Reviews and Comments

This book does essentially exactly what its title promises: It maps a litany of different methods of building by creatures, from microscopic bacteria to primates to termites to beavers to crows. As an overview of the methods employed, it is thorough and enjoyable, if a little dry.

An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a small bugbear, however, in a book that is otherwise an adequate, broad and interesting dive into the many homes that are built by the countless critters that share this planet with us.

A tale of people livong in a time of massive transition as Kenya gains 'Uhuru', independence from the British Empire. Ngugi wa Thiong'o wrote this book only a short time after Kenyan independence, which is amazing because it carries so much sympathy and distance that it could have been written today. Added to this, the characters and storytelling is also very modern and seems more like an ethereal novel of the early 2000s. The complexity of violence both in imperialism and in its removal is bittersweet, touching and enriching.

The characters and dialogue is brilliantly sharp, and the motivations and actions both realistic and dreamlike, but what is most striking is the empathy that Ngugi wa Thiong'o manifests for all parties, even those who commit atrocious deeds. This empathy is something that many struggle with even 100 years on from bitter periods of imperial rule. The only flaw in the book is in the occasional sections where it bluntly outlines the history of the day, sections that feel more like a bad editorial decision to explain the events to a western audience. Otherwise this is touchingly flawless.

Marie Darrieussecq's debut novel is a metamorphosis story that pulls in themes of sexism, racism, and political extremism, all painted with a heavy brush. The story is painful but playful, told by a narrator who has transformed into a pig after a series of harrowing life events where her body is abused constantly, mostly by men.

The story is absurd but engaging enough to entertain, even if at times it feels a little like you are being told the same joke again and again. The cleverness is spoiled at times by the obviousness of the plot or the clear influences of other books that come through too strongly. While some of the themes are obvious (the abuse of the female body for money, for example), other moments such as the strange ending or the fictional political events are a little too muddled. But even so, as a story and an unusual, wry contemporary myth, this book is worth a read.

This extraordinary book manages to offer so many things simultaneously: it is a story of trauma and healing, of moments and lifetimes, of time and space. The words are both written about and embedded in thin places.

Kerri Ní Dochartaigh is a wonderfully fluid writer, and this book tells her story of her life, beginning through the Troubles in Northern Ireland, caught in between places, with parents from either side of a bitter divide. These divides continue to haunt her life – moments of joy in the natural world counter-balanced with mental health issues in her city life, but it is in the thin places between that she finds solace. These places are borrowed from Irish mythology, and are moments that are liminal and often otherworldly. The pages ooze with honest, considered pain but also with a sunrise of hope constantly creeping over the horizon. I read the last 50 pages at a snail's pace, chewing every sentence before moving on. Wonderful.