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Finch, Scott – The Domesticated Afterlife

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The Domesticated Afterlife

What a journey! I thought I had it, turns out I did not have it, I had the “it” more or less explained to me so that I went into the tail of this having it, and then it veered in another direction and I didn’t have it again. Was that sentence too much for you? It all makes sense if you think about it, but if that effort felt like too much work, maybe this one isn’t for you. Not that I’m saying you’re stupid, I would never! It’s just that this is a dense, sometimes meandering exploration of the afterlife as experienced by pets and other animals. Does it make a difference whether or not you were ever domesticated? You bet it does. What’s the hierarchy like around here? Well, don’t mess with the cats, but REALLY don’t mess with the chickens. Hey, what are they doing here? Don’t all kinds of creatures eat chickens? And cats were actively worshiped for centuries, how does that fit in? I’ll get into it a bit more, but to simplify for those of you who are on the fence: do you enjoy philosophical discussions about the afterlife? About sentences? About the words in those sentences? How about the letters in those words? How far are you willing to go in these debates before you go rushing back to the familiar to avoid the feeling of losing your mind entirely? If you’re always up for a good discussion I couldn’t recommend this highly enough. I feel like I got about 1/4 of what he was going for on the first read. Having said that, how do I know that it’s a worthwhile endeavor and not meaningless, made-up claptrap with vague philosophical trappings? Because I thoroughly enjoyed and/or wanted to read more about the parts that I did get, and even the bits that kind of flew by me still gave me enough bread crumbs to be intrigued. What else… this is a dense brick of a book, I’m guessing around 250 pages (but it’s not numbered, so all you’re getting is a guess), with images and symbols that I’m still trying to unpack. Things start off with a cat helping a dog into the afterlife. Or is it a human? Whose hands are those? The dog then tries to understand the rules while also trying to fight his own dog instincts. But why are they all doing chores? And what happens when those instincts are directly confronted with a challenge? Oof, I really can’t say much without giving lots away. The story does come together eventually, more or less, which gives greater clarity to things that you might not fully comprehend while reading them. Still, as I said, this is one heck of a ride, and unlike any other graphic novel that I’ve read. Any day I can say that and mean it is a good day in my book. $18