Le Lion

I can't remember when I have felt so overwhelmed by a book...led to continue reading...with an ominous feeling of fear for what is to come.

It's the story of a man who visits a nature reserve in Africa, and it was written long ago, so there are lots of references to people that feel horribly demeaning and cruel, but I accepted these as part of the viewpoint of the narrator, a person of his time. I urge you to look past these, too, because it is these awful demeaning ways of looking at human beings that is crucial to the development of the story; it becomes clear that these are small and shallow ways of seeing humans just as many have small and shallow ways of looking at animals, too.

Le Lion is a deep look at human nature that draws heavily on humans as an integral part of the larger body of natural things. It's wise. It's beautiful. It's terrifying. It's incessant. It instantly became a favorite for me. It instantly went on my list of must-reads.