Book Review: The Book of Vanishing Species by Beatrice Forshall

 

Some serious nature non-fiction.

In this book, Forshall gives us various species (animal, plant, fungi) alike which are currently being threatened with extinction due to human causation. It gives us a brief rundown of each species, combined with an illustration and what is their main threat. It also provides information on how we can possibly help save these species.

I will say beforehand: this is a good book. I have something minor to go into in the next paragraph, but this is overall a very good (and sad and confrontational) book about the species we are currently losing. It's serious, it's descriptive, and the nearly colorless illustrations add a neat visual element as well.

What I will have to comment on (but will not factor into my rating for the book, as this is a mistake of the Dutch translation) is the kind of deceptive Dutch title the book has. Literally, it translates to "The Book of (Almost) Lost Animals." Which to me implied that this book was A) about animals only (so not plants and fungi) and B) covered both extant and extinct animals. The "Almost" between brackets implies that it will cover both.

But instead the book, like said in the summary, covers various organisms, plants and fungi included, and also only ones that currently still exist but are being threatened. So I went into this book thinking I'd be coming across animals only, including quite a few extinct ones such as the dodo, passenger pigeon and thylacine. But, aside from an offhand mention here or there, they're never actually featured.

Again, this does not factor into my rating of the book because this is 100% the fault of the Dutch translation and not of the original author. But the book just didn't give me exactly what I was looking for. What it does deliver, however, it does very effectively. This book definitely pulls on the heartstrings as you realize the animals and other organisms featured in this book may very well just vanish never to return within the next fifty years or so. And this only a handful of the species which are being threatened; there's far more creatures which may go extinct. 

So overall this is a confrontational but also very effective book. It's definitely not something to read if you're not in the mood for something depressing, but I feel it's important to read all the same. To acknowledge the harm we're (indirectly) causing to these species. The author's voice is pleasant to read and the information given is plentiful, with each section giving just enough information about each species without feeling too brief or too elaborate. Definitely a book that makes you feel and think.

Rating: 4/5