
Being a Beast
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jot Davies
-
By:
-
Charles Foster
About this listen
Charles Foster wanted to know what it was like to be a beast: a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, a swift. What it was really like. And through knowing what it was like, he wanted to get down and grapple with the beast in us all.
So he tried it out; he lived life as a badger for six weeks, sleeping in a dirt hole and eating earthworms. He came face to face with shrimps as he lived like an otter, and he spent hours curled up in a back garden in East London and rooting in bins like an urban fox.
A passionate naturalist, Foster realises that every creature creates a different world in its brain and lives in that world. As humans, we share sensory outputs, lights, smells and sound, but trying to explore what it is actually like to live in another of these worlds, belonging to another species, is a fascinating and unique neuroscientific challenge. For Foster it is also a literary challenge.
Looking at what science can tell us about what happens in a fox's or badger's brain when it picks up a scent, he then uses this to imagine their world for us, to write it through their eyes, or, rather, through the eyes of Charles the beast.
An intimate look at the life of animals, neuroscience, psychology, nature writing, memoir and more, it is a journey of extraordinary thrills and surprises, containing wonderful moments of humour and joy but also providing important lessons for all of us who share life on this precious planet.
©2016 Charles Foster (P)2016 Audible, LtdThe narrator also did an excellent job of maintaining the essence of Foster's work.
Marvelous and delightfully thought provoking
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Has made me reconsider an awful lot, and get into the world... the real world... a bit more
Thought provoking
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A storytellers dream
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I'm not sure. I had to listen to it twice and some parts more. found it wordy and difficult to really get my head around.Would you recommend Being a Beast to your friends? Why or why not?
Don't think I would because I don't think my friends would either be interested or wouldn't be able to concentrate.Which scene did you most enjoy?
None in particular.Do you think Being a Beast needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No. This book was difficult enough to listen to.Any additional comments?
I really don't know what the point was in this book. I don't think it is possible for humans to really get inside the heads of animals and live like them and think like them and I just wasn't there with the author. I thought it was well read though.A beast of a read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great concept
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrate drove me mad
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
meh, voice actor was good
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.