A book from a nonhuman perspective

[Laura]

Stephanie wrote: "I would highly recommend "The Magic Strings if Frankie Presto." it's told from the POV of music. Possibly my favourite book so far this year. The original one I had planned for this prompt was "Dea..."

Stephanie, I also chose Frankie Presto for this prompt. It was so achingly beautiful. So far it's my favorite for the year, and I think it will be hard to beat.

[Wendy]

I think I'll be reading Tarka the Otter -- it's on Boxall's 1001 Books to read before you die list. It doesn't seem to be fully in the otter's viewpoint (it's 3rd person) but apparently does a good job of not anthropomorphizing a wild animal while showing his life through a lens free of prescribed human emotions, based on the reviews.

[Kristin]

I'm reading The Book Thief for this.

[[deleted user]]

Gate of Souls by Verna McKinnon is told from animal's point of view. It is a fantasy book, would fit in young adult, it is the first in a series, and it has a panther on the cover. I recommend the later editions. The first released edition had a lot of mistakes from editing slip through. She has switched editors and I am hoping they got those mistakes corrected. I haven't re-read the book yet, but I do have it on my TBR shelf.

[Nadine in NY]

I just started reading Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones for this, and it's really good, and it definitely fits this category (the "Dog Star," Sirius, is sent to Earth as punishment and comes back to life as a dog ... so it's either from the perspective of a star or a dog, depending on how you look at it), but wow! I was expecting something fun like "Lilo and Stich" but instead it's more along the lines of Black Beauty!! I mean, it starts out with the litter of puppies being tossed into the river in a sack to drown them because they are mixed breed - ugh! I was not expecting that. I hope things improve for poor Sirius!

[Wendy]

I think The Book of the Dun Cow would work for this. I read it as a kid and loved it. The characters are all animals: Chauntecleer the rooster, the farm animals, and the terrifying Wyrm. It's not exactly a kids book either, more straight-up myth/fantasy as I recall? One of the reviewers calls it an "apocalyptic epic fable" :)

[Elyse]

Wendy wrote: "I think The Book of the Dun Cow would work for this. I read it as a kid and loved it. The characters are all animals: Chauntecleer the rooster, the farm animals, and the terrifying Wyr..."

Like Chanticleer from Rock-a-Doodle?! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102802/

[Wendy]

Elyse wrote: "Like Chanticleer from Rock-a-Doodle?! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102802/ "

Yes, actually! (ahaha, I had that on VHS as a kid). Well, actually Canticleer the rooster is originally from Chaucer, who I believe got him from some even older myths. Crowing the sun into existence each morning and all that. So this would probably work for the "based on mythology" category too.

Those kids cartoons with their Chaucer references, right? ;)

[Chinook]

I read Fifteen Dogs because it was part of Canada Reads. Man, that was sad.

[Kathy]

I read The Fur Person by May Sarton, which is told from the point of view of her cat, Tom Jones. It's cute and only 120 pages.

[Emanuel]

I read Teu Para Sempre

[Elyse]

Wendy wrote: "Yes, actually! (ahaha, I had that on VHS as a kid). Well, actually Canticleer the rooster is originally from Chaucer, who I believe got him from some even older myths. Crowing the sun into existence each morning and all that. So this would probably work for the "based on mythology" category too..."


haha! I was kind of joking but also kind of curious! Definitely think of Rock-a-Doodle when I hear Chanticleer. lol. And definitely watched the movie a few years ago, maybe on Netflix. :D

[Melody]

I read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Having previously worked at Disneyland and ridden Mr. Toad's Wild arise many times, it was cool to read the original text.

[Lynette]

Haha :D If you want a great read for this category of non-human perspective, try They Called Me Dragon: A Narrative Account of My Adventures on the Planet Earth

This is a great little self-published novel, wherein J'o’ Ka Joarchim is a Joviahn who naughtily visits the planet Earth and embroils himself in human affairs - a most superb read.

[Caroline]

I read The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury. It's a YA rebelling of Aladdin told from the genie's perspective and I really enjoyed it!

[Elyse]

Death: A Life as told by Death. Not my pick, I already did this one, but it's an option!

[Jessica]

Ellen wrote: " -- #3 in a series told by a super computer"

Thanks so much for this recommendation! I'm on a cozy mystery kick right now and this one looks like fun! :)

[Jessica]

I read this one last year and it was interesting. From the perspective of Jack the Ripper's dog.

[Mike]

Reading The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents for this because I love Terry Pratchett and I hadn't gotten to this one yet.

[Stina]

Does Jonathan Livingston Seagull work for this one? I'm a few pages in, and it seems to have a third-person omniscient narrator. I'm trying to decide whether or not to proceed. I'm kinda hating it, but it is really short, so...?

[Jackie]

Stina wrote: "Does Jonathan Livingston Seagull work for this one? I'm a few pages in, and it seems to have a third-person omniscient narrator. I'm trying to decide whether or not to proceed. I'm kinda hating it,..."

Is it mostly-ish viewing life from the point of view of a seagull? Or is it more like a human thinking about seagulls? I haven't read so I can't offer you any advice except that I don't think a book needs to be written in the first person to be written from a nonhuman perspective. (By the way, the negative reviews of this book are pretty funny).

[Tytti]

I started listening to a book which is in part written from the perspective of God and guardian angels, most notably Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Basil the Great who, because of the organisational changes in Heaven, have to share the "guardianship" of a Lutheran Finn and a Russian oligarch who belongs under the guardianship of Orthodox guardian angels even during the Soviet era... So in order to help these guys God has to dissolve the Soviet Union, unite Germany and move China to the market economy. I don't know yet how all this is going to happen but it sounds pretty funny, Basil already gave some advice to his Lutheran counterpart about making church services more interesting. For those who do not know, Finland has two national churches, Lutheran and Orthodox, so people have some familiarity with both, even if they don't have both religions in their family like I have. (The author also knows a thing or two about running a major company, as that was his job before retiring.)

[Keri]

I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It seems that I am one of the few that did not fall in love with this book. To be honest, I was happy when it was over. Don't get me wrong...it was not a "bad" book. I really did like the point-of-view as well as the the main group of characters. The writing itself was good. Maybe it was the hype of the book and all the great reviews or maybe it was that I have read so many books (fiction and non) of this time and these events, that this one just didn't speak to me. I am also not a reader of young adult books and maybe this book fell into that category for me. I would recommend it for a read, it just wasn't for me.

[Nadine in NY]

I'm also one of the few who did not like The Book Thief! It was a book club pick for me years ago, and I dnf'ed. It was not the book for me.

[Deborah]

Would CS Lewis' That Hideous Strength work for this category?

[Jackie]

Deborah wrote: "Would CS Lewis' That Hideous Strength work for this category?"

No, it's definitely a human point of view. The narrator is your average third person omniscient, but there's nothing non-human about it.

[Rachel]

The Bees by Laline Paull