Fionnáin reviewed The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell
A bestiary of impending extinction
5 stars
Kathryn Rundell's wonderful book considers the worlds and perspectives of animals, and does so with a gentle and playful hand. Each chapter takes one creature that exists in our world, and considers how that creature is looked at scientifically, historically and metaphorically. Each is brilliantly and deeply researched, and then edited carefully to be both informative and interesting.
But The Golden Mole is far from a scientific bestiary; instead, it considers story and art on an equal footing with science and history, and for this it is a marvel. It is written beautifully, the words carefully chosen with none wasted. Each chapter concludes with a lament for what would be lost should the extraordinary creature it describes be lost from the world. Then the final chapter uses an old parable to consider all that can be lost, and all that can be saved. With this brilliant stroke of the keyboard, …
Kathryn Rundell's wonderful book considers the worlds and perspectives of animals, and does so with a gentle and playful hand. Each chapter takes one creature that exists in our world, and considers how that creature is looked at scientifically, historically and metaphorically. Each is brilliantly and deeply researched, and then edited carefully to be both informative and interesting.
But The Golden Mole is far from a scientific bestiary; instead, it considers story and art on an equal footing with science and history, and for this it is a marvel. It is written beautifully, the words carefully chosen with none wasted. Each chapter concludes with a lament for what would be lost should the extraordinary creature it describes be lost from the world. Then the final chapter uses an old parable to consider all that can be lost, and all that can be saved. With this brilliant stroke of the keyboard, the book becomes not only documentation but a call to action, carefully and perfectly done.
