TM: Problems with talking animals

[Eric]

Does anyone else have issues in literature with talking animals? I think I would not include the Brian Jaques books or Watership Down because they are exclusively about talking animals.

I can't really pinpoint my hangup out this. Does anyone else feel the same way?

[Aloha]

I talk to my pet hamster all the time. I'm pretty sure she's talking to me. Hamsters talk very quietly and I'm kind of hard of hearing.

[Leesa]

This is not a problem with me at all. :) I LOVE books with talking animals. Even in mysteries/non-fantasy books, I like animals that are exceptionally helpful.

[Eric]

Haha. In real life, this would be a problem.

[David Sven]

I did have a bit of an issue in "The Magicians" because up till that point everything was kept basically "realistic" in that we were in the real world but with magic. Then all of a sudden we have talking animals and its like . . . oookaaaayy? The transition was a little jarring for me.

[Melanie]

I am *really* late coming to this discussion but I just finished "The Magicians" and really wanted to weigh in...

Yes, I too have a problem with talking animals in fiction for two reasons: first, our special physiology of the throat and larynx is what gives us the ability to speak. It's no biological mystery. There is strong evidence that some primates have the ability to understand basic symbolic language but unfortunately, their larynxes just aren't in the right place for speech production. In the status quo of the natural world, talking animals are beyond the realm of possibility.

My second reason involves a bit more mystery and speculation: I think that endowing any animal species with the gift of language would come with monumental consequences with respect to the behavior and nature of that species. For one thing, it would have culture, history, organization, and technology all its own, distinct from humanity's. It likely would have had a radically different set of selective pressures in order to develop language in the first place and would face different selective pressures as a result. And it would almost certainly have a far more complex relationship with humanity (and other animal species) than is normally portrayed in fantasy fiction.

Well, it's magic! Magic is great but how satisfying of an explanation it is depends on your level of general disbelief with respect to talking animals. My disbelief happens to be very high. And to tie it all together, I think that the best fantasy/sci-fi takes what is within the realm of possibility and embellishes, exaggerates, and builds on it. Maintaining a certain measure of realism lends the story believability--the fewer demands a story makes on the reader's suspension of disbelief, the stronger it is (imo). So, I guess it's not so much that I have a problem with talking animals in stories, it's that I wish they were approached with greater realism.

[Casey]

Nope, doesn't bother me if it fits in the story.

[Eric]

@David: I agree, the transition to the "fantasy" world in the book, as opposed to the fantastical elements within the "real" world were very jarring.

@Melanie: I don't feel that the science or lack of an author's not establishing enough context for talking animals is the problem. Honestly, I think it seems that if an author is going to deal in fantasy, than there should be some new creatures to fill in the speaking roles. Guenhwyvar in R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf series is an animal character I can get behind. Anthropomorphic, yet silent.

[Thurman]

Eric wrote: "Haha. In real life, this would be a problem."

Cow to Human: "NO NO I DON'T WANT TO BE STEAK !!!!"

Yes any animal speaking would be a bad idea.