Between Light and Storm: How We Live with Other Species

by Esther Woolfson

Beginning with the very origins of life on Earth, Woolfson considers pre-historic human-animal interaction and traces the millennia-long evolution of conceptions of the soul and conscience in relation to the animal kingdom, and the consequences of our belief in human superiority. She explores our representation of animals in art, our consumption of them for food, our experiments on them for science, and our willingness to slaughter them for sport and fashion, as well as examining concepts of love and ownership. Drawing on philosophy and theology, art and history, as well as her own experience of living with animals and coming to know, love and respect them as individuals, Woolfson examines some of the most complex ethical issues surrounding our treatment of animals and argues passionately and persuasively for a more humble, more humane, relationship with the creatures who share our world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, History, Animals, Natural History, Philosophy

368 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2020

About the author

Esther Woolfson was brought up in Glasgow and studied Chinese at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Edinburgh University.

Her critically acclaimed short stories have appeared in many anthologies including 'New Writing Scotland' and several volumes of 'Scottish Short Stories'and have been read on Radio 4.

She has won prizes for them and for nature writing. She was awarded a Scottish Arts Council Travel Grant which enabled her to travel in Poland and Lithuania.

Esther won the Waterstone's/Arvon short prize prize for her short story 'Passing On' and her short story 'Statues' was shortlisted for the Macallan Prize.

Her short story,'Chagall' is in the Scottish Arts Council on-line short story archive and her article, 'Trump in Scotland' was published in the American magazine n+1.

Her book on natural history, Corvus was published by Granta in August, 2008. It was Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. Her novel Piano Angel was published by Two Ravens Press October 2008.

Esther took part in an Artists' Residency at Aberdeen University's Centre for Environmental Sustainability. She gave a paper on the relationship between the arts and science, in which she examined the breaking-down of the traditional separation between the disciplines.

Esther was Writer in Residence at Kielder as part of the Hexham Book Festival in 2012.

'Field Notes From a Hidden City' is about the relationship between the urban and the 'wild', between the people who live in cities and the most common species who share our living space - pigeons, spiders, rats, squirrels. It touches on themes of biology, climate change, phenology and the ethics of human-animal relations. It is published in February 2013.

Reviews

[Rebecca]

If you’ve read Woolfson’s Corvus, you’ve already met Chicken, an orphaned rook she raised. For over 31 years, Chicken was a constant presence in her home. The recently departed bird is the dedicatee of her new book, feted as “Colleague, companion, friend.” (No mere pet.) Relationships with these creatures with whom she shared her life led her to think differently about how we as humans conceive of the animal world in general. “If I had ever believed humans to be the only ones to live profound and interconnected lives, I couldn’t any more. … If we’re the gods now, shouldn’t we be better than we are?” From her introduction, it’s clear that her sympathy toward the more-than-human world extends even to spiders, and her language throughout – using words like “who” and “his” in reference to animals, rather than “that” or “its” – reinforces the view that all species are equally valuable.

Or, at least, should be. But our attitudes are fundamentally distorted, Woolfson believes, and have been since the days of Aristotle (whose Ladder of Nature is an origin of the ideas that nature is there for man to use) and the Old Testament writers (one of the two creation accounts in Genesis established the idea of “dominion”). From cave paintings to animal sacrifice, intensive farming to fur coats, taxidermy to whaling, she surveys what others have thought and said about how animals are, or should be, perceived. There was more of an academic tone to this book than I expected, and in early chapters I found too much overlap with other works I’ve read about deep time (Time Song, Surfacing, Underland).

I most appreciated the fragments of nature writing and memoir and would have liked more in the way of personal reflection. Woolfson’s perspective – as a Jewish woman in Scotland – is quite interesting. She is clearly troubled by how humans exploit animals, but mostly recounts others’ reasoning rather than coming to conclusions of her own. (Though there is a brilliant takedown of the gender politics of Watership Down.) It’s a book that demands more time and attention than I was able to give just now. As I only skimmed it, I’m going to refrain from assigning a rating and will pass this on to my husband and return to it one day. [I do wish the title, on its own (subtitle aside), was more indicative of the contents.]

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Tim M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found parts of this book a challenge to read, mainly due to the complex wording and references. It was still very interesting and provided thought provoking insights into the human - animal world relations and interactions.

[Cheryl]

Because this is, according to other reviewers, a survey of others' ideas and not a development of a new argument, and because I've already read extensively in the genre, and because I cannot easily parse her structure, I'm moving on. May 2024

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Partly bought this book for the cover. Not going to lie! I have a love of birds on covers.

At its core, this book is concerned with animal ethics and human-animal relationships throughout history - something I have great interest in. Facts are interspersed with personal memories of the author and her animals, which I loved; it added a personal touch to an otherwise academic text. Woolfson focuses on specific ideas per chapter, and I was glued to every page. I'd describe this as a collection of ideas rather than a development of ideas, mind you.

If you've read Timothy Morton, or know anything about ecology (something I studied for a whole semester of uni, luckily), you'll understand and fly through this. Otherwise, you may need to go slowly. Woolfson's writing isn't filled with absolutely impossible jargon and she does explain some terms, so it's accessible enough for those inexperienced with academia. If you're in the ecology or animal rights space, you'll definitely recognise some of the names in here.

However, sometimes I got lost or the sentence structure hindered me, which is my reasoning for a lost star. I also wanted her to discuss taxidermy more, but that's a personal critique.

[Lee McKerracher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esther Woolfson has written a thought-provoking book on our relationship with the animal kingdom. How we regard them, worship them, represent them in art and culture, consume them, destroy their habitats, eat them, and fantasize them in stories and in imagery.

She traces these relationships across millennia, and it is an interesting read but one where you will probably need a dictionary by your side. Woolfson is clearly very highly educated but the average reader may not immediately be able to associate with descriptions that include words such as commensalism, chthonic and interstadials.

So not a book to curl up on the couch with on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Her call for the ethical treatment of animals is one that should be heard but her turn of phrase and use of vocabulary may put people off and thus her message may not get through to the majority - a missed opportunity?

[David Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've long been fascinated with our relationship with animals - the ones we love to cuddle and the ones we choose to eat. This book certainly explores the ways in which those relationships developed throughout our history and offers personal reflections on where we are today.

I'm not sure that we arrived at any firm conclusions or recommendations. I did feel that we wandered off the path more than once and I was willing her to get back to the point. I can't recall any point at which I felt challenged regarding my own relationships with other species (I'm a live and let live vegan).

This was an interesting read, but not a book that changed my view one iota.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating overview of philosophical, theological, and other cultural thinking on how we interact with other species, needless to say some of the content makes for hard reading when it deals with the horrors of vivisection or some of our animal management. We should have a duty to confront our ethical dilemmas and be informed enough to make decisions on how we deal with all life on this planet. This is an intelligent, stimulating and discomforting read, it won't be for everyone.

[Stewart Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought-provoking, informative and emotive book, which made me by turns angry, sad and hopeful.

It might not persuade you to become vegan or to eschew animal products but it will definitely improve your understanding of the place of human beings in the world and our relationship with other species.

Highly recommended.

[Allison Ringler · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good perspective on the relationships between humanity and animals, but leans heavily into the negative. I had to stop reading in the section about the meat-packing industry, it was too depressing. Overall felt a bit preach-y about vegetarianism and didn't present many hopeful directions for the course of humanity and nature. Again, I didn't finish it, so it may address that at the end.

[BookBrowse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between Light and Storm is thought-provoking, perceptive and crammed with interesting ideas presented in an accessible way.
-Elisabeth Herschbach

Read the full review at: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/review...

[Stephen Dunstan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's tough going in places but if you are interested in the relationship between humans and animals it is very much recommended.

[Michael Crompton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely but

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful book of essays on humanity's relationship with other animal species and our treatment of them. Lots of food for thought.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since I read Woolfson's Field Notes from a Hidden City: An Urban Nature Diary, I have been longing for more. Especially in the first chapter, Between Light and Storm has the vivid poetry that makes her case for appreciating other species so powerful and her book so wonderful to inhabit. She makes important challenges to ways of thinking that perpetuate cruelty. I took for granted that fur-wearing was a thing of the past and was horrified to learn about the euphemistic way fur is still enthusiastically marketed, appallingly appealing to our quest for sustainability. The best chapters are prismatic explorations of hard questions. "Love" explores both the cruelties of the pet trade and the loving relationship Woolfson has had with the creatures she has lived with. "Blood" calls for rethinking the harmful assumptions about superiority both to animals and other humans that can underlie choices about what we eat. The book reflects years of reading. That is what makes it impressive and multifaceted, but it can feel like a book report at times, with some works getting rather perfunctory treatment.
3.5