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Soul of a Dog
by
Jon Katz (Goodreads Author)
Do animals have souls? Some of our greatest thinkers–Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Aquinas–and countless animal lovers have been obsessed with this question for thousands of years. Now New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz looks for an answer and finds even more questions as he recounts the lives and stories of the residents of his celebrated Bedlam Farm: Rose, his beloved...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
August 18th 2009
by Villard
(first published May 19th 2008)
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This book, written by Jon Katz, attempts to answer a question we will never really know the answer to: do animals have souls? It has been pondered by many of the world’s greatest thinkers, Aristotle and Plato included. Despite that and my own beliefs on the matter, I was interested to read Katz’s take on it.
Katz lives on a farm in upstate New York and (up until recently) shared his life with sheep, goats, donkeys, chickens, steers, cats and dogs. He uses experiences with his anima...more
Katz lives on a farm in upstate New York and (up until recently) shared his life with sheep, goats, donkeys, chickens, steers, cats and dogs. He uses experiences with his anima...more
I enjoy Katz's style though I often have a conflict with his conclusions regarding animals. In this book, he investigates whether animals have a soul, by which he means self-awareness and personality. He cites philosophers such as Augustine and Aquinas who both thought of animals as automatons who were put on earth by God to serve man. Modern day behaviorists harbor similar ideas about animals claiming that since individualtion cannot be adequantly measured in species other than humans, it canno...more
I haven't read any of his books (up til now, obviously) but had heard a lot of good things. I'm not sure if this is indicative of his others, though, as this is a series of anecdotes about his life on a farm (where he has a slew of dogs, cats, donkeys, cows, sheep and chickens) that centers around the question of whether animals will go to heaven.
It wasn't really answered, but for my money, yes. I want no part of a Sammy-less heaven.
A preacher Katz spoke with said that ...more
It wasn't really answered, but for my money, yes. I want no part of a Sammy-less heaven.
A preacher Katz spoke with said that ...more
I'm a huge fan of Jon Katz and his wonderful books about his animals at Bedlam farm. In this book, he talks about the age old question of whether animals have souls. He provides thoughts on the subject from philosophers such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas and even what the Bible says in the book of Genesis. In each chapter, he talks with great love and admiration of all of his own animals... from the goats to the sheep to his barn cat,Mother to his dogs..Izzy, Lenore and Rose.I had the feeling ...more
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Even though Jon Katz is known for being a dog book author, this book is mostly about other animals in his life, and the relationships that he has with them and they occasionally have with each other. (there's a chicken that gets along with a donkey, for instance) He ponders the question of whether dogs have souls, or any other animal, for that matter. He Intersperses different philosophers and behavioral experts views on animal souls with the different stories and his own personal thoughts, in w...more
Another example of Katz showing his understanding and empathy for animals. Each chapter describes the "soul" of a different animal on his farm. He does this very well without anthropomorhizing his animals - he celebrates their differences from humanity. My only complaint about the book is that Katz doesn't seem to have a consistent idea of what he means by "soul" - sometimes he seems to simply mean character or personality, other times the meaning of the animal, or at times,...more
This is second book I've read and really enjoyed by Katz. In this book he describes varioius animals he lives with on his farm in upstate NY. he ponders whether or not they have souls and also briefly touches on humans' changing relationship wtih animals etc. What I like about Katz is his obvious deep love and respect for his animals, without romanticizing them. He makes the case that we should respect them for their dog-ness, cat-ness etc and that we do animals a disservice by anthropomorphizin...more
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I enjoyed this book like i enjoy most books by Katz. They are great stories and express true heart. This was a great book because it took you to Katz's farm and you got to hear about his animals that he has talked about in other books. This book was analytical as to whether animals have souls or not and the answer was a resounding YES. Each story demonstrates how each animal has it's own personality and how their personality shines through them. Animals are just like people in the way that every...more
Do dogs have souls? I don't care. Luckily, Jon Katz weaves plenty of here and now in with his musings about whether we'll see our pets in heaven. His close observations of herding dogs, companion dogs, barn cats, cattle, sheep, donkeys, goats, and even a rooster named Winston and a hen named Henrietta, are what kept me reading. I understand his need to understand his animals--I certainly spent a lot of time analyzing my cats when I was growing up--and I think it's probably a good pursuit for a ...more
This is a lovely journal of Katz and his bonding with the farm animals(especially his beloved Border Collies and lab). The writer sees the dogs as his partner, motivator and inspiration. Their devotion to one another is something words can't described.
The down side for me is, this book isn't exclusively revolve around men's best friend, it also described the unique behavioral of other farm animals such as Ewe, Chicken, donkey and sheep... well, it's a rather let down for dog lovers lik...more
The down side for me is, this book isn't exclusively revolve around men's best friend, it also described the unique behavioral of other farm animals such as Ewe, Chicken, donkey and sheep... well, it's a rather let down for dog lovers lik...more
Katz did not disappoint. There were two particularly beautiful and moving stories about different friendships Katz has had. I got to know gentle Izzy and workaholic Rose better than I knew the dog I had as kid. The driving force of the book though was the idea that dogs have this uncanny and unmatched ability to mirror ourselves back to us. Katz owns some of these incredible dogs, who through lots of treats, training, and time have become exactly what he needs them to be, even if he doesn't unde...more
Reads like a journal of his own quest to discover if animals have souls. It is written as a series of short stories about many of the animals on his farm. I loved the stories and his direct and plain writing style. Some of the stories made me laugh and some made me cry (not hard to do when it comes to animals.) Overall, it really gave me an interesting take on his life on the farm, the good side and the bad side of it and how animals, friends and neighbors make up his community (with or with...more
I'm not as enchanted with Katz's work as I once was.
This book is great, beautiful, thoughtful, poignant... A fast and easy read, filled with new stories of our favorite farm characters in typical Katz fashion. It poses the question "do animals have souls" and then compares and contrasts various situations, animals and outlooks, without drawing conclusion or hitting the reader over the head with any one concept. That part is very well done, gently prodding the mind, studyin...more
This book is great, beautiful, thoughtful, poignant... A fast and easy read, filled with new stories of our favorite farm characters in typical Katz fashion. It poses the question "do animals have souls" and then compares and contrasts various situations, animals and outlooks, without drawing conclusion or hitting the reader over the head with any one concept. That part is very well done, gently prodding the mind, studyin...more
Jon Katz's books are always a pleasure to read, and hard to put down. This book was no exception. Still, maybe it's the lawyer in me, but I wish he had defined his terms in this one. He's exploring souls of animals, but doesn't say what he means by "soul," which left me a bit lost. It was still a pleasure to spend time with the familiar characters, mostly non-humans, who live at Bedlam Farm. Jon Katz is coming to my home town on a book tour promoting this book. I will be there.
This book is a sentimental journey with the author as he considers the possibility that animals have souls and are admitted into the afterlife (the Christian heaven). He presents plenty of anecdotal evidence that animals do have souls, especially his dogs, donkeys, chickens, and occasional sheep. Interestingly, he does not consider his barn cat quite soulful.
This book is primarily a commentary on Christian religious beliefs about the relationship between humans and animals. Katz com...more
This book is primarily a commentary on Christian religious beliefs about the relationship between humans and animals. Katz com...more
This is one of those books that I need to simmer with. Lots of great thoughts here that I need to process and formulate my own opinions on. My gut tells me that all lifeforces carry souls - some more obviously so than others. I know the nuns from my elementary school are rolling over in their graves or nursing odd twitches most likely on my behalf, but life itself is too wonderful for there not to be some sort of payoff. For everything.
Another thoughful dog book from Jon Katz. More introspective than his other books, Soul of a Dog examines human-animal relationships as observed on Bedlam Farm and its environs. Izzy's work in hospice, Rose's work with sheep, and even Henrietta the hen's personality traits are represented in well written and insightful essays. And as always, Katz turns a keen eye on himself and his foibles as he chronicles his life on Bedlam Farm.
The author asks many questions in this book but offers few answers. I think he just makes it possible for the reader to come to his own conclusions about whether animals have souls and what our definition of a soul is. He seems to think that his animals are all brilliant and special in some way but don't we all? I think that our animals become what we need them to be, comforting, loving, supporting us and most of all teaching us acceptance of ourselves and other creatures.
Picked this up as a space-filler over the weekend while I'm waiting for the release of the new Franzen. Not really well-written, but a few touching moments and made me want to pursue further, in a more systematic way, the ethical dimensions of eating animals (I have at this point ruled out lamb, based on a youtube clip of a domesticated one, and I guess lobster, considering the late DFW's points on that).
Jon Katz goes somewhere new in this book. He contemplates if animals have a soul or not. He goes back to ancient times for some of his ideas, quoting Aristotle, and goes to modern times. But what is his conclusion? If you have read any of his books, you probably have an idea. This one is also filled with heartwarming stories, but not all candy-coated ones.
Really? 4* average? I need to become an author then because I could have written a better book about my dogs. I'm a sucker for a good animal book but this isn't it. Couples (wannabe) academia with vignettes from his farm life with cows, donkeys, sheep, cats, goats, and dogs. Not cohesive or particularly entertaining. Doesn't do it for me.
This is a fine little book sharing anecdotes and looking into the spirit or soul of the animals of the farm. Its varies between being insightful into the minds of these creatures, or just pointing out the notable aspects of each of the creatures, leaving it for the reader to ponder. He also writes with candor about his own life, showing both successes and foibles.
I am a long time fan of Jon Katz. Following him through Slate.com and a few earlier books; I was pretty disappointed that a lot of stories I had previously read on Slate.com were "reinvented" within this book with a more God/soul/meaning of life perspective that didn't exist when I first read them.
There didn't seem to be a natural flow through the book, almost as though previous stories were adapted to fit into this new perspective on life. Concepts were often rehashed, ad ...more
There didn't seem to be a natural flow through the book, almost as though previous stories were adapted to fit into this new perspective on life. Concepts were often rehashed, ad ...more
Actually a 3.5 rating. Musings on whether or not animals have souls and if they will go to Heaven interspersed with anecdotes about animals on the author's farm in upstate New York.
As usual I have one small disagreement with the author - my dogs do feel jealousy. On display daily.
As usual I have one small disagreement with the author - my dogs do feel jealousy. On display daily.
The author manages to avoid the smarmy, emotional dog-story genre by being somewhat analytical about the question: Do animals have souls? Mostly, he's just telling stories in which his animals play a prominent part. It's fun reading and even makes you think a bit.
Katz combines great animal stories from life on his farm in upstate New York with philosophical musings on the true nature of the animals on his farm. This was a nice relaxing read that made me really think about my own animal experiences.
I was disappointed in this book. I loved the stories about the animals on Katz's farm but I don't care whether Katz or any one else thinks that animals have souls or not. The book went on and on about whether animals have souls. My dogs have souls and don't care what any one else thinks about the subject.
Katz has really stretched the whole dog-theme book concept, but I think this collection of essays is pretty interesting. He examines the modern trend of over-emotionalizing animals and questions the dangers of it.
I am so glad my sister introduced me to Jon Katz. He shares my own very complex way of loving my animals and yet not trying to strip them of their true nature by seeing too much that is human in them.
The author wrote stories about the animals that lived on his farm. They were interesting stories and some were funny and some adventures. He really enjoys his animals and farm.
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Jon Katz is an author, photographer, and children's book writer. He lives on Bedlam Farm with his wife, the artist Maria Wulf, his four dogs, Rose, Izzy, Lenore and Frieda, two donkeys, Lulu and Fanny, and two barn cats. His next book, "Rose In A Storm" will be published by Random House on October 5.
He is working on a collection of short stories and a book on animal grieving.
More about Jon Katz...
He is working on a collection of short stories and a book on animal grieving.
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“There's a vulnerability about Rose, even a sweetness in her eyes, but there's no mistaking her priorities. Smart, tough, determined, she is essential, but rarely the dog that people melt over or want to take home. Yet she's a great dog.”
—
2 people liked it
“Rose is undistractable, indefatigable, a problem solver.
Work is her essence, her animating spirit, and the core of her impact on me. Her dedication to it helps make my life possible, connects the two of us in this powerful way.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
Work is her essence, her animating spirit, and the core of her impact on me. Her dedication to it helps make my life possible, connects the two of us in this powerful way.”
