Loftwings and Demons

So, by my calculations, I am now about 55% through Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation by Sunaura Taylor. I can't recall any nonfiction book I've read so quickly and so sequentially. While I've read a number of nonfiction books with rapt attention, it's not my habit to read them cover to cover as I would a novel but rather to skim to parts that seem relevant to my situation or are of particular interest to me. I've also read plenty of nonfiction books that presented ideas I found valuable, but that felt like they were padded with unnecessary additions merely to make them 'book-length'.

But every part of this book felt relevant to the main points Taylor is discussing. She expertly links personal anecdotes, history, and current events with philosophy and activism.  Throughout the book, she touches on a many different ideas and perspectives, showing their connections and similarities as well as their tensions and differences. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book--while I very much believe that problems in this world  are interlinked in ways that defy neat boxes and categorizations, I also think discussion of those complicated intersections can be difficult.  I worried the book might be full of superficial connections or long meandering narratives that I would struggle to follow, as has been a frequent issue I've encountered with books on topics like this, topics that sounded promising but highly ambitious.

But every piece of this book is deeply connected, both to her central thesis and each other, in a web of incredible intricacy. The philosophy she presents considers a multiplicity of different perspectives both within and outside of the animal rights and disability movements and examines how they intersect or conflict. She tells the story of her own life and the lives of others and each time stops to consider what these stories might tell us and how they might inform our activism.  She patiently lingers on ideas to explore them and consider their many and multifaceted implications.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in better understanding disability or animal rights activism.  I also think it's just really well-written?  Anyway it managed to hold my rather fickle attention so I consider that alone impressive.  Tastes and experiences differ greatly, so I'm sure not everyone would get the same things out of this book that I did, but I think there's a lot of value here. As I said, I'm not yet finished with this book, but the first half alone made this text more than worth my time.

I think this trilogy does a good job with its reveals.  There are usually multiple plot-related reveals in this book and in the larger series, and I appreciate the way they're constructed to both illuminate details about the worldbuilding and function as satisfying twists and turns.

This series is quite consistent in its style and quality, so I think whatever a person's opinion of the first two novels are will likely transfer over to this one as well.  That was certainly my experience.  I enjoyed the fantastical math/science/engineering aspect and how that was employed throughout the series.

I feel the second half of the novel is where it really picks up for me--the first half is a bit slow for my taste.  I'm a very impatient person so this is something that makes a significant difference to me.  Though I've still read much slower novels.

I would have liked for a certain plot thread to have received more attention.  I'll have to see if maybe there's a satisfactory conclusion for that one in Glass Cannon.

Anyway, those are a few of my thoughts about this novel.