ovine philosophy

July 20, 2018 6:40 AM

More books like Three Bags Full?

I'm super-sad that none of Leonie Swann's other work appears to be translated into English, because I loved how sheep-like Three Bags Full felt.

So now I'm looking for books from the point of view of animals that reflect sustained thought and research about those animals. How do these animals see the world? What are the social structures of their lives like? How does that shape the story?

I've read and enjoyed a lot of mysteries where a human investigates with the aid of an animal/other fiction about animals from a human point of view, but am really looking for the author putting themselves into the feet (or hooves or fins or tentacles) of an animal. And yeah, I've read Animal Farm and Diane Duane's cat wizard books. Bonus points for cozy mysteries!

Thanks!

posted by joyceanmachine to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Have you read Watership Down? It's not a mystery, but it's excellent.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 7:09 AM on July 20, 2018

Response by poster: Yes! I have read Watership Down!
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:11 AM on July 20, 2018

Rita Mae Brown's cat-themed mysteries have 25-50% of their points-of-view from the housecat and corgi. They're fun. Tad William's Tailchaser's Song is from the pov of a bunch of feral cats - I haven't read it in many years, but I remember it with vague fondness. It's something of an underserved genre, imo.
posted by restless_nomad at 7:15 AM on July 20, 2018

Duncton Wood by William Horwood! It's like Watership Down but with moles. There's a whole series, but I've only read the first one; the others were unavailable here until I think recently, but I've just downloaded them to my Kindle. Thanks for reminding me that they exist!
posted by velvet_n_purrs at 8:17 AM on July 20, 2018

There are lots of good examples on the Xenofiction trope page.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 9:12 AM on July 20, 2018

Felidae by Akif Pirincci came to mind - though it’s out of print now, it was a huge hit in Germany when it first came out. Also from the POV of a cat, but slightly more fantastical (and a children’s book) is Varjak Paw.
posted by cardinalandcrow at 10:26 AM on July 20, 2018

Seven Lives and One Great Love: Memoirs of a Cat. It's fiction.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 10:30 AM on July 20, 2018

Margo Lanagan's story, "Sweet Pippit," is a gorgeous and harrowing story told from the point of view of a herd of elephants. It appears in the collection Black Juice.

Carol Emshwiller's Carmen Dog is a novel about all the women in the world turning into animals, and all the animals in the world turning into women. I'm not sure if it's quite what you're looking for, but it's heartbreaking, biting, and lovely.

Finally, Robert Siegel's Whalesong is a humpback whale's coming-of-age story. This book was very important to me when I was in high school. I haven't looked at it in decades, so I cannot guarantee that the Suck Fairy hasn't come for this one, but the fact that Madeleine L'Engle makes me hopeful.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 11:24 AM on July 20, 2018 [1 favorite]