TENDER IS THE FLESH [2020] By Augustina Bazterrica
My Review 5.0 Out Of 5.0 Stars
I knew that I wanted to read this book long before I purchased it on February 18th of this year, and then after buying it I waited a long time before I opened the book on my tablet to read it July 9th. Why? I asked myself after I had finally tapped it, read the first page, and then found myself so totally riveted I could not put it down until I finished the last sentence of the short novel. The answer to “Why?” was that I was fearful of wading into it because I had imagined all sorts of endings to the horrifying premise outlined in the teaser description of its storyline.
What fascinated me most of all about this novel was the author’s ability to write such a compelling narrative that was “unputdownable” about a topic which was so hellishly unthinkable. What struck me as the second most remarkable element of this novel was the uncanny and insanely ingenious mind of its author. Good heavens, was there not a single uniquely sadistic and horrifying way to wield this new freedom that came with the “Transition” that mankind did not exploit? I was in some ways more disgusted by the sordid imagination of mankind to expand the mandate of the “Transition” from meeting the basic need for protein into an absolute smorgasbord of unpunishable atrocities.
The suggestion that “The Transition” was not brought about by the very real presence of a virus attacking all mammals but for mankind was thought-provoking for about one second. I am not naïve enough that I could bring myself to believe anything other than a conniving construct by the power elite to address the population explosion and the inevitable diminishing of available resources. The book pulls you headlong into a world of madness that is as cold as an arctic blast. It is bone chilling in its intensity, and I felt cold in a warm room as I read the pages of this futuristic place called Earth but with no sun to warm its land and lakes.
The reviews I have read about this novel are brilliant, and there is virtually nothing I could say to add to the positively glowing praise this work has garnered. This review is frankly for me, since I want to remember the emotional impact of the reading experience and describe its effect while the breathless impact is still fresh on my mind. I am simply blown away by the writing talent of this author to make me see through Tejo’s eyes and to feel his experiences as he related them as though he and I were somehow joined. I felt his sadness, his emptiness, his sheer horror of the naked, noiseless, utterly silent, and emptying landscape so acutely I was too depressed to cry. It was as a kindred spirit that I followed in his footsteps through the pages of the dismal ghost of yesterday which haunted his waking hours.
I am an animal lover of the first order. It is therefore fathomless how the sadistic punks murdering the puppies at the deserted zoo did not shatter me. I was numb to it by that point in the narrative. In a world where there are no birds singing, no hummingbirds I can see from my deck, no groundhog running in the back field, no doe and her babies drinking or loitering within my view when the sun sets it would be a stark dead place. I am not certain I would have the will to live after “The Transition.” I must be honest and admit to not seeing the corollaries between the conditions where the “head” were maintained and the current status of farms which raise animals for slaughter. Fortuitously after living in a metropolitan area, I was able to relocate to a countryside and live comfortably with land, hills, and wildlife on all sides. We have seen deer, foxes, coyotes, even the occasional big cat, and a brilliantly colored copperhead now and again. I took our scenic homestead and verdant landscape for granted until I read this novel which depicts an all too possible outcome for mankind.
This book was far worse than what I had contrived in my imagination. Speaking of the ending, I do not have an issue with it at all. Tejo was ultimately a survivor, a man who broke the law to find a reason to believe, to live and to still love, in a bleak future that I would never be able to withstand.
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Popular Highlights in this book
“The human being is the cause of all evil in this world. We are our own virus.”Highlighted by 1,785 Kindle readers- Parents who name their children after themselves are stripping them of an identity, reminding them who they belong to.Highlighted by 1,723 Kindle readers
- His brain warns him that there are words that cover up the world. There are words that are convenient, hygienic. Legal.Highlighted by 1,668 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
Great book if you can stomach it
“If a person with a first and last name can be eaten legally, and they’re not considered a product, what’s stopping anyone from eating anyone else?”Sheesh. This book was depressingly disturbing.A dystopian type novel set in the future where animal meat is no longer safe to eat (or so the public is made to believe by the government) so the “legitimization of cannibalism” is put in place- making “special meat” as they call it, the new normal. Not only this, but animals all brutally killed to mostly extinction, and all remaining animals are feared.Something I really liked about this book is it’s brutal and very important message about the very real disgusting horrors that go on in our food industry (especially meat and dairy) today. It calls out so many of mankind’s hypocrisies like how we feel mostly no remorse condoning the killing, torturing, and breeding an unnamed beef cows but feel disgust at even the suggestion of hurting a beloved pet. Bringing relevancy to the quote I pulled from the book at the beginning of this review, regular people or people with “fist and last names” as the book frequently references them, are not on the menu. Only the “heads” or “specimens” bred and raised in captivity - raised strictly for food.This book shines an important light on our lack of empathy and respect for other living beings as a society and the insatiable selfishness of mankind. The unspeakable things we do to other living beings in order to satisfy our hunger, our vanity, our entertainment, and our research. It’s uncomfortable because a the majority of this story is a twisted version of something very real.Moving away from the important message of this book, I found it overall a very good read. It successfully made me feel very bleak and hopeless, as it is a very depressing and disturbing book. The main character is someone I empathized with in the beginning but quickly grew to dislike and then pretty much despise by the end of the book.“She had the human look of a domesticated animal.”Even though this all sounds very negative, it was the books purpose so I consider this a successful read.The reason I took a star off the rating was because the writing itself was not that great in my opinion. I had to re read sections a few times in some places because it was written very choppy and lacked a cohesive flow.Overall as I said, although this book is disturbing and depressing as hell, I would recommend checking it out if you can stomach it.Definitely check TWs but pretty much assume there’s everything but the kitchen sink in this book as far as triggers go.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020
First and foremost I want to bring to the light how impactful this novel is to the Argentinian community. If you don’t know I am half Argentinian. My mom was born and raised in Floresta, Buenos Aires. I was born in the US myself but was raised with all the Argentinian flavor. I’m also part Italian but being that my mom and dad were divorced shortly after I was born, I was raised surrounded by Argentinian customs. I drank mate, and had dulce de leche daily, and just like these traditions were kept, meat was cooked almost daily in my household. I LOVE STEAK! Even before I had teeth my mom gave me chunks of steak which I would suck until it was white (that sounds gross) but it was my life growing up. I say all of this to say that for an Argentinian author to write about the lack of animal meat is HORRIFYING! I can definitely see how the world can turn in a flash where the consumption of animal meat is so prevalent.
One thing I love about humans is how they change and adapt so quickly. Some may take more time than others but eventually everyone adjusts and continues, whether the changes are right or wrong. That is exactly what happens in this novel. No animal products you say? No problem. Let’s start farming humans to substitute meat. How terrifying is that? Processing plants lined up with head (humans) waiting to be slaughtered and shipped? Unfathomable. Taking a tour through all these facilities was not an easy task. We are “shown” through great description what the process of the slaughtering is like. Each room and area of the plant is explained (in great detail) through our main character Marcos. Marcos is an employee at one of the slaughterhouses so he gives us direct access to the goings on. Following him around is not only taxing, it is heartbreaking. He is a very somber character going through an internal battle with not only the state of the world at the time, but also his own challenges and failures in life.
With all that being said the part that I found unbearable is a world without animals!! How sad would that be? I couldn’t go a day without my furbabies, they make me smile and give so much meaning to my life. I want to give a little CW that there are some hard-to-read parts that involve animal cruelty. Not a lot but just be warned. Those parts wrecked me beyond belief. Don’t know what it says about me that reading about humans being slaughtered didn’t do anything to me, in fact I ate steak that night! And it was delicious! I’ve heard many people had a hard time eating meat after this gem. Not this Argentinian lol!
I could go on and on about this book but I won’t bore you any longer. This book was absolutely brilliant. It’s a must read!
BRILLIANT! But not for the faint of heart!
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020
How far are you willing to go for food? For meat? Are you willing to modify your morals? Would you follow everyone else even if it’s wrong? These are the questions that TENDER IS THE FLESH entices.Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020
First and foremost I want to bring to the light how impactful this novel is to the Argentinian community. If you don’t know I am half Argentinian. My mom was born and raised in Floresta, Buenos Aires. I was born in the US myself but was raised with all the Argentinian flavor. I’m also part Italian but being that my mom and dad were divorced shortly after I was born, I was raised surrounded by Argentinian customs. I drank mate, and had dulce de leche daily, and just like these traditions were kept, meat was cooked almost daily in my household. I LOVE STEAK! Even before I had teeth my mom gave me chunks of steak which I would suck until it was white (that sounds gross) but it was my life growing up. I say all of this to say that for an Argentinian author to write about the lack of animal meat is HORRIFYING! I can definitely see how the world can turn in a flash where the consumption of animal meat is so prevalent.
One thing I love about humans is how they change and adapt so quickly. Some may take more time than others but eventually everyone adjusts and continues, whether the changes are right or wrong. That is exactly what happens in this novel. No animal products you say? No problem. Let’s start farming humans to substitute meat. How terrifying is that? Processing plants lined up with head (humans) waiting to be slaughtered and shipped? Unfathomable. Taking a tour through all these facilities was not an easy task. We are “shown” through great description what the process of the slaughtering is like. Each room and area of the plant is explained (in great detail) through our main character Marcos. Marcos is an employee at one of the slaughterhouses so he gives us direct access to the goings on. Following him around is not only taxing, it is heartbreaking. He is a very somber character going through an internal battle with not only the state of the world at the time, but also his own challenges and failures in life.
With all that being said the part that I found unbearable is a world without animals!! How sad would that be? I couldn’t go a day without my furbabies, they make me smile and give so much meaning to my life. I want to give a little CW that there are some hard-to-read parts that involve animal cruelty. Not a lot but just be warned. Those parts wrecked me beyond belief. Don’t know what it says about me that reading about humans being slaughtered didn’t do anything to me, in fact I ate steak that night! And it was delicious! I’ve heard many people had a hard time eating meat after this gem. Not this Argentinian lol!
I could go on and on about this book but I won’t bore you any longer. This book was absolutely brilliant. It’s a must read!
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Top reviews from other countries
Ramij Khan
Pure Masterwork. Definitely the author's magnum opus.
Reviewed in India on March 30, 2024
