Sierra
The premise of this book is very unique and interesting. However, as someone who studied zoology and anthropology, some of the author's choices pulled me out of the illusion. The way the book is written in terms of themes and events seems to suggest the author subscribes to the unscientific belief in dominance theory among dogs and that human nature is also competitive and cut-throat. Combine the two, and this book has so much competition and violence for a story about two cooperative, social species. This book is really about what makes us human, not about what makes a dog a dog, and yet despite trying to incorporate both, it fails to really explore the reality of either. It doesn't really add anything new to the conversation of our humanity and works off of a relatively narrow view uninformed by anthropology, sociology, or linguistics. I feel like this book could have been great if the author knew more about the subjects he was using thematically.
The premise of this book is very unique and interesting. However, as someone who studied zoology and anthropology, some of the author's choices pulled me out of the illusion. The way the book is written in terms of themes and events seems to suggest the author subscribes to the unscientific belief in dominance theory among dogs and that human nature is also competitive and cut-throat. Combine the two, and this book has so much competition and violence for a story about two cooperative, social species. This book is really about what makes us human, not about what makes a dog a dog, and yet despite trying to incorporate both, it fails to really explore the reality of either. It doesn't really add anything new to the conversation of our humanity and works off of a relatively narrow view uninformed by anthropology, sociology, or linguistics. I feel like this book could have been great if the author knew more about the subjects he was using thematically.