Tender is the Flesh by Augstina Bazterrica
Genres: Contemporary, Dystopian, Sci-Fi
Pages: 211
Goodreads
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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I read this on a whim because I saw someone share about how disturbing it was on their Instagram story. I kind of went in blind, only knowing that it had something to do with cannibalism.
Oof. It was a wild ride in just 200 pages.
Tender is the Flesh gave me Fahrenheit 451 vibes or other dystopian short stories that were required in school. Of course, it’s not a direct comparison but it had that sort of short story, dystopian, we live in a society, type vibes. Then add in some gore and cannibalism and you get Tender is the Flesh. And let me add, this book does not shy away from detailing the raising of the “meat“, processing of the “meat“, and the consumption of said “meat“. It’s not the most gore-filled thing I’ve read however, the fact that the “meat” is actually living humans added that chilling and disturbing element to it.
Though, if you’re like me and have a morbid curiosity, you’ll read this anyway.
Beyond the detailing of legalized and government regulated cannibalism, class and social hierarchy are a huge focus of the story. From scavengers begging for meat at the processing plant, to elites owning their own living human for consumption as one might own a chicken, Bazterrica demonstrated the class breakdown in her world very well. I also enjoyed how she showed just how easily people can be influenced by and don’t question authority. This book was written in 2017, well before the pandemic, but the following quote has some eerie similarities to current day discourse (context: people in the city use umbrellas because they believe bird poop carries the virus and they think they will die if it lands on them while country people don’t. This is a conversation between the MC who lives in the country, and his sister who lives in the city):
“No one uses an umbrella, no one would even think of using one. Wouldn’t it make more sense to believe that if you get bitten by a mosquito, which could have bitten an animal before you, you might get the virus?”
“No, because the government says there’s no risk with mosquitoes.”
“The government wants to manipulate you, that’s the only reason it exists.”
“Here everyone uses an umbrella when they go out. It’s only logical.”
“Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the umbrella industry saw an opportunity and the government got in on it?”
“You always think there’s some conspiracy when there isn’t.”
There were several quotes throughout that made me think about current day events and the division it causes. While that may not have been the intended purpose for this story, it’s something that struck me each time I read the passages that could be connected to today’s world. I wish I had saved more of them, but that was the only one I could find in my notes. While these passages made me think about today, I think the fact that they were written in 2017 but can be applied to 2022 shows just how timeless this novel can be.
Overall, I did enjoy this novel. It made me think about our world and what we would be willing to do for luxuries or dwindling supply. It made me think about class, how we interact with each other, and what we place importance on. While at times there were some painfully slow sections in the book, it’s short, easy to read (if you don’t mind a bit of gore), and makes you think. Plus, the ending really makes the whole thing worth it because, boy, that twist!
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