The Animals in That Country
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- Create Date：2021-09-18 09:51:11
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Laura Jean McKay
- ISBN：1913348857
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Summary
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ARTHUR C。 CLARKE AWARD
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
Out on the road， no one speaks， everything talks。
Hard-drinking， foul-mouthed grandma Jean has never been good at getting on with other humans， apart from her granddaughter， Kimberly。 Instead， she surrounds herself with animals， working as a guide in an outback wildlife park。
Then， a strange pandemic begins sweeping the country， its chief symptom that its victims begin to understand the language of animals。 Many infected people lose their minds， including Jean’s son， Lee。
When he takes off with Kimberly， Jean follows， with Sue the dingo riding shotgun。 As they travel， they discover a stark， strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species。
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
Out on the road， no one speaks， everything talks。
Hard-drinking， foul-mouthed grandma Jean has never been good at getting on with other humans， apart from her granddaughter， Kimberly。 Instead， she surrounds herself with animals， working as a guide in an outback wildlife park。
Then， a strange pandemic begins sweeping the country， its chief symptom that its victims begin to understand the language of animals。 Many infected people lose their minds， including Jean’s son， Lee。
When he takes off with Kimberly， Jean follows， with Sue the dingo riding shotgun。 As they travel， they discover a stark， strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species。
Reviews
Alan Sharp
，
If we could talk to the animals。 It’s an old trope in literature， whether it be Dr Doolittle or The Jungle Book or Animal Farm。 One thing that these stories all have in common， though， is the anthropomorphic nature of the animal interactions。 The animals talk， and think， generally very much like us。In reality， of course， talking to an animal would be a very different thing。 Firstly， they don’t have mouths or vocal cords designed for vocalising the way we do。 Secondly， they rely for communication If we could talk to the animals。 It’s an old trope in literature， whether it be Dr Doolittle or The Jungle Book or Animal Farm。 One thing that these stories all have in common， though， is the anthropomorphic nature of the animal interactions。 The animals talk， and think， generally very much like us。In reality， of course， talking to an animal would be a very different thing。 Firstly， they don’t have mouths or vocal cords designed for vocalising the way we do。 Secondly， they rely for communication on so much more than just noise alone， there is a lot of body language involved， facial expressions， sub-vocalisations and pheromones。 And thirdly， of course， their brains have evolved very differently， to have different instincts and different priorities。 McKay has taken all of this into account in this tale of an epidemic that breaks out in Australia and leads to people suddenly developing the ability to understand the language of animals。 As the world becomes a cacophony of cryptic messages from all directions， the results are that some people take it in their stride， some desperately try to shut it out， some become obsessed， and some simply go insane。The central character of the novel is Grandma Jean。 She is a tourist guide at a wildlife park and has developed a good working relationship with one of the park’s dingoes， Sue。 The park is run by her daughter-in-law Angela， mother to her six-year-old granddaughter Kim， whom she dotes on。 Kim’s father Lee， her son， skipped out long ago。When the epidemic hits， the employees of the park try to blockade themselves inside to stay free from it， but Lee returns and breaks in bringing the disease with him。 Obsessed with communicating with the whales， he kidnaps Kim and drives off with her。 Grandma Jean goes off in chase， taking Dingo Sue along with her to help with tracking them down。 If all this sounds like a wholesome road trip story with happy talking animals， it is anything but。 Jean is a foul-mouthed alcoholic of somewhat loose morals and having ignored an infection caused by an animal bite， as the novel goes on she becomes more and more addled in the brain。 Sue talks in non-sequiturs with obscure meanings and， despite having been in the wildlife park her whole life， still has the instincts of a wild animal。 Meanwhile the story， seen through Jean’s chaotic and increasingly disordered consciousness， is a nightmare ride through a world on the brink of social collapse。 McKay does an excellent job of building this confusion to a bafflingly kaleidoscopic climax where Jean has almost become more animal than human depending on Sue as her pack leader。 However， none of this makes for an easy read and it frequently requires a strong stomach。 I’m not going to say I enjoyed this book， but I’m glad I read it。 The animal speech is disorienting， the hallucinogenic quality of the storytelling is frequently confusing， and add to that the frustration the reader feels as Jean constantly makes terrible choices that backfire and compounds them with getting drunk at the most inconvenient moments。 This is a debut novel and I think my honest appraisal would be “flawed but interesting。” I’ll be keeping an eye out to see what this writer does next because there is enough here to suggest that there may be better things to come。 。。。more
Robert
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I am starting to feel more like that I need to be able to give books multiple ratings。 I really liked the concept in this book - of a disease that makes humans able to understand animals。 BUt I found the style hard to read， and didn't find the characters/story built around the basic concept al that engaging I am starting to feel more like that I need to be able to give books multiple ratings。 I really liked the concept in this book - of a disease that makes humans able to understand animals。 BUt I found the style hard to read， and didn't find the characters/story built around the basic concept al that engaging 。。。more
Samara
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Loved the premise of this but the execution was lacking。 Hard to follow and difficult to understand
Deborah
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This is a challenging book in several ways: technique， themes， story。。。 As other readers have said， the way that the various animals' thoughts are presented on the page is unusual; it takes effort to read。 Once you work out who is communicating what， their thoughts and feelings are often confusing。 And they're often distressing: factory farmed pigs yearning for something more than narrow stalls and concrete floors; dairy cows missing their calves; a little dog running in fear for its life。。。 Sev This is a challenging book in several ways: technique， themes， story。。。 As other readers have said， the way that the various animals' thoughts are presented on the page is unusual; it takes effort to read。 Once you work out who is communicating what， their thoughts and feelings are often confusing。 And they're often distressing: factory farmed pigs yearning for something more than narrow stalls and concrete floors; dairy cows missing their calves; a little dog running in fear for its life。。。 Several of the reviews I read called the central human character Jean unlikeable; I'm not sure why， specifically。 I'd guess that Jean doesn't like herself or her life all that much， given how much alcohol she drinks， but she wasn't unlikeable to me。 Her swearing didn't bother me。 She was a good， loving granny to her beloved Kimberley。 She had a friend-with-benefits before the fictional pandemic， and sought comfort in casual sex during the chaos after zooflu had spread。 She was physically grimy for most of the book。 Her closest relationship for most of the narrative is Sue the dingo， and they care for each other， but put their own needs first at times， let each other down， threaten each other。 I love the concept of the zooflu， even though the mechanism of a virus randomly enabling humans to understand animals' body language， scents， and sounds is more magic than science fiction。 （Ooh， maybe it was created by a mad scientist？ If so， good on that scientist！） As other reviewers have said， the ending was abrupt， and the deus ex machina was unlikely （as we know from HIV and SARS-CoV-19， finding a vaccine for a global virus pandemic is hard enough， let alone a one-dose rapid cure）。 I can suspend disbelief， though， and accept that the cure could have happened， but I wish it hadn't。 That would be a different novel， though。 The scenes with humans responding to what the whales were saying were incredibly moving。 I wish that what they'd said was "stop poisoning our oceans" and "stop making those unbearable noises that make us beach ourselves"。 。。。more
Jean Dion
，
This book will stick with me。 Just like our main character， I've wondered what the animals around us are thinking and feeling。 I'm impressed that the author could come up with thoughts for them that were far from maudlin or human-serving。 And it was so clever to have them speak in a language that seems so much like poetry。 Highly recommend。 This book will stick with me。 Just like our main character， I've wondered what the animals around us are thinking and feeling。 I'm impressed that the author could come up with thoughts for them that were far from maudlin or human-serving。 And it was so clever to have them speak in a language that seems so much like poetry。 Highly recommend。 。。。more
Julie Duffy
，
This was excellent。 Really well written， really unusual， challenging， compelling。。。It was more horror than sci-fi which really isn’t my thing so although it was great， and I loved the writing & characters， I was happy to be finished。Highly recommended if you like a little horror in your near-future speculative fiction。
Jane Routley
，
This Australia novel has been shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke award。 I wanted to read it the moment I learned that it was set in a world were a flu had made people able to understand the speech of Animal。 How would the writer portray this ability and what implications would it have。 I found it all pretty exciting and got intensely invoved with Jean and her companion Sue。 Lots to think about her and the portrayal of Jean very nuanced。 Could have spent more time on the end and less on the begi This Australia novel has been shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke award。 I wanted to read it the moment I learned that it was set in a world were a flu had made people able to understand the speech of Animal。 How would the writer portray this ability and what implications would it have。 I found it all pretty exciting and got intensely invoved with Jean and her companion Sue。 Lots to think about her and the portrayal of Jean very nuanced。 Could have spent more time on the end and less on the beginning。 A good read。 。。。more
Occasionally
，
Definitely recommend！Seen reviews that refer to this as wild - such an apt description。 Cleverly done for an ambitious undertaking。 Some of the circumstance of environment and character felt like constructed boundaries of the existential reach， but nonetheless done neatly。 Influences such as the Le Guinn ant story referenced in the acknowledgments came through strongly and as complimentary， like treats along the ride。 Felt no disappointment with the approach to the voices of non-human animals， a Definitely recommend！Seen reviews that refer to this as wild - such an apt description。 Cleverly done for an ambitious undertaking。 Some of the circumstance of environment and character felt like constructed boundaries of the existential reach， but nonetheless done neatly。 Influences such as the Le Guinn ant story referenced in the acknowledgments came through strongly and as complimentary， like treats along the ride。 Felt no disappointment with the approach to the voices of non-human animals， and at times the scarcity and ambiguity of vocabulary painted all the more a harrowing and faithful intepretation of facets of humanitys relationship with the animal world。 The amount of research it is clear was put into this was demonstrated on a spectrum of quiet finesse to tongue in cheek luridness。 The alcohol induced surreal backdrop was on point， at times reminiscient of a brutal version of Coupland stories。 The slow deconstruction of the self as a subjective reality was utterly disconcerting！ 。。。more
Gareth Beniston
，
A hard book to love because it is thorny and awkward but I admire its skill and ambition a great deal。 Octavia Cade has a great review at Strange Horizons and its on the Clarke Shortlist。http://dancingonglass11。blogspot。com/。。。 A hard book to love because it is thorny and awkward but I admire its skill and ambition a great deal。 Octavia Cade has a great review at Strange Horizons and its on the Clarke Shortlist。http://dancingonglass11。blogspot。com/。。。 。。。more
Chris Housden
，
Y
Ed Morland
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A challenging read but one that was worth the effort。 The portrayal throughout the book of the animals speech， rendered into English but not exactly comprehensible for that， is incredibly well done and drives what is a very depressing at times look at the interactions between modern humanity and the animal kingdom。 Worth noting it's definitely pandemic fiction， and a particularly messy pandemic at that， so that may be a turn on or off at the present time。 A challenging read but one that was worth the effort。 The portrayal throughout the book of the animals speech， rendered into English but not exactly comprehensible for that， is incredibly well done and drives what is a very depressing at times look at the interactions between modern humanity and the animal kingdom。 Worth noting it's definitely pandemic fiction， and a particularly messy pandemic at that， so that may be a turn on or off at the present time。 。。。more
Jo-Anne King
，
I'm convinced， if we could understand animals it would *absolutely* be this messed up and terrifying！ Worth listening to audiobook （read by the author） to get the best sense of how the animals 'talk'。 I'm convinced， if we could understand animals it would *absolutely* be this messed up and terrifying！ Worth listening to audiobook （read by the author） to get the best sense of how the animals 'talk'。 。。。more
Luisa Drent
，
I can’t decide what I feel about this book of rated it fairly high， but there were times when I wondered if I get through it。 The concept was hard to read during Coverd but also made it a bit more realistic！ The main character with someone I actually really cared about which made it More personal
Amanda
，
Like Mad Max with a touch of dr dolittle。 Not for the faint hearted， apocalyptic world ravaged by zooflu。 Evocative language and haiku stream of consciousness。 Some leaps of faith required。 Tight and original
Anna
，
Fucking weird book in my opinion。 I enjoyed it up until they started hearing the animals。 Story didn't have a middle and an end only the start。 The short text took me away from the longer paragraphs。 I don't know， I kind of finished it thinking 'what the f did I just read'。。。 But not in a good way。 Fucking weird book in my opinion。 I enjoyed it up until they started hearing the animals。 Story didn't have a middle and an end only the start。 The short text took me away from the longer paragraphs。 I don't know， I kind of finished it thinking 'what the f did I just read'。。。 But not in a good way。 。。。more
Veronica Strachan
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Disturbing， challenging， and absorbing。 This is not a book to read on the fly。 McKay's unique prose needs the reader's full attention。 Loved the unapologetic grandma。 She was at times selfish， unpleasant and unlikeable， but always fiercely loyal， compassionate and persistent。 The story is chaotic and there are places it leaves you unsatisfied， but so many brilliant pokes at social mores， relationships and personal survival in a pandemic。 This is a story worth reading and an alarming dystopian tw Disturbing， challenging， and absorbing。 This is not a book to read on the fly。 McKay's unique prose needs the reader's full attention。 Loved the unapologetic grandma。 She was at times selfish， unpleasant and unlikeable， but always fiercely loyal， compassionate and persistent。 The story is chaotic and there are places it leaves you unsatisfied， but so many brilliant pokes at social mores， relationships and personal survival in a pandemic。 This is a story worth reading and an alarming dystopian twist on the idea of what your animals might be saying to you， and what you might say in return。A great read。 。。。more
George
，
I found this boon very strange and very stressful and I sobbed so hard when I finished it。 Maybe I’m just feeling emotional right now but this feels like one of those books that has flicked a switch in my head。
Miss Bookiverse
，
DNF @ 50% Do you ever read half a book and then realize that it wouldn’t make a difference if you finished it or not？ You wouldn’t enjoy it more or less and you wouldn’t gain a greater understanding of it。 This is how I feel about The Animals in this Country， which is a relief because I can just put it down and be done with it now but also a disappointment because the concept of a virus that allows people to understand animals is fascinating， especially in an Australian setting。 While I do appre DNF @ 50% Do you ever read half a book and then realize that it wouldn’t make a difference if you finished it or not？ You wouldn’t enjoy it more or less and you wouldn’t gain a greater understanding of it。 This is how I feel about The Animals in this Country， which is a relief because I can just put it down and be done with it now but also a disappointment because the concept of a virus that allows people to understand animals is fascinating， especially in an Australian setting。 While I do appreciate that the animals aren’t anthropomorphized and speak through their body language instead of human words or telepathy， their surrealistic poetry like communication just added to my overall confusion with the writing style that was so polished and sparse that I kept missing information。 On top of that， I just don’t enjoy reading about “ugly” characters and plots （excessive drinking and smoking， profanity etc。） even though I was interested in reading from the perspective of an elderly woman that is offered here。 。。。more
Andrea Barnett
，
An imaginative and clever story。 Loved Sue。 One point off perfect because I couldn't overcome my squeamishness over Jean's descent into full-on filth and squalor。 An imaginative and clever story。 Loved Sue。 One point off perfect because I couldn't overcome my squeamishness over Jean's descent into full-on filth and squalor。 。。。more
Jennifer Smart
，
Extraordinary writing。 The main character， Jean is a master class in creating a fully realised character。 Sue， her dingo offsider， is also wonderfully drawn。 Their relationship is intense， moving & quite profound。 That it is also incredibly plausible， shows the strength of Laura Jean McKay’s writing。
Andrew Smith
，
Great book。 Nice to read something that is so fresh and inventive but still has a good grounding in people and story。 One of the most bizarre road trip books ever。 Highly recommend。
Juliette
，
This book was not for me and I DNFed it at page 90/277， so I feel like I gave it a proper go。 In this story we follow Jean， a zoo guide in her 60s or 70s who wants to become a zoo ranger but is looked down upon by the other people she works with。 Her daughter in law is part of the management team and is said to be keeping her on because she can look after her granddaughter that way。 When a flu epidemic hits， infected people start being able to communicate with animals， and Jean’s son comes to ta This book was not for me and I DNFed it at page 90/277， so I feel like I gave it a proper go。 In this story we follow Jean， a zoo guide in her 60s or 70s who wants to become a zoo ranger but is looked down upon by the other people she works with。 Her daughter in law is part of the management team and is said to be keeping her on because she can look after her granddaughter that way。 When a flu epidemic hits， infected people start being able to communicate with animals， and Jean’s son comes to take away her granddaughter for some obscure reason I didn’t get to。Right off the bat， none of the characters are likeable except for Kim the 6-year-old。 I don’t mind unlikeable characters but in this instance， I felt like I read more of their unlikeable lives than what was necessary for the sake of character and plot development and it got old really quickly。 Angela， the daughter in law， was awful the whole way through and had me questioning why she was even in the position that she was。The author tries a little too hard with her quirky yet serious writing style， and I just couldn’t get into it。 And when the animals start talking， they suddenly start talking poetry style and are really hard to connect with。 I honestly thought Jean’s interactions with animals pre-infection were a lot better than later on。I also thought the story took way too long to develop， with page 90 still feeling fairly introductory when there are already less than 300 pages for a whole story。 Like please， get into the granddaughter hunt/rescue with the dingo sidekick already。 Sadly I was really disappointed by this and couldn’t bring myself to finish it as it was such a drag。 I listened to 3 hours of the audiobook （narrated by the author， which is nice） but I’m sorry I just can’t。 Probably won’t pick up McKay’s other works。 Wouldn’t recommend unless you’re into weird dystopians that make little sense and are not meant to be a fun time。 。。。more
Tess Carrad
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An epidemic sweeping the country？ Preposterous！Being able to hear what animals are saying？Preposterous x 2！But I loved it。As bizarre， weird， unsavoury as it was。
Megan
，
What a book！ Based on a extraordinary premise， and in an act of rare imagination， this author has pulled off something very special。 I am not generally one for speculative fiction but I both loved and admired this book - and it will change forever the way I think about my place in the natural world。 Jean （the protaganist） is a fabulous rough diamond character - well drawn and likeable。 Her relationship with Sue （a dingo） is remarkable both for the way it is portrayed and for its depth and value。 What a book！ Based on a extraordinary premise， and in an act of rare imagination， this author has pulled off something very special。 I am not generally one for speculative fiction but I both loved and admired this book - and it will change forever the way I think about my place in the natural world。 Jean （the protaganist） is a fabulous rough diamond character - well drawn and likeable。 Her relationship with Sue （a dingo） is remarkable both for the way it is portrayed and for its depth and value。 The circumstancces in which they both find themselves are confronting， convincing and totally disconcerting。 This is a book that will stay with me for a very long time。 。。。more
Alanna Inserra
，
Interesting and inspired premise， of a pandemic where people can suddenly understand animals。 Jean works in an endangered species animal park， looks after her granddaughter， desperately wants to be a park ranger， and is an alcoholic。 The characters were well drawn in the first half （if depressingly and unlikeable-y so） but the second half got exhausting with the disjointed， hard to decode animal speak and a series of unfortunate and tragic events。 Not sure this one had an underlying message behi Interesting and inspired premise， of a pandemic where people can suddenly understand animals。 Jean works in an endangered species animal park， looks after her granddaughter， desperately wants to be a park ranger， and is an alcoholic。 The characters were well drawn in the first half （if depressingly and unlikeable-y so） but the second half got exhausting with the disjointed， hard to decode animal speak and a series of unfortunate and tragic events。 Not sure this one had an underlying message behind it to justify the tragedy。 。。。more
Alexandra Murphy
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Australian writer。 Imaginative storyline。 Strangely apt for our current times。
Stephanie Hunter
，
This is one of the worst books I’ve read。 I stuck with it for 60 pages and then decided life is too short to waste on this。
Michelle
，
Wow， what the heck did I just read？ It was rotally bonkers and unlike any reading experience I've had before。。。 I honestly don't know how to rate this right now。 Think I just need to sit with it for a bit。 Glad I read this， though。 Wow， what the heck did I just read？ It was rotally bonkers and unlike any reading experience I've had before。。。 I honestly don't know how to rate this right now。 Think I just need to sit with it for a bit。 Glad I read this， though。 。。。more
Penny Ramirez
，
Powerful， at times difficult to get through。 I vacillated between being disgusted with， feeling sorry for， and liking Jean。 What a life。 What a terrifying， wonder-inspiring virus。 What would you ask， if you could suddenly understand what animals were saying？
Lisa
，