Tender is the Flesh: Afterthoughts

☒ SPOILERS ☒: This review will contain spoilers about the book. If you would not like to read any spoilers, I would advise against reading this post. 

My first thought while starting Tender is the Flesh? ‘Jeez’. My final thoughts upon finishing? ‘JEEZ’. 

Like the many others who have read this book, I was left feeling a multitude of emotions: disgust, sadness, confusion, and fascination. This book certainly makes you think. 

The premise of the book is as follows: a disease has affected all living things and is particularly deadly for humans. As a result, animals were slaughtered and feared by society and were now unavailable for consumption. The result is that either the world’s population becomes vegan, or they find an alternative… eating humans. Cannibalism soon becomes legal and a normal part of society. The main character, Marcos, works at one of the human slaughterhouses, and the book is written from his perspective. It focuses largely on negative views of the ‘transition’ into the normalisation of human consumption, and also on his personal life struggles.

First of all, I find the concept of this storyline to be fascinating. Imagine a world where suddenly all meat became unavailable… there would most certainly be an outcry. What I enjoyed most about the beginning part of the book was how the author, Agustina Bazterrica, explored in great detail the specific changes and processes that would be considered if humans were bred for meat - the use of particular body parts, the variations in skin tones and its usage, the processes of keeping the humans - or ‘heads’ - contained (such as removing their vocal cords so they stay silent), and the changes in the law. As you can imagine, there are parts in the book that can be pretty graphic and make for uncomfortable reading. If gore bothers you, this may not be the book for you. 

The overwhelming sense I got of Marcos is that he is deeply unhappy with his current life and that he mourns the days before the ‘transition’. While the book is written from his perspective, I still struggled to grasp a real sense of his character. His personal life is explored, with the majority of the book focusing on his struggles with his wife, Cecilia, and also his relationship with his unwell father, but I was still never really sure what he was thinking. I was never really convinced that he wanted his wife to return home, or that he even believed in the existence of the virus. Perhaps these are things that would become more apparent to me when reading for a second time. 

I also feel that Marcos’ job role could have been explored a little further, as this may have helped me understand his mindset about the virus and cannibalism. While it is clear he feels negatively about both, it made me question why he was particularly good at his job as a seller of ‘heads’. Then again, he may have felt indifferent to it as a result of becoming numb to the whole concept. This book certainly leaves a lot to interpretation. 

☒ SPOILERS AHEAD ☒

Another thing that is left to interpretation is that ending… when reading reviews of the book once I’d finished, all people mentioned was their shock and confusion of the ending. I admit, once I read it I shouted ‘what the f*ck’ out loud. For me, it was unexpected and, initially, seemed out of character for Marcos. 

As a character that seemed angry and upset with the idea that now humans were bred for consumption, it seemed strange that he would then go on to slaughter a human. Not just that, but it was a human that he seemed to love and care about. Was he pretending to love her the entire time so she would be comfortable enough to become pregnant with his baby? Was his wife aware of his plan? Had his opinion on slaughtering humans changed? This book left me with many questions!

I explained the entire plot of the book to my partner once I had read it, and he asked me questions. It dawned on me then that there was not an awful lot of character development in the book. Again, perhaps this would become more apparent to me upon a second read. 

My partner was of the opinion that the author must have been vegan, and that she must have created the book around this concept of treating humans like animals to show the horrors. As a result, a lot of details may have been left out. I disagree with this, but I can see where he was coming from. At a glance, it may appear that a vegan author is trying to show the horrors of animal consumption by turning it around, and thus is trying to ‘convert’ people. Again, I completely disagree and find the entire premise of the book fascinating. I just thought this alternative interpretation would be interesting to share. A quick google search told us that Agustina Bazterrica does not eat meat, and did not intend for Tender is the Flesh to become a ‘vegan manifesto’. 

https://pushkinpress.com/hes-eating-a-baby-a-qa-with-agustina-bazterrica/

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it - it was weird and horrifying enough to hold my attention, and I love books that force me to see society from a new perspective. The idea that humans cannot live without meat is both interesting and somewhat accurate. I never once thought the book came across as 'preachy', and I found it easy to read which is important for me. The ending shocked me like it did most people, and I am looking forward to reading it a second time to see if I can spot any clues. 

Rating: 6/10