When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (abridged) (audiobook)by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Originally published in 1995 by Dove Entertainment, Inc.
Read by David AckroydDuration: 3 hours, 5 minutes.
Abridged
Strengths:
When Elephants Weep is full of moving anecdotes concerning animals and the possibility of them having emotions. It is a pleasant listen and usually not "over the top" in its preachiness. It was well read by narrator David Ackroyd. The authors make a compelling, if not scientifically rigorous argument for animal emotions.
Weaknesses:
The authors are continually preaching against scientists who do not believe that animals have emotions and may even doubt that animals can even feel pain. However, they rarely point out the scientists or the studies that espouse this view. It felt like a straw man argument after a while. They also fail to cite any work that backs their claims besides convincing rhetoric.
In the end, it was a convincing, mostly entertaining book that was a lot more entertaining and pleasant than a PETA brochure, but without much more actual content than such a brochure.
I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: When Elephants Weep.
Reviewed November 9, 2007.
Strengths:
When Elephants Weep is full of moving anecdotes concerning animals and the possibility of them having emotions. It is a pleasant listen and usually not "over the top" in its preachiness. It was well read by narrator David Ackroyd. The authors make a compelling, if not scientifically rigorous argument for animal emotions.
Weaknesses:
The authors are continually preaching against scientists who do not believe that animals have emotions and may even doubt that animals can even feel pain. However, they rarely point out the scientists or the studies that espouse this view. It felt like a straw man argument after a while. They also fail to cite any work that backs their claims besides convincing rhetoric.
In the end, it was a convincing, mostly entertaining book that was a lot more entertaining and pleasant than a PETA brochure, but without much more actual content than such a brochure.
I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: When Elephants Weep.
Reviewed November 9, 2007.
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