Joined: 06 Dec 2002 Posts: 1162 Location: San Mateo coastside
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:39 pm Post subject: Fiction books with veg*n/animal rights theme
There are many nonfiction books on vegetarianism/veganism/animal rights.
But what about popular fiction?
For whimsy, I did a search on ebay for vegan book and this one came up - LEADER OF NATURE by JENNY KRAINSKI.
Does anyone else know about fiction books with a veg/AR theme? I'll have to check maybe back issues of Satya magazine or even the PETA online catalog. Seems like popular fiction is a good way to introduce these concepts.
Book Description
Global conflict, environmental destruction and corporate greed have
driven the world to the brink of disaster. The lack of decisive change
to bring Earth and humankind back into balance has created the most
radical and terrifying movement ever. Ideologies clash, nations collide
and the battle for transformation threatens the planet with
annihilation. This science fiction epic, the first in a trilogy, tells
the story of a Third World War fought against the mightiest foe of all
time - the dreaded Apex Empire.
Richard Friar takes his chilling vision of the future, reminiscent of
Huxley, Bradbury and Orwell, and shows us how and why it can happen. In
addition to the social and moral issues Friar addresses in the novel, he
creates and takes us into an elaborate and imaginative world of the
future, complete with complex war machines and technologies. This book
(and hopefully the others in the series) seems tailor-made to become a
movie. My only hope is that some of the important messages that the
author conveys are not lost in the translation.
Last edited by tammy on Mon Aug 13, 2007 8:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject: Book with AR theme
“Animal Instinct” by Dorothy H Hayes
Description:
Eleanor Aquitaine Green, a savvy reporter and survivor of a painful divorce, discovers her true calling is crusading for the animals. Only days later, as if by divine providence, she lands a job in the animal rights movement. Before long, Eleanor realizes that her boss, Honor Vine, the president of People Against Animal Cruelty, is a burned out, aging tyrant stuck in a bygone era of the movement. Even worse, the movement Eleanor so admires is near death and is fractured with inner turmoil. A unifying issue is required and that issue, Eleanor believes, is the yearly slaughter of ten billion farm animals for human consumption. Convincing Americans to change their meateating ways borders on impossible, but it seems less difficult than working for her manipulative boss. An animal rights organization, however, is the perfect war room to wage such a battle, so Eleanor begins her crusade in the dysfunctional office. With the help of her brow beaten colleagues, Eleanor attempts to endure the daily batterings in order to gain some kindness for the animals. As a movement foot soldier, Eleanor campaigns against traps and wearing fur, she attempts to rescue a circus elephant, and also meets her other true love. But on the day that Honor is forced to pay for her abuse, both Honor and Eleanor are threatened by an unexpected outcome. _________________ www.strikingattheroots.com
See my new activism blog at https://strikingattheroots.wordpress.com/
Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 20 Location: San Francisco, CA
Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject:
A book that I really enjoyed (love the author) is "gun, with occasional music" by Jonathan Lethem. This may be a bit of a stretch, but here's a description (from the back):
Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems --not the least of which are the rabbit in his waiting room and the trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is an ominous place where evolved animals function as members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage. In this brave new world, Metcalf has been shadowing the wife of an affluent doctor, perhaps falling a little in love with her at the same time. But when the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught up in the crossfire in a futuristic world that is both funny--and not so funny.
Joined: 02 Aug 2005 Posts: 75 Location: San Francisco
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:05 am Post subject: re vegan characters & animal themes in fiction books
Hi Tammy & Everybody,
I’m an avid member of www.goodreads.com where the Vegan Book Club has our message board, and another user there noticed my (very vegan) profile and sent this message:
“Hi, I noticed your group and read your friends note. I compared our
books and didn't see any Scarlett Thomas -- she has vegan heroines,
you might be interested in how she works veganism into her far-out
plots, also homeopathy (another interest of mine). Also, in Amy
Hempel's Collected Stories, there are a number of animal-centered
stories.”
So, I have no idea how good these books are or how “veg*n” they are either, but I did add PopCo and The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas (she has many books published), and also The Complete Short Stories of Amy Hempel to my extremely long to-read list.
So, just in case anyone here is interested, here’s some fiction books that might meet the criteria Tammy requested when she started this thread.
Joined: 06 Dec 2002 Posts: 1162 Location: San Mateo coastside
Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 11:30 am Post subject:
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for sharing! I actually stumbled across another "fiction" book with a strong AR theme. And this one is for that pre-teen/teen era.
Minny’s Dream
By Clare Druce
2004 Nightingale Books-Pegasus
Young People’s Fiction with Illustrations, ages 8-14
ISBN: 1 903491 21 5
Softcover 129 pages
www.pegasuspublishers.com
Imagine moving from the city to the country cottage of your dreams only to discover a battery hen business nearby. This is what happens to the young girl Paula and her parents in Clare Druce’s riveting true-to-life gothic tale for young people of all ages, Minny’s Dream. Drawing upon the archetypal theme of a “fall” from innocence into hell, Druce tells what happens when the curious and adventurous Paula Brown takes a walk one day from Orchard Cottage to Folly Farm to buy some eggs for the family breakfast. Approaching the farm, she wonders why there are no animals about the place – no chickens, cows, or pigs – just a huge Alsatian dog “crouching beside a gloomy kennel.”
Joined: 06 Dec 2002 Posts: 1162 Location: San Mateo coastside
Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 11:40 am Post subject:
Quote:
Convincing Americans to change their meateating ways borders on impossible, but it seems less difficult than working for her manipulative boss.
The book that Mark posted seems like an excellent one.. I've met alot of people who are shocked to find out about factory farming, and feel that working for an AR organization is the way to help animals. Wondering if it could be semi-autobiographkcal ...
Thanks for sharing this Mark.
Dana, the one you posted about is like a happy Animal Farm maybe? ( Never read Animal Farm but I did read 1984 ... )
Joined: 02 Aug 2005 Posts: 75 Location: San Francisco
Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:26 am Post subject: re books, etc.
Tammy,
Looks like a great book, but there are a lot of these "vegan books for kids" and they're unfortunately not mainstream: the one you just listed isn't even at Amazon, which means the only way it could be on goodreads would be to manually add it.
Animal Farm could be looked at as an ar type book but it's more about humans than animals: it's an allegory about communism.
High school senior Mara Valentine drives herself like a racecar. An overachieving vegan who's been accepted early at Yale and competes with her ex-boyfriend for class valedictorian, she sees life as little more than an opportunity to relentlessly excel at whatever tasks confront her. Her 16-year-old niece V (for Vivian), a habitually cursing "nicotine-addicted nympho," moves in with her family, which wreaks havoc with Mara's strictly ordered world. "You sure are wound tight," observes V about her similarly-aged aunt. Mara starts to see herself through V's eyes, and begins to loosen up a little. Her crush on an older man blooms and she loses her virginity in the process, while V quickly discovers her "unrealized potential" through acting in a play. Although obviously quite different, the girls sometimes protect one another, and Mara gradually transforms into a more interesting person.
Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:34 am Post subject: Project: A Fantasy Series with AR/Vegan Themes
Hello everyone! I'm new here and was referred to this list by Lisa, a librarian on Goodreads. I'm currently writing a fantasy series called Luthiel's Song. Primarily, the series is an exploration of female heroic and divinity themes but a core element has always been the main character's intuitive connection with, and growing understanding of, animals. The first book, published in 2005, touches on the theme of veganism and the second book, due out this year, goes more deeply into the concept of animal spirit, perception, and experience.
Luthiel is a character deeply affected by her love of all creatures. She begins to have an epiphany when, through the magic of dreams (a magic system I developed for the world of Oesha), she experiences the final minutes of an owl's life. These events grow into a major running conflict that I hope will inform, entertain, and inspire reflection on the issues of animal rights, intelligence, the immorality of meat, and the idea that all living things have a unique and precious life experience.
I don't know if these themes fall directly in line with PETA or other organizations' views on animal rights. That said, it is my hope to help raise awareness of these issues, if only through an entertaining fantasy tale.
A couple of related quotes from the story:
Book 1, Chapter: Do No Harm Without Need
When Luthiel asked Mithorden why he never ate meat, he replied, "I have vowed to do no harm without need... given the choice, I would let live. I get enough from fruits and honey, breads and cheeses."
Book 2, Chapter: A Secret Return
In an instant, the flock was upon her. It shot overhead, banked left, then turned to plunge again. On the second pass, the flock swirled around her and Luthiel had the odd sensation that she sat in the center of a whirlpool as the birds swirled and dipped. The excited chirping grew even louder and a few whizzed by so close she could reach out and touch them. After only moments, the flock lifted off and was flying away — back toward where the land was free of shadow webs.
Luthiel felt breathless. “Why did they come? Why so many?”
Othalas gave a gravelly chuckle. “Tuorlin isn’t the only one gifted with special sight. Birds can see the very forces of Oesha. The force that binds the moons to her, the force that pulls a loadstone north, even rivers of Wyrd are visible to birds in colors more vivid than we could imagine.”
“So what does that have to do with what happened?”
“They came to see you.” The werewolf replied in a much softer voice.
Grimess beloved Andi Oliver returns, on the run from her past
In this stunning sequel to Grimess beloved "Biting the Moon," young Andi Oliver is an amnesiac and drifter who awoke in a Santa Fe bed and breakfast with a mans belongings tossed about the room. Adopting a name from the initials on her backpack, Andi moves from one waitress job to the next, from Idaho to North Dakota.
It is in Dakota that she is hired at Klavans, a massive pigfarming facility that specializes in the dark art of modern livestock management. As Andi begins to uncover the truth about Klavans and a slaughterhouse called Big Sun, two men are on her trail, one a gunman hired to kill her, another who has followed her across three states demanding something from her forgotten past.
"Dakota" signals the return of one of Martha Grimess most indelible heroines, a smart and troubled young woman who, though she doesnt know her own identity, knows right from wrong. Set against the breathtakingly expansive backdrop of the American plains, "Dakota" will reward Grimess legion of fans as well as attracting new readers.
I compared our
books and didn't see any Scarlett Thomas -- she has vegan heroines,
you might be interested in how she works veganism into her far-out
plots, also homeopathy (another interest of mine). Also, in Amy
Hempel's Collected Stories, there are a number of animal-centered
stories.”
So, I have no idea how good these books are or how “veg*n” they are either, but I did add PopCo and The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas (she has many books published), and also The Complete Short Stories of Amy Hempel to my extremely long to-read list. _________________ www.internetisfun.com
interesting pictures interesting pictures
interesting pictures interesting pictures
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