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Pity the Beast
A brutalized woman is left for dead. But dead is the one thing she isn’t. With a stolen horse and rifle, she escapes into the mountains, and a small posse of her tormentors has to gear up and give chase―whether to beg forgiveness or shut her up for good, nobody knows. With detours through time, space and myth―not to mention into the minds of a pack of philosophical mules― Pity the Beast is a mind-melting feminist Western that pins a tale of sexual violence and vengeance to a canvas as wide and strange as America itself. It’s a novel that turns our assumptions about the West, masculinity, good and evil, and the very nature of storytelling onto their heads, with an eye to the cosmic as well as the comic. It urges us to write our stories anew―if we want to avoid becoming beasts ourselves.
384 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 2021
74 people are currently reading
1426 people want to read
About the author
Robin McLean
3 books66 followersRobin McLean was a lawyer and then a potter for 15 years in the woods of Alaska before receiving her MFA at UMass Amherst in Massachusetts. Her first short story collection Reptile House won the 2013 BOA Editions Fiction Prize. The collection was also a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Short Story Prize in 2011 and 2012. McLean’s stories have appeared widely in such places as The Cincinnati Review, Green Mountains Review, The Western Humanities Review,The Carolina Quarterly, The Nashville Review, The Malahat Review, Gargoyle, The Common, and Copper Nickel, and others.
A figure skater first—having learned to skate and walk at the same time—McLean believes that crashing on ice prepared her for writing fiction. Besides writing, her careers and interests have been diverse: pushcart hotdog sales, lawyer and mediator, potter and tile maker, political activist, union grievance officer, sculptor, haunted corn maze manager as well as zombie trainer. She currently teaches at Clark University and divides her time between Newfound Lake in Bristol, NH, and a 200-year-old farm in Sunderland, MA.
She grew up in Peoria, Illinois, one of four wild and inventive sisters, all who, like their mother, attended Mount Holyoke College.
A figure skater first—having learned to skate and walk at the same time—McLean believes that crashing on ice prepared her for writing fiction. Besides writing, her careers and interests have been diverse: pushcart hotdog sales, lawyer and mediator, potter and tile maker, political activist, union grievance officer, sculptor, haunted corn maze manager as well as zombie trainer. She currently teaches at Clark University and divides her time between Newfound Lake in Bristol, NH, and a 200-year-old farm in Sunderland, MA.
She grew up in Peoria, Illinois, one of four wild and inventive sisters, all who, like their mother, attended Mount Holyoke College.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
September 26, 2022
I would have stopped reading around page 131 or before but it was sent as part of my book subscription so I wanted to give it a fair chance by finishing. However it just wasn’t for me and I wonder why this book was chosen based on the preferences I gave.
Anyway I felt like the language was vulgar at times. Which I don’t usually mind but it just didn’t sit well in this novel, it didn’t add to it. In general I found it hard to follow and hard to read.
This was probably deliberate but I couldn’t place the time. It seemed so old fashioned but it did talk of fairly modern things too.
It was definitely unusual and would probably suit someone else’s tastes, just not mine this time.
Anyway I felt like the language was vulgar at times. Which I don’t usually mind but it just didn’t sit well in this novel, it didn’t add to it. In general I found it hard to follow and hard to read.
This was probably deliberate but I couldn’t place the time. It seemed so old fashioned but it did talk of fairly modern things too.
It was definitely unusual and would probably suit someone else’s tastes, just not mine this time.
November 21, 2022
A bestial, brutal examination of violence, misogyny, and vengeance. This genre-bending western is a fever dream of casual evil, the indifference wilderness that persists throughout time, and the endless struggle for power and dominance, for the right to tell the story, to make the path. Claustrophobic, philosophical, and dark.
November 3, 2021
"Well, I do not like the brutalizing, of course. Those parts are very hard to write or read or even think about later. But what I’m trying to do as a human being (a writer) is to depict the world I see and this world we live in is terribly brutal to animals, to humans, to beings of all kinds, isn’t it? Why pussy foot around?"
Brilliant book, brilliant writer. More from my interview with Robin McLean here: https://www.full-stop.net/2021/11/03/...
Brilliant book, brilliant writer. More from my interview with Robin McLean here: https://www.full-stop.net/2021/11/03/...
January 23, 2022
The fractured prose of McCarthy, though without the beauty and the intensity. Far too jumbled for my liking.
December 20, 2021
This novel is pure allegory, awash in metaphor. Hence, the plot is narrated from a position of extreme emotional detachment, as to make it sufficiently surreal. The author has a lot to say about humanity, and so-called *progress*.
Humans may have power and dominion over the earth and its other inhabitants, through evolutionary arrogance, but it's our stubborn nature which will be our downfall. No other creature is so willfully obtuse, impulsive, capricious, violent, brutal, or cruel. So, who truly is the *beast* after all?
The author communicates a range of social criticisms via some of the most inventive, fantastic, exquisite dialogue I've ever read. None of it is meant to be taken literally, but the whole of it is definitely meant to be taken seriously. The text is swimming in subtext. Even environmental naturalists and other *good guys in white hats* reveal their essential human hubris, when they try to save the planet from other people.
I had originally given this a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, because the stress of straining for a resolution to the main story was driving me mad, especially in the last 150 pages. Granted, a resolution was not the point. Human as I am, I was still greedy for one. This is not to say that the story doesn't have a good or satisfying ending; it most certainly does. By the time we get one, we feel more exhausted than the animals who've put up with us over all of this time. That was a bit of a realization in itself.
The creative structure, self-idealized perspectives, and incredibly clever intelligent writing set this book apart. Pack your patience and settle in for this one.
Humans may have power and dominion over the earth and its other inhabitants, through evolutionary arrogance, but it's our stubborn nature which will be our downfall. No other creature is so willfully obtuse, impulsive, capricious, violent, brutal, or cruel. So, who truly is the *beast* after all?
The author communicates a range of social criticisms via some of the most inventive, fantastic, exquisite dialogue I've ever read. None of it is meant to be taken literally, but the whole of it is definitely meant to be taken seriously. The text is swimming in subtext. Even environmental naturalists and other *good guys in white hats* reveal their essential human hubris, when they try to save the planet from other people.
I had originally given this a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, because the stress of straining for a resolution to the main story was driving me mad, especially in the last 150 pages. Granted, a resolution was not the point. Human as I am, I was still greedy for one. This is not to say that the story doesn't have a good or satisfying ending; it most certainly does. By the time we get one, we feel more exhausted than the animals who've put up with us over all of this time. That was a bit of a realization in itself.
The creative structure, self-idealized perspectives, and incredibly clever intelligent writing set this book apart. Pack your patience and settle in for this one.
February 3, 2022
Up to p80 - this is blowing my tiny socks off!..
..The rest of the book was not quite as intense as that first section, it couldn't be. However it remained a gripping and unusual read. People have compared her to Cormac McCarthy, and there is a similarity in the simple, short sentences, the references to prehistory - we are beasts like birds and horses and as such we are subject to the same terrifying survival battle; morals and community are luxury add-ons - sexuality bursts out, frustration, brutality. The rule of law, represented here by a deputy sheriff, is bypassed. But she is also very much her own writer (McCarthy for instance would never do sections based in the future, the year 2179, or narrated by a talking mule, as McLean does here). It's difficult to pin down when the main action takes place, I thought at first fifties going by the Western serials on the television, but DNA clues are mentioned which wasn't used as evidence until the 80s. It gives it a timeless feel even if the background of horses, tracking, pursuit along mountain ranges evoke cowboy era American. Maybe a little too long, nevertheless this is frighteningly good.
..The rest of the book was not quite as intense as that first section, it couldn't be. However it remained a gripping and unusual read. People have compared her to Cormac McCarthy, and there is a similarity in the simple, short sentences, the references to prehistory - we are beasts like birds and horses and as such we are subject to the same terrifying survival battle; morals and community are luxury add-ons - sexuality bursts out, frustration, brutality. The rule of law, represented here by a deputy sheriff, is bypassed. But she is also very much her own writer (McCarthy for instance would never do sections based in the future, the year 2179, or narrated by a talking mule, as McLean does here). It's difficult to pin down when the main action takes place, I thought at first fifties going by the Western serials on the television, but DNA clues are mentioned which wasn't used as evidence until the 80s. It gives it a timeless feel even if the background of horses, tracking, pursuit along mountain ranges evoke cowboy era American. Maybe a little too long, nevertheless this is frighteningly good.
August 28, 2022
Like Cormac McCarthy on acid, McClean replaces his Old Testament moralizing with a swirling, psychedelic paganism, while keeping his relentless horse fetishism and doubling-down with donkeys and mules as well.
A post-(post?)-feminist revenge western with elements of Tom Robbins, Beckett, McMurtry and William Burroughs’ The Place of Dead Roads.
A post-(post?)-feminist revenge western with elements of Tom Robbins, Beckett, McMurtry and William Burroughs’ The Place of Dead Roads.
February 29, 2024
And here we have another wildly original and daring book that is needlessly castigated by the Vanilla Goodreads Lit Brigade. God damn you all! Y'all always dump on a woman. And yet you give alt-lit sociopaths like Blake Butler and Sam Pink, whose soporific work oozes with toxic masculinity, a fair pass. Well, Robin McLean has a hell of a lot more to offer than that. She's written a daring novel that examines just how bestial we humans are -- in this case, a number of cowhands who are trying to write a woman's story out of existence. It's a bold approach, particularly since the events don't neatly adhere to time and space. McLean's short and rugged sentences are aggressive as hell, reminiscent of a more jacked up Faulkner/Cormac McCarthy, and discomfiting enough to require a respite from all the madness. But the journey here is well worth it. The final part felt a little too much like BLOOD MERIDIAN for my tastes, but I think McLean has written with such audacious and unsettling context that I'm not going to hold it against her. Even though many of you HERE very much have. Jesus Christ, give ambitious women writers a chance! Robin McLean is two for two with me. And both times she made an impression with me that most of your sagging middle-aged dudebro Bread Loaf douchebag heroes couldn't summon at their finest hour.
March 3, 2022
My feelings are quite mixed. First, what I unambiguously liked where the occasional passages of real beauty, usually one paragraph or two that were just right, couldn't be better - a mix of unexpected jumps in imagery that just fit together.
All in all, though, I didn’t like the book. The mark of that is that I was glad when it was done and would never return to it at a later date.
I’m sure the writer’s been compared to Cormac McCarthy a lot. But they are different - McCarthy is a traditionalist amidst all his baroque page long sentences of description, and digressions. There is a moral core to him, and his characters matter to me.
McClean is, in some ways, far more ambitious than McCarthy. Because she wants to embed a number of useless, banal, disgusting people within a cosmic sweep of history, which includes meditations on death, on myth and some meaning in this endless chain of life and death and geological, even galactic decay.
The only way she could do that was with making an act of infidelity into an “opportunity” (for McClean) to make a multiple rape. It made no human sense. Yes, soldiers gone feral, tribal people using the breaking of a taboo as an opportunity to rape a woman together, and the women of the village egg them on - and yes, countless men murder their wives and lovers and one-time dates, because she was with another man (even raped by another man), groups of teens or young males in parties and packs . . . disgustingly for the human race, it happens all the time. But there was no sense to this. It wasn’t even a “madness” - it was cold, as if a group of psychopaths suddenly each realized that, although they previously thought they were the only one and thus kept it hidden, they look around and realize, “We are all fucking evil. Let’s party!”
Also, a lot of her flights of prose simply made so little sense that I didn’t care to follow (of course, if she wanted me, the reader, to get lost as if I was following Ginny’s cob’s hoof-prints, that’s an interesting idea, but not for an entire book). I always found the “future” scene of the yeoman out of place - it was to me as if she started another novel, failed, didn’t want to waste the good passages, so she plugged them in.
I liked Ginnie and liked her uncompromising stance: "I was totally wrong. I liked it anyway, and would probably do it again." It would have been an utterly nihilistic work had it ended with her destruction - so I'm glad she got away.
Passages of beauty and brilliance, but I thought if Beckett or Ionesco writing in Cormac McC’s style.
All in all, though, I didn’t like the book. The mark of that is that I was glad when it was done and would never return to it at a later date.
I’m sure the writer’s been compared to Cormac McCarthy a lot. But they are different - McCarthy is a traditionalist amidst all his baroque page long sentences of description, and digressions. There is a moral core to him, and his characters matter to me.
McClean is, in some ways, far more ambitious than McCarthy. Because she wants to embed a number of useless, banal, disgusting people within a cosmic sweep of history, which includes meditations on death, on myth and some meaning in this endless chain of life and death and geological, even galactic decay.
The only way she could do that was with making an act of infidelity into an “opportunity” (for McClean) to make a multiple rape. It made no human sense. Yes, soldiers gone feral, tribal people using the breaking of a taboo as an opportunity to rape a woman together, and the women of the village egg them on - and yes, countless men murder their wives and lovers and one-time dates, because she was with another man (even raped by another man), groups of teens or young males in parties and packs . . . disgustingly for the human race, it happens all the time. But there was no sense to this. It wasn’t even a “madness” - it was cold, as if a group of psychopaths suddenly each realized that, although they previously thought they were the only one and thus kept it hidden, they look around and realize, “We are all fucking evil. Let’s party!”
Also, a lot of her flights of prose simply made so little sense that I didn’t care to follow (of course, if she wanted me, the reader, to get lost as if I was following Ginny’s cob’s hoof-prints, that’s an interesting idea, but not for an entire book). I always found the “future” scene of the yeoman out of place - it was to me as if she started another novel, failed, didn’t want to waste the good passages, so she plugged them in.
I liked Ginnie and liked her uncompromising stance: "I was totally wrong. I liked it anyway, and would probably do it again." It would have been an utterly nihilistic work had it ended with her destruction - so I'm glad she got away.
Passages of beauty and brilliance, but I thought if Beckett or Ionesco writing in Cormac McC’s style.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2022
4.5
I loved this. A gnarly, ferocious, uncompromising western with a feminist twist and some truly remarkable writing.
I loved this. A gnarly, ferocious, uncompromising western with a feminist twist and some truly remarkable writing.
December 25, 2021
I really disliked the misogynistic feel to the first 50 pages or so, and almost gave up at that point, but was intrigued by the idea of the main character as a strong avenging woman, and so stuck with it. The prose seems a bit overwrought (perhaps I'm just the wrong audience for a poetic aside on the sensual joys of castrating a bull), and I found myself skimming the next few hundred pages. I was within 50 pages of the end when I realized I no longer cared and was sick of the ugly people in the story, so just dropped it. 0 stars for the story and characters, two stars for the attempt at something out of the ordinary, ends up at 1.
January 2, 2022
This was a challenging read and I dnf.
200 pages into the emotionally detached narration of the violent, brutal and cruel way Ginny’s infidelity is ‘handled’ I gave up. I found myself on inhospitable terrain. On top of that there’s too much talk about horses and donkey’s (couldn’t care less) and my mind couldn’t follow the constant shifting of perspective (human and animal(!)) and time.
Maybe the language was also just too high a level for a non-native English reader. It was just not my kind of book.
200 pages into the emotionally detached narration of the violent, brutal and cruel way Ginny’s infidelity is ‘handled’ I gave up. I found myself on inhospitable terrain. On top of that there’s too much talk about horses and donkey’s (couldn’t care less) and my mind couldn’t follow the constant shifting of perspective (human and animal(!)) and time.
Maybe the language was also just too high a level for a non-native English reader. It was just not my kind of book.
December 9, 2021
An extraordinary captivating book . At times challenging original narrative but still moving the story along.
April 14, 2022
I had great expectations and it clearly wasn't the book for me. Although nothing else was clear, including what was going on from the first page. This is a DNF.
March 20, 2023
„Musimy trzymać się razem w tych straszliwych i potężnych prądach, w czasach spokoju, a potem burzy. Gdy słońce w zenicie i pośród nocnego zimna musimy trzymać się razem, niezależnie od tego, jak wysokie są fale lub jak głęboka woda, jakiekolwiek stworzenie uderzy w naszą burtę, jakkolwiek skrzydlasta istota runie na nasz pokład. Musimy trzymać się razem, aby dotrzeć do brzegów, których razem wypatrujemy.”
Ginny i Dan mieszkają na ranczu, gdzie codziennie ciężko pracują. Akcja zaczyna się, gdy kobieta zdradza swojego męża, a to niesie za sobą dramatyczne konsekwencje. Rodzina i sąsiedzi odwracają się od niej i mszczą się na niej w nieludzki sposób, powodując ogrom bólu. Bohaterka próbuje uciec i tak obserwujemy dziki i gwałtowny pościg, który nie może skończyć się dobrze.
„Pożałowania godne zwierzę” to dla mnie wielkie zaskoczenie. Nie spodziewałam się po tej książce, aż tyle przemocy. Mnóstwo tu krwawych i dosadnych opisów bestialstwa, mnóstwo bólu, dzikości i chaosu. Odbioru nie ułatwia też język, w jakim książka została napisana – jest bardzo toporny, czyta się powoli i długo. Nie wiem, czy to kwestia tłumaczenia czy oryginał też ma w sobie tyle chaosu, ale mimo wielu dialogów, które zwykle usprawniają czytanie, niemiłosiernie mi się ta historia ciągnęła. Dużo tu metafor i baśniowości, autorka często nawiązuje też do mitów i ludowych opowieści. I chociaż okładka sugerować może rasowy western, to samego westernu niej jest tu aż tak dużo. Powiedziałabym, że więcej tu horroru niż dzikiego zachodu.
Ciężko mi ocenić tę książkę, bo totalnie mnie zaskoczyła. Jest przerażająca i dzika. Mnóstwo tu zła i okrucieństwa, a jednocześnie jest tak niesamowicie realna i to powoduje wielki dyskomfort. Nigdy jeszcze czegoś takiego nie czytałam i doceniam „Pożałowania godne zwierzę”, ale nie wiem czy dałabym radę przeżyć to jeszcze raz.
Tłumaczenie Katarzyna Byłów
Ginny i Dan mieszkają na ranczu, gdzie codziennie ciężko pracują. Akcja zaczyna się, gdy kobieta zdradza swojego męża, a to niesie za sobą dramatyczne konsekwencje. Rodzina i sąsiedzi odwracają się od niej i mszczą się na niej w nieludzki sposób, powodując ogrom bólu. Bohaterka próbuje uciec i tak obserwujemy dziki i gwałtowny pościg, który nie może skończyć się dobrze.
„Pożałowania godne zwierzę” to dla mnie wielkie zaskoczenie. Nie spodziewałam się po tej książce, aż tyle przemocy. Mnóstwo tu krwawych i dosadnych opisów bestialstwa, mnóstwo bólu, dzikości i chaosu. Odbioru nie ułatwia też język, w jakim książka została napisana – jest bardzo toporny, czyta się powoli i długo. Nie wiem, czy to kwestia tłumaczenia czy oryginał też ma w sobie tyle chaosu, ale mimo wielu dialogów, które zwykle usprawniają czytanie, niemiłosiernie mi się ta historia ciągnęła. Dużo tu metafor i baśniowości, autorka często nawiązuje też do mitów i ludowych opowieści. I chociaż okładka sugerować może rasowy western, to samego westernu niej jest tu aż tak dużo. Powiedziałabym, że więcej tu horroru niż dzikiego zachodu.
Ciężko mi ocenić tę książkę, bo totalnie mnie zaskoczyła. Jest przerażająca i dzika. Mnóstwo tu zła i okrucieństwa, a jednocześnie jest tak niesamowicie realna i to powoduje wielki dyskomfort. Nigdy jeszcze czegoś takiego nie czytałam i doceniam „Pożałowania godne zwierzę”, ale nie wiem czy dałabym radę przeżyć to jeszcze raz.
Tłumaczenie Katarzyna Byłów
July 7, 2024
visceral, meandering, gripping
July 17, 2022
The best prose I’ve read in a very long time.
October 22, 2023
If the classic Western is a trope, then the deconstruction of that trope is now itself a trope, and you may wonder what more the genre has to offer. Here it is. This book starts as a revenge tale, masterfully tense and dialogue that invites all of the Cormac McCarthy comparisons. It soon becomes something much stranger and more special, a surrealistic devolution of the Western stereotypes into shapes more primordial and obscene. The book leapfrogs through time and consciousness and is about as unique a story as I’ve read in years. There are also digressions into what the mules are thinking, if you’re into that.
February 9, 2022
Buckle your seat belts for this ride!
This book is not for the faint of heart, but a work of beauty for those who can go there. Sabina Murray’s blurb “… a brutally gorgeous fever dream of a novel” really nails it. So much paradox; ugliness and beauty, micro detail and wide-angle deep time/futuristic views, deeply internal and yet philosophically external, slow-building pacing and then shockingly rapid action, a roller coaster ride with added dimensions. Layers upon layers, stories within stories. So much comes to mind: a modern The Scarlet Letter, a dark Jasper Fforde, a feminist Cormac McCarthy… so very, very unique.
I can’t wait for my CD version to arrive, so I can hear Dion Graham’s reading of this particular work of staggering genius.
This book is not for the faint of heart, but a work of beauty for those who can go there. Sabina Murray’s blurb “… a brutally gorgeous fever dream of a novel” really nails it. So much paradox; ugliness and beauty, micro detail and wide-angle deep time/futuristic views, deeply internal and yet philosophically external, slow-building pacing and then shockingly rapid action, a roller coaster ride with added dimensions. Layers upon layers, stories within stories. So much comes to mind: a modern The Scarlet Letter, a dark Jasper Fforde, a feminist Cormac McCarthy… so very, very unique.
I can’t wait for my CD version to arrive, so I can hear Dion Graham’s reading of this particular work of staggering genius.
January 7, 2022
Oh my ... can you add more stars?!
A total wow: visceral, brutal, haunting, daring, courageous, propulsive, inventive, human, wild; testing and trusting the reader.
The novel that makes even a diligent reader a novice again. It is a restoration of what it means to be a true novel, not mere pulp fiction. I should begin again at page one and hope I capture another tenth of its abundant riches.
The language is both cryptic and mesmerizing, immediate and mythic, poetic and concrete. The tale has a grasp of the ancient mixed with an unexpected futuristic element that gives it a sweeping time scale.
Crucial plot points are tucked in, a sentence as a needle in the haystack of language and imagery, so the reader must be intent, alert, yet willing to step back and revel. Recalls, in moments, the kind of stream of consciousness of Faulkner. Has been compared to Cormac McCarthy, and justifiably so.
What else can I say to inspire an earnest reader to dive into this powerful, immersive novel?
I must seek out McLean's other writing.
A total wow: visceral, brutal, haunting, daring, courageous, propulsive, inventive, human, wild; testing and trusting the reader.
The novel that makes even a diligent reader a novice again. It is a restoration of what it means to be a true novel, not mere pulp fiction. I should begin again at page one and hope I capture another tenth of its abundant riches.
The language is both cryptic and mesmerizing, immediate and mythic, poetic and concrete. The tale has a grasp of the ancient mixed with an unexpected futuristic element that gives it a sweeping time scale.
Crucial plot points are tucked in, a sentence as a needle in the haystack of language and imagery, so the reader must be intent, alert, yet willing to step back and revel. Recalls, in moments, the kind of stream of consciousness of Faulkner. Has been compared to Cormac McCarthy, and justifiably so.
What else can I say to inspire an earnest reader to dive into this powerful, immersive novel?
I must seek out McLean's other writing.
September 28, 2022
I wanted to love this book… I met the author when she was a potter in Alaska and enjoyed talking briefly with her and purchasing several pieces of her work. Recently I wondered where she had gone and discovered she had written this book. The story was compelling, I wanted to know what happened to each of the characters. However, the story became muddled for me with the different styles of writing within the story… the western TV show, the mythology, the Spy… I recognize those help the story for some, but for me it confused me as a reader. Also, there was some really dark stuff in the story - gritty and raw - which usually I am ok with, but there was some really rough stuff to read.
I appreciate the honesty and fearlessness with which this story was told, but it was just a bit too much for me… this is not a book I will widely recommend, but might to a select few.
I appreciate the honesty and fearlessness with which this story was told, but it was just a bit too much for me… this is not a book I will widely recommend, but might to a select few.
June 20, 2022
Grand and gothic, this is a dusty, bloody, modern-day/mythical western, dripping in symbolism and allegory and giving a sweeping, Greek Chorus-like view of human brutality. Written from the points of view of different characters - even the animals - and jumping across time, it's a bleak look at the violence of man to fellow humans, animals and the environment, based around a grand guignol beginning that is truly shocking and yet somehow written from a cold and detached viewpoint. Epic and strange.
May 3, 2023
Hard work. Sometimes epic and beautiful sometimes just so confusing and obtuse it was hard to follow anything logical or meaning. Compares somewhat to McCarthy in prose but considerably more chaotic, and without the same immense impact and weight of words. I'll have to re-read this at some stage.
August 5, 2023
I was reading this novel before falling asleep the other night, then woke up at 3:00 am feeling convinced that the storyteller’s style could be compared to the artistry of an impressionist painter; in this case, perhaps the work of an emotionally fraught artist like Vincent van Gogh or Edvard Munch. Up close, the brushstrokes can seem random and senseless, but when one steps back and takes a wider view, scenes emerge; a starry night, a bandaged ear, a scream.
Comparing the author's prose to an artist's canvas, this writer paints impressions with words: building up scenes, events, and characters stroke by stroke, ignoring the mundane while layering on the essence. I mean this figuratively, but can’t resist mentioning that it even occurs in a literal sense in one dark, foggy outdoor scene: “The cones of their four headlamps flew about and clashed and banked in the fog in separate and intersecting radii…. Parts of faces, a knee in soggy pants, a hat, a spoon on canvas rolled out.” (p. 355) I loved that imagery!
The challenge with this sort of impressionist prose (as distinct from literary impressionism, which conveys a character's mental life) is that, rather than stepping back to take in the whole as with a painting, one must build up the impressions in one’s mind. This in turn requires sustained, close attention. The reader must be motivated to provide this level of attention. I suspect being unwilling or unable to do so accounts for some of the negative reviews posted here; some say as much.
Some other reviewers were put off by the language or brutality or reference to adultery with scant remorse. Fair enough. But one must wonder if the gender of the main character (or author) contributes to this reaction, because males certainly seem to get away with this sort of thing and I’ve seen far worse even in Oprah books (Mistry’s ‘A Fine Balance’ comes to mind). Either way, granted, this book is not for everyone. After all, we are reading about beasts here.
Overall, I was propelled through this book by the engaging plot and the remarkably original, creative, and thoughtful style of writing. What a treat. But that’s just me.
Comparing the author's prose to an artist's canvas, this writer paints impressions with words: building up scenes, events, and characters stroke by stroke, ignoring the mundane while layering on the essence. I mean this figuratively, but can’t resist mentioning that it even occurs in a literal sense in one dark, foggy outdoor scene: “The cones of their four headlamps flew about and clashed and banked in the fog in separate and intersecting radii…. Parts of faces, a knee in soggy pants, a hat, a spoon on canvas rolled out.” (p. 355) I loved that imagery!
The challenge with this sort of impressionist prose (as distinct from literary impressionism, which conveys a character's mental life) is that, rather than stepping back to take in the whole as with a painting, one must build up the impressions in one’s mind. This in turn requires sustained, close attention. The reader must be motivated to provide this level of attention. I suspect being unwilling or unable to do so accounts for some of the negative reviews posted here; some say as much.
Some other reviewers were put off by the language or brutality or reference to adultery with scant remorse. Fair enough. But one must wonder if the gender of the main character (or author) contributes to this reaction, because males certainly seem to get away with this sort of thing and I’ve seen far worse even in Oprah books (Mistry’s ‘A Fine Balance’ comes to mind). Either way, granted, this book is not for everyone. After all, we are reading about beasts here.
Overall, I was propelled through this book by the engaging plot and the remarkably original, creative, and thoughtful style of writing. What a treat. But that’s just me.
March 13, 2025
Book Review: Pity the Beast by Robin McLean
Back in 2016, I read Robin McLean’s book of short stories, Reptile House, and fell in love with her ability to tell a story, unfiltered, edgy with a purpose, and funny. Robin’s writing reflects the fact that she has lived in the kind of rural places that require a keen awareness of one’s surroundings. You can feel this in her work, where such an awareness results in writing with a razor’s edge.
For me, I appreciate this style of writing. It’s why I read, to be exposed to people, places, and ways of thinking I’d otherwise never experience. That’s what Pity the Beast is, a world I’d otherwise never see.
Though the book is classified as a Western, to me it’s not a classic ‘cowboy’ story. Instead, it’s a western in the way western’s highlight land, terrain, people, and some kind of chase that keeps the story moving. This story pops for me because of the relationship between people, people and animals, and people and the land. In order to explore these three relations, it makes sense to place these characters in a rural setting, and ultimately, the American West.
Pity the Beast is far from a “feel good” story. At its heart, the story explores the fine line between good and bad in people. And though serious to its core, there is a lot of wry humor throughout, especially male cowboy humor. My favorite character, Granny, also has a lot of dry wit, and uses it to deliver her own bits of wisdom throughout the story.
Without a doubt, this book has a strong sense of place and characters, a strong story arc and plot, and McLean uses every word available to her when describing the range of emotions her characters feel. I definitely felt like I was right with these people, and cringed at the choices they made. And while this is ultimately a simple “chase” story, defining the beast is not so simple. In the end, Robin challenges the reader to understand how the beast is in all of us.
Back in 2016, I read Robin McLean’s book of short stories, Reptile House, and fell in love with her ability to tell a story, unfiltered, edgy with a purpose, and funny. Robin’s writing reflects the fact that she has lived in the kind of rural places that require a keen awareness of one’s surroundings. You can feel this in her work, where such an awareness results in writing with a razor’s edge.
For me, I appreciate this style of writing. It’s why I read, to be exposed to people, places, and ways of thinking I’d otherwise never experience. That’s what Pity the Beast is, a world I’d otherwise never see.
Though the book is classified as a Western, to me it’s not a classic ‘cowboy’ story. Instead, it’s a western in the way western’s highlight land, terrain, people, and some kind of chase that keeps the story moving. This story pops for me because of the relationship between people, people and animals, and people and the land. In order to explore these three relations, it makes sense to place these characters in a rural setting, and ultimately, the American West.
Pity the Beast is far from a “feel good” story. At its heart, the story explores the fine line between good and bad in people. And though serious to its core, there is a lot of wry humor throughout, especially male cowboy humor. My favorite character, Granny, also has a lot of dry wit, and uses it to deliver her own bits of wisdom throughout the story.
Without a doubt, this book has a strong sense of place and characters, a strong story arc and plot, and McLean uses every word available to her when describing the range of emotions her characters feel. I definitely felt like I was right with these people, and cringed at the choices they made. And while this is ultimately a simple “chase” story, defining the beast is not so simple. In the end, Robin challenges the reader to understand how the beast is in all of us.
January 10, 2025
W północno - zachodniej części Stanów Zjednoczonych na ranczu poznajemy Ginny i Dana, skupionych na porodzie ich klaczy. Jednak coś innego zaczyna budzić napięcie, tworzyć nieznośną, niedającą się wytrzymać atmosferę, która przytłacza ich, zapanowuje nad kolejnymi udzielającymi im wsparcia osobami. To nie może dobrze się skończyć. Atmosfera staje się coraz bardziej duszna, niepokojąca, wyczuwa się jakąś nieprzyjemną nieuchronność, nieuniknioność, która kończy się okrucieństwem zaprzeczającym głoszonemu poczuciu wspólnoty z rodziną, sąsiadami, zwierzętami, przyrodą.
Całość przeplatana jest wątkami o historii Dzikiego Zachodu; swoistej mitologii będącej mieszanką wierzeń Indian, mitów pierwszych osadników, religijnych poglądów, konserwatywnych, czy liberalnych obsesji, przekonania, że państwo jest złem koniecznym. Od czyńmy sobie ziemię poddaną do lojalności wobec mułów, koni, drobiu, przedkładanej nad cokolwiek i kogokolwiek innego.
Świat powieści jest gęsty od emocji, zdarzeń, nawiązań do literackich i historycznych wydarzeń z dość nielinearną narracją, która pełna dygresji stwarza wrażenie, że poznajemy wrażenia z różnych punktów widzenia, przeskakujemy z jednego do drugiego widoku tej samej sytuacji. Obraz zdarzeń wyłania się spomiędzy wypowiedzi postać, ich monologów wewnętrznych, sekretnych dzienników, rozmów z końmi, czy zwierzeń mułów, bo i one mają tu głos. Naturalistyczne opisy miłości, wrażliwości, czułości mieszają się z opisami lęku, wyrachowania, okrucieństwa; filozoficzne rozważania przeplatane są opisami różnorodnych wydzielin.
Czyta się to różnie: z zachwytem, z obrzydzeniem. Trudne i wymagające ze względu na historię i sposób jej przedstawienia.
Całość przeplatana jest wątkami o historii Dzikiego Zachodu; swoistej mitologii będącej mieszanką wierzeń Indian, mitów pierwszych osadników, religijnych poglądów, konserwatywnych, czy liberalnych obsesji, przekonania, że państwo jest złem koniecznym. Od czyńmy sobie ziemię poddaną do lojalności wobec mułów, koni, drobiu, przedkładanej nad cokolwiek i kogokolwiek innego.
Świat powieści jest gęsty od emocji, zdarzeń, nawiązań do literackich i historycznych wydarzeń z dość nielinearną narracją, która pełna dygresji stwarza wrażenie, że poznajemy wrażenia z różnych punktów widzenia, przeskakujemy z jednego do drugiego widoku tej samej sytuacji. Obraz zdarzeń wyłania się spomiędzy wypowiedzi postać, ich monologów wewnętrznych, sekretnych dzienników, rozmów z końmi, czy zwierzeń mułów, bo i one mają tu głos. Naturalistyczne opisy miłości, wrażliwości, czułości mieszają się z opisami lęku, wyrachowania, okrucieństwa; filozoficzne rozważania przeplatane są opisami różnorodnych wydzielin.
Czyta się to różnie: z zachwytem, z obrzydzeniem. Trudne i wymagające ze względu na historię i sposób jej przedstawienia.
February 7, 2023
I wish I had someone with which to talk about this. I was riveted by the clever writing at the beginning, and appreciate the multiple narrative strands and philosophizing, but I think this book loses its way by the end. I think the strand of narrative taking place in the future is too nebulous and disconnected from the rest of the book, but I think what hurts the story as a whole is the lack of inner dialogue. While the posse can reveal some of their thoughts in their discussions with each other, Ginny’s introspection is rarely revealed to us, so the way her story ends kind of comes out of nowhere. Ella, who seems to almost entirely lack self-reflection, also has an end of story epiphany. The conclusion feels tacked on, as if in a rush to be done with the tale.
And I am irritated with the description of this as a feminist western. If the relationship between Ella and Ginny is really the focus of the book, as some reviewers have suggested, why are their voices so silenced? If Ginny needs to ride into the wilderness and out of the book to be free to think clearly, isn’t the book trapping her and silencing her as much as the posse is? Even if the unforgivable act at the beginning of the novel is only metaphor (about the groupthink and violent misogyny rampant in online discourse, perhaps), is it a feminist ending to suggest the only solution is to abandon community and discourse and go live in solitude (or Canada)? Maybe I am missing something. These are my thoughts having just finished the book, and I will continue to chew on it.
And I am irritated with the description of this as a feminist western. If the relationship between Ella and Ginny is really the focus of the book, as some reviewers have suggested, why are their voices so silenced? If Ginny needs to ride into the wilderness and out of the book to be free to think clearly, isn’t the book trapping her and silencing her as much as the posse is? Even if the unforgivable act at the beginning of the novel is only metaphor (about the groupthink and violent misogyny rampant in online discourse, perhaps), is it a feminist ending to suggest the only solution is to abandon community and discourse and go live in solitude (or Canada)? Maybe I am missing something. These are my thoughts having just finished the book, and I will continue to chew on it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2022
I have reviewed this novel in detail for Rain Taxi Review of Books, and the full review is here:
https://www.raintaxi.com/pity-the-bea...
In my view it's a brilliant novel, and some of the less generous reviews are missing the point. The brutality is not gratuitous, but entirely necessary, given McLean's themes and setting - and how can any American writer not write about brutality, since it's so obviously a fundamental facet of American life? She's not condoning it. A number of the reviews complain that the language is too difficult as well, but that seems to me a limitation of the reader rather than the writer. The language is absolutely idiosyncratic and unique - but because McLean's vision is unique. If you want something formulaic, it's easy to write and read. As for the shifting perspectives - certainly they're challenging, at times, but it's impossible not to admire McLean's ambition. She's not merely writing a latter-day western. She wants us to see the story in a much vaster context, which is why she includes the points of view of mules and people from the future (and more approachably, the diaries of a detective, a decent man). I urge you to read the novel and decide for yourself. Robin McLean is one of only a handful of contemporary writers who are unquestionably worth reading.
https://www.raintaxi.com/pity-the-bea...
In my view it's a brilliant novel, and some of the less generous reviews are missing the point. The brutality is not gratuitous, but entirely necessary, given McLean's themes and setting - and how can any American writer not write about brutality, since it's so obviously a fundamental facet of American life? She's not condoning it. A number of the reviews complain that the language is too difficult as well, but that seems to me a limitation of the reader rather than the writer. The language is absolutely idiosyncratic and unique - but because McLean's vision is unique. If you want something formulaic, it's easy to write and read. As for the shifting perspectives - certainly they're challenging, at times, but it's impossible not to admire McLean's ambition. She's not merely writing a latter-day western. She wants us to see the story in a much vaster context, which is why she includes the points of view of mules and people from the future (and more approachably, the diaries of a detective, a decent man). I urge you to read the novel and decide for yourself. Robin McLean is one of only a handful of contemporary writers who are unquestionably worth reading.
Read
June 16, 2022Pity the Beast is a bold book. When you expect it to focus on one character, it zigs to another. When you’re ready for a plot progression, we’ll spend a few minutes inside the mind of philosophical mules.
Not everything worked for me. Some of the structural gambles, like the futuristic sections and fake television episodes, missed for me. Unfortunately, these aspects became more wearing as the novel progressed. I usually enjoy postmodern bullshit, but the more out-there aspects of this novel weren’t working for me.
However, a lot of the book really sung. Spending so much time with the pursers over the pursued shouldn’t have worked, but definitely did, largely because of the phenomenal dialogue. The brief sections with the sheriff were also great.
The writing—in turns sparse and dense—mostly hit. Overwrought at times, but worth it for the more frequent beauty. The details on the modern cowboy life were especially great.
I haven’t read such a go for broke book in a while, all while still remaining in the trappings of a Western, a chase narrative, and a revenge story.
However: did I like it? Was I enjoying reading it? That’s a harder question.
I’ll leave this unreviewed. The writing was too strong and the ambition too great to be a 3-star, but there were too many issues to give it 4-stars.
Not everything worked for me. Some of the structural gambles, like the futuristic sections and fake television episodes, missed for me. Unfortunately, these aspects became more wearing as the novel progressed. I usually enjoy postmodern bullshit, but the more out-there aspects of this novel weren’t working for me.
However, a lot of the book really sung. Spending so much time with the pursers over the pursued shouldn’t have worked, but definitely did, largely because of the phenomenal dialogue. The brief sections with the sheriff were also great.
The writing—in turns sparse and dense—mostly hit. Overwrought at times, but worth it for the more frequent beauty. The details on the modern cowboy life were especially great.
I haven’t read such a go for broke book in a while, all while still remaining in the trappings of a Western, a chase narrative, and a revenge story.
However: did I like it? Was I enjoying reading it? That’s a harder question.
I’ll leave this unreviewed. The writing was too strong and the ambition too great to be a 3-star, but there were too many issues to give it 4-stars.
December 12, 2025
I would not compare McLean's writing to anyone well-established, mainly because I dislike the concept of author or writing comparisons. Anyway. Loved the tale, but fuckinghell this was a laborious read. Visceral, raw, violent, and ornery. Not a single likable character, just varying depths of blackness. Intriguing idea, the mules, and not one I expect others will follow. Spread amongst the unseemliness are some funny jokes, fascinating facts, and typical no-longer-profound adages and pronouncements and quasi-truths. Complicated and complex, and not a plot I would even attempt to summarize. Found the futuristic sections misplaced and wholly unnecessary, but the rest of the narrative worked fabulously. Still, I did struggle with the style - short, choppy sentences and random comments, other oddities - and found myself mentally wandering often. Worth the effort, if partly to get resolution, which wouldn't make much sense if one had just skimmed the pages for "relevant info" (hard to gauge relevance here), and mostly to bask in the festering evil and nastiness of humanity.
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