SuitabookThe Hamish Hamilton Book of Wise Animals
Eilis Dillon
- Reading
- Try choosing a few selections by different authors rather than reading the collection as one plot. Pause between them to compare their styles and ways of imagining animals.
- Themes
- Animals imagined as wise: The collection features animal heroes with human or sometimes superhuman intelligence; its introduction connects observing animals with imagining their motives and giving them human words. The introduction offers a way of thinking about how observation can inspire imaginative animal characters.
- Worth knowing
- One selection is described as Poe’s “spine-chilling” poem The Raven; its eerie tone may be worth bearing in mind for a reader sensitive to unsettling poetry.