Review: 'Ewe at Work'
Christmas markets, and craft markets in general, can be a bit of a gamble. Many times, it's just the same old things that you will see at every market. Though sometimes you find something different, something more unique that jumps out at ... ewe. That was my experience at a recent Christmas market where I found a number of pictures and books revolving around sheep puns. It kept my attention long enough that I decided to buy one of the books; Ewe at Work.
According to the cover, it was "Voted No. 1 sheep book in Ramsgate." That's a real place! (Population around a thousand, so make of that what you will.) It features just over 90 self-contained images, nearly always involving sheep puns, drawn in a minimalist style similar to xkcd and Cyanide & Happiness. And that's it, really. You're either the sort of person who would buy a book of sheep puns or you are not.
The artist, Ann Gadd, also does commissions for individuals and companies and has a book Making income from your art which may be of interest/use to a wider audience than sheep puns. The books are not for serious reading but would be a decent addition to a furry coffee table or as a gift.
About the author
Rakuen Growlithe — read stories — contact (login required)a scientist and Growlithe from South Africa, interested in science, writing, pokemon and gaming
I'm a South African fur, originally from Cape Town. I'm interested in science, writing, gaming, all sorts of furry stuff, Pokemon and some naughtier things too! I've dabbled in art before but prefer writing. You can find my fiction on SoFurry and non-fiction on Flayrah.
Comments
I like when people don't try to write as much words as possible.
Short, and to the point. No unnecessary bloat.
Good review.
Well, I'll be...
Excellent review, sounds delightful and like my sort of thing. I have a small collection of furry/animal curios in my bookshelf and this would make an excellent addition.
Aside: I'm off to visit UK version of Ramsgate (pop. 40,000) in a few days' time, for a winter stroll along the Kent coast. It's a nice area, although Ramsgate itself is probably best know for being a UKIP stronghold, and for being nearby to the much nicer Margate. And I'm sad to report that its name has nothing to do with sheep: "Ramsgate" comes from the Anglo Saxon for "Raven's Gate", referring to the gap in the cliffs where the village was founded.
One hopes that the SA version of Ramsgate has a little more going for it.
Like I said, ~1000 people. So... nope. There are actually all sorts of places in South Africa that have the same name as places in the UK. :p Like there's a suburb called Kensington here. I think that's fairly classy place in the UK but it's pretty poor here.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
If you like weird sheep books, Amazon.de has a whole page of weird sheep books in German.
http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91...
There are two sheep murder mysteries by Leonie Swann, “Glenkill” (2005) and “Garou” (2011). The first is a “Schafskrimi” (sheep crime) and the second is a “Schaf-Thriller”. The victims are human; a sheep, Miss Maple, is the detective. “Glenkill” has been translated into English as “Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story”; I reviewed it in 2007:
http://www.anthrozine.com/revw/rvw.patten.0d.html
The page on Amazon.de also has “Mords Schafe”, an anthology of fiction about murders that are solved by sheep; “Die Schafgäääng” volume 4, by Christine & Christopher Russell, which I haven’t read but shows five sheep surfboarding on its cover – not serious, I assume, but a 240-page novel, not a picture book – and “Tod im Anflug: Ein Gänsekrimi” (Death on the Approach [Landing?]: A Goose Crime), by Karin Bergrath, a 304-page murder mystery with a goose detective whose hero is “Magnum, P.I." on TV (doesn’t sound serious); “Tartufo: Roman” by Wolfgang Zdral – when the truffle merchant Matteo is found dead and the inept police are clueless, one of his pigs, Leonardo, ein Trüffelschwein, investigates, 350 pages; …
We’ve gotten away from sheep, but there are plenty of German murder mysteries with animal detectives, mostly unavailable in English (except for three of the “Felidae” novels by Akif Pirinçci).
Fred Patten
Maybe once I learn German, I'll look into those. Although I don't have particular interest in sheep. I do want to read Felidae at some point. I have seen the movie, in English, and it was pretty good. It was not something I expected to see but I was pleasantly surprised.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
“Felidae” is available in English. I liked the novel much better than the movie. The movie tries to cram the whole plot into the film, and many scenes in the book are too brief and shallow in the movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae_(novel)
The second novel is also translated; “Felidae on the Road” in English. When I read it, I was almost ready to quit halfway through because it seemed like just a repeat of the first novel; then WHAM! that turns out to be deliberate because the killer is trying to lull Francis into a false sense of security. Keep reading; the book gets much more original.
http://www.amazon.com/Felidae-Road-Akif-Pirincci/dp/1857023072/ref=sr_1_4?s=book...
I don’t know why the third and fourth novels haven’t been translated yet. The fifth, “Salve Roma!”, is only available in English in Kindle. I haven’t read it yet. The sixth, seventh, and eighth also aren’t in English yet.
http://www.amazon.com/SALVE-ROMA-Felidae-Novel-U-S-ebook/dp/B0088263AS/ref=sr_1_...
Fred Patten
Lol! I would so buy a sheep pun book! That's awesome!
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