Humans and Other Animals: Animal Fiction from Vietnam by Chitra Sankaran

Humans and Other Animals: Animal Fiction from Vietnam Reviews

• 
  Andreea Visanoiu

  I hate it when I don’t resonate with a book. I highly respect writers, but also want to read things I enjoy. 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 & 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬, a short stories collection edited by 𝐶ℎ𝑖 𝑃. 𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑚 & 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛, translated from Vietnamese, didn’t hit the spot for me. The premise is interesting: it analyses the presence of animals in Vietnamese culture and goes beyond an anthropocentric view of animals, studying humans from the animals’ lenses. So, I learned that the Vietnamese people are descendants of dragons (the real Targaryens!).
  
  There is an art to writing short stories. You have to make someone feel with very few words. From this perspective, the execution of this collection felt flat. The longer stories I enjoyed most were shortened, so the characters’ transition from one state to another was sudden and messy. Next, I found the stories simple and missing the kick, that point that you get only when you read the story’s last line.
  
  What I did like was the contrast between animals and humans, when it comes to kindness and generosity. We know we are the most terrible and terrifying species on the planet, and other animals are afraid of us. But how impactful is it when you hear it from THEM? Their judgment of us, their view on our cruelty, and their capacity to still love the good in us while staying away from the bad ones were explored (and the last story broke me a little). Plus, the stories are set in SEA, so it’s wonderful to have more and more writing coming up from this part of the world.
  
  If you like short stories, talking animals, and being judged from the eyes of beings so much better than us, this collection is for you. You will enjoy the book, if you don’t expect complex writing, dialogue, or unexpected plot twists.
  
• 
  Gavin Young

  Interesting stories. Some were abbreviated which took away meaning and reduced their quality. Would read the book again for more understanding.
• 
  Matin Moors

  This book was an interesting intellectual exercise until the last two stories. They absolutely rolled me and I’m so happy to have the physical book to keep coming back to them to ponder and feel.