Tender Is the Flesh
THE RUNAWAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL SENSATION
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Tender Is the Flesh* by Agustina Bazterrica is a dark, disturbing dystopian novel that chillingly explores human nature and societal crue...
This was a very uncomfortable read but it was soo good.
I was in shock the whole time. A little disgusted, kind of scared.
All animals meat is gone due to some virus and people are forced to start eating humans. They are farmed, they are grown in labs, they are bred.
It was a very interesting read!
I was in shock the whole time. A little disgusted, kind of scared.
All animals meat is gone due to some virus and people are forced to start eating humans. They are farmed, they are grown in labs, they are bred.
It was a very interesting read!
The best book that I will never read again.
I genuinely enjoyed the narrative but it took some WORK to get past the setting. If you can roll with the spirit of the novel then you get to see a fantastic break down of grief from a male perspective. It resonated with me in that way.
But it also put me off meat for about a week.
This book was so different than anything I have ever read. I enjoyed the comparisons that could be made to so many things about our indifference as human beings. At times it was hard to stomach but I understood that was intentional.
“I don’t get why a persons smile is considered attractive. When someone smiles they're showing their skeleton”
Cant remember the last time a story made me this uncomfortable. Very well written. Unpredictable at every turn. That ending ...Wow.
Fincher should direct if this ever becomes a movie.
Cant remember the last time a story made me this uncomfortable. Very well written. Unpredictable at every turn. That ending ...Wow.
Fincher should direct if this ever becomes a movie.
While technically well-written and visceral, I ultimately found it to be lacking in anything far enough removed from the very historical events it was (barely) satirizing (such as slavery, sex trafficking, Unit 731, et cetera) to be of interest because I found it too predictable. It made for a good discussion, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
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