegetarian who returns to her hometown after the death of her mother, a chicken farmer and must begin running the family business. Needless to say, she runs into some ethical issues and develops a rather unusual way of coping with the business of the slaughter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Maggie Rotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous, horrifying and challenging all at once, Fowl Eulogies should make even the most devoted meat eater think twice. Lucie Rico has created an unlikely and at times unlikeable hero who finds the final solution to animal cruelty. Included is an off-kilter love affair - actually several if you count the chickens. You'll love it or hate it, but it's short and very well written, so might as well give it a go.

[Shannon Hong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book until the very end. So engaging in the lives of chicken in the life of paule, and ofc rural France, market dynamics, village politics. Life and fear and capitalism. The end annoyed me — kind of a cop out honestly.

[David Karlsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

I samband med sin mors död återvänder Paule till sitt barndomshem på landet där modern fram till sin död fortsatt med att föda upp, slakta och sälja kycklingar. Paule är alltsedan hennes mamma dödade hennes favoritkyckling som barn vegetarian och det är därför med viss tvekan hon möter sin mammas sista önskan: att döda Théodore, den kyckling som modern hållit av mest mot slutet.

I sin sorg dras Paule sakta tillbaka in i moderns värld. Istället för att sälja eller avveckla verksamheten börjar hon att bedriva den, men med den förändringen att hon för varje kyckling hon dödar skriver en biografi över dess liv och egenheter. Det visar sig vara en praktik som möts på olika sätt av människorna runt henne ...

Som vegan sedan snart trettio år tillbaka älskar jag sättet som denna roman belyser det absurda i köttindustrin, där just "produktionen" av kycklingar hör till det mest bisarra. Bara i Sverige dödas över hundra miljoner kycklingar varje år (hundra miljoner!), i världen 73 miljarder (73 miljarder!). Det är svindlande siffror* och att ge varje kyckling en biografi är såklart en omöjlighet, vilket Paule också tvingas upptäcka.

Hade det här bara varit ett debattinlägg kring djurrätt hade det dock knappast varit en särskilt lyckad roman, men här ryms lyckligtvis mycket mer. Sorgen efter modern är central, där en inte helt enkel relation kan anas. Att Paules namn ligger nära franskans ord för just kyckling (poulet) är såklart inte en slump och tillsammans med de erotiska undertoner som finns i boken öppnar det för att närmast bli en psykoanalytikers våta dröm.

Jag kommer att tänka på Olga Tokarczuks "Styr din plog över de dödas ben", även den en fantastisk reflektion över vår relation till djuren med en huvudperson vars livsval står i kontrast med omgivningens förväntningar. En varm rekommendation med andra ord.

* Från 2022, orkar inte googla så noga men poängen går nog fram ändå.

[Lusionnelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Objectivement, c’est sans doute un bon roman, surtout pour une première publication.

La vive critique de l’absurdité de notre société productiviste et consumériste ; la déconnexion de nos sociétés majoritairement urbaines avec le vivant, la vie animale, qui se trouve dénuée de toute réalité dans les barquettes des supermarchés ; l’impossible hommage fait à sa mère lors de son enterrement que la protagoniste reproduit à la mise à mort de chaque poulet de la ferme dont elle a hérité, où elle a grandi ; la cruauté humaine absurde, dont elle-même a été victime enfant, par ses proches, puis adulte par tous ceux qui l’ont autrefois apprécié ou disent l’aimer et qui n’hésitent pas à la trahir, la manipuler ; sa personnalité qui défie les normes, tout en apparaissant limpide.

C’est une fable cruelle, absurde, originale et globalement bien construite. Et bien que le squelette de cette histoire (retour à la campagne d’une citadine rejetée par les locaux, héritage d’une entreprise familiale agricole, relation familiale toxique et irrésolue) me laisse très indifférentes, l’idée originale des biographies de poulets, l’absurdité et les thèmes sous-jacents auraient pu contredire ces aprioris.
Mais, aussi vaguement intéressée que j’ai été par cette sortie hors de mes sentiers usuels, je n’ai quand même pas aimé la lecture de ce roman. Faute principalement à l’écriture et au ton maintenu dans tout le récit, qui ajouté au rythme invariable, est d’une monotonie qui retire tout le sel de l’ironie, de la drôlerie, de l’absurde, du piquant que j’aurais préféré trouver.

Tant pis pour moi, mais si vous aimez les thèmes soulevés ci-dessus, ne vous arrêtez pas à cet avis et faîtes-en l’expérience par vous-même, mon avis tient vraiment de mes goûts personnels et ce que je cherche dans mes lectures, plus que de la qualité intrinsèque de ce livre.

[Barbara Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is equal parts a bizarre love story and twisted horror story and I can’t decide which part I liked more. As someone who has chickens as pets (and for the eggs) this was a wild ride for me.
Paule has come back home from loving her life in the city with her boyfriend Louis to tend to her mothers last wishes after her death. Paule has to handle the farm’s needs and the chickens that love there. Once Paule gets there and amongst them and has to deal with the butchering, she finds herself noticing their various personalities and quirks and sets out to write biographies for each of the birds she is killing. She does manage to attach to a couple of them that she can’t let herself murder, but for the most part, she gets to know them, then writes about them and then kills and sells them at the local market. Then her uncle comes and introduces her to someone who sees the potential in what she is doing. It’s a niche idea, but one he thinks could take off. As the business grows, Paula’s disdain grows with it. And darkness grows all around her.
This is super imaginative and absurd and I am into it. There’s dark humor, cringe-worthy descriptions of the birds mixed with some heart wrenching insight into farming and consumerism. This dystopian tale is one I won’t forget anytime soon.
Thanks to World Editions and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

[Lovis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Högläsningsbok 2

Det här är en väldigt annorlunda bok. Läsaren får följa Paule som vid hennes mammas död flyttar tillbaka till barndomshemmet som råkar vara en hönsgård. Paule är vegetarian men hon har lovat sin mamma att döda Théodore, mammans favoritkyckling tillika följeslagare. Detta blir en vändpunkt i Paules liv och hon tvingas ta itu med hennes relation till mamman samtidigt som hon måste bearbeta sorgen, något som leder till att Paule utvecklar en väldigt nära relation med hönsen...

Det som är mest kul men också tankeväckande med boken är Paules relation till kycklingarna. Hon ser kycklingarna som husdjur och tar tillochmed in de i hennes hus ett tag. Det får en att tänka på var gränsen mellan husdjur och mat går, om det ens finns en sådan? Utan att spoila för mycket så väcker frågan också tanken om man etiskt kan massproducera kött. Vad händer när man tappar en relation till maten på ens tallrik? En mycket rolig och tankeväckande roman.

Trots bokens roliga och tankeväckande sidor så kände jag att det saknades något. Slutet kom väldigt plötsligt och jag kände inte riktigt att de trådar som fanns knöts ihop alls. Ganska öppet slut, men så hade det kunna vara även med ihopknutna trådar. Jag tyckte också att den blev rätt seg ett tag vilket tog läslusten lite.

Rekommenderar till dig som vill ha en kort och tankeväckande bok som inte kräver alltför mycket av hjärnan. Den är lite feelgood trots allt.

[Nyah Cormie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a bit absurd. The humour was punchy and satirical and I liked how you learn gradually that Paule the protagonist is very mentally unstable. Her vegetarianism and human relationships with her chickens in contrast with her love of slaughtering them lead me to a lot of questions about what ethical farming is. I liked how to book covered important topics like mistreatment of women in the workplace and impossible ethical mass production of meat. Very fascinating read, turned into a bit of a horror story towards the end though! Also such lovely book cover.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Für Hannah sind Hühner Gefährten. Sie ist mit Hühner aufgewachsen, Hühner sind das, was ihr bleiben, als die Mutter stirbt. Sie lernt die Hühner als Persönlichkeiten kennen, bevor sie sie schlachtet und ihnen eine Biografie schreibt, die auf dem Etikett landet.
Das töten der Hühner macht ihr nichts aus, aber der Gedanke, ihr Fleisch zu verspeisen, ekelt sie. Oft sind ihr die Hühner näher als Menschen, denn die Hühner sind ihr die ehrlicheren Weggefährten. Es ist so absurd wie es konsequent ist. Wobei ich mich frage, ob es tatsächlich absurd ist, an der Idee festzuhalten, dass auch Tiere beseelte Wesen sind.

[Manjot Kaur Sran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun read! It gets slowly darker and darker, I ended up liking the first half more than the second, but I appreciated the commentary on consumerism brought by the second half - it feels incredibly relevant right now as more and more people are thinking about their consumption of meat and about the products we buy.

[Charlotte Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was so weird and so good. i wanted more from the end and was disappointed but i guess that was the point that there is no happy ethical ending in agriculture and small scale will inevitably become industrial?