The Inner Life of Animals

Love, Grief, and Compassion: Surprising Observations of a Hidden World

By: Peter Wohlleben

Narrated by: Mike Grady

Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves the latest scientific research into how animals interact with the world with Peter Wohlleben's personal experiences in forests and fields.

Horses feel shame, deer grieve, and goats discipline their kids. Ravens call their friends by name, rats regret bad choices, and butterflies choose the very best places for their children to grow up.

In this, his latest book, Peter Wohlleben follows the hugely successful The Hidden Life of Trees with insightful stories into the emotions, feelings, and intelligence of animals around us. Animals are different from us in ways that amaze us - and they are also much closer to us than we ever would have thought.

©2017 Peter Wohlleben, Ludwig Verlag, Jane Billinghurst, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (P)2017 Novel Audio Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Like The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben's The Inner Life of Animals will rock your world. Surprising, humbling, and filled with delight, this book shows us that animals think, feel and know in much the same way as we do - and that their lives are, to them, as precious as ours are to us." (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus)

"With the same charm and clarity that drew so many readers to The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben has produced another gem. I found delight on every page, thanks to the author's rare skill at blending scientific discoveries with his own wealth of insightful personal experiences. Read this book, and never again doubt that we share the Earth with other beings living rich and colorful lives." (Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows)

"Animal lovers everywhere will be enthralled by The Inner Life of Animals. Find out what squirrels, deer, and other animals really do out in the woods." (Temple Grandin)

I don't usually write reviews but..

I really loved this one! Sometimes when I'm making dinner or doing stuff around the house, I turn on Planet Earth in the background just for something to listen to (when I don't have an audiobook I want my kids to overhear). This really reminded me of Planet Earth, without the visuals of course. The narrator was very calming but also kind of jolly?- in a David Attenborough sort of way. Sometimes I kind of zone out on non-fiction books, but the subject was intriguing enough with lots of personal anecdotes that helped to hold my attention.
I've added his other book to my wishlist now!

Yes

Thank you! This book was amazing. Listened to it on a car trip. And everyone was grumpy about audio book. But after a rest stop break they asked how much longer we had on the book. They wanted to finish it! Finally an audiobook that was a great experience for my teen son! The narrator is a new favorite!!

Thankful for this presentation of a sometimes sensitive issue

I appreciated the way Wohlleben shared his observations in an educational, not preachy style. My hope is that
people besides animal lovers will listen to this and consider the reality of a diet based on the suffering of animals (factory farms).

Animals are People Too!

"He is writing not as a scientist but as an observant animal lover."
- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, introduction to Inner Life of Animals

description

Peter Wohlleben, who brought us the 'The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World' is back with the Inner Life of Animals. My same critiques of his last book are still here. I think Peter tends towards a heavy anthropomorphism when dealing with both trees and animals. I get it still. It is hard to view other species outside of our own viewpoint. In his enthusiasm FOR trees and animals, he wants to give us a reason to love them. We naturally love ourselves, so why not talk about how animals share common traits with man? But I think that can be a dangerous precedent.

That said, Wohlleben is a natural observer. And his enthusiasm is a delight. This book was just not nearly as smooth or as surprising and delightful as the Hidden Life of Trees. Still good, just not great.

Great book

I have learned so much about animals from this audio book. I can listen to the reader all day long. His voice is so soothing, I do listen at night to go to sleep. I leave the audio book on all night long. I actually sleep better with great information and a soothing voice.

Wonderful

Some books add to your life by widening your understanding of your relationship to the world, in this case animals, who share the planet with us. This book does just that. I believe I can be a better human after listening to this audio book.

Not Hidden Life of Trees

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I loved the hidden life of trees and was very excited to read Wohlleben's next offering. This book is more a collection of anecdotes from Peter's life in a forest lodge. Its a pleasant book, but the topic is too broad and the evidence he presence is anecdotal. Hidden life of trees is an excellent book, this one you could skip.

Loved it! fantastic insights

I love the way the author weaves his personal experiences with scientific studies to give us an insider's view of what animals are thinking and feeling. Must read/listen..

A very hard read. I couldn't finish it.

The author is very well intentioned but the cruelty and ugliness involved in this is more than I can handle. Nature is cruel and people are cruel. It's a fact. We have plenty of evidence of that in our everyday lives, and I don't want to read a book that puts it in my face so graphically. I applaud what the author is trying to do, but I can't stand to read the rest of it. Not only does he talk about the cruelty of animals toward other animals but the scientific experiments are brutal and unforgivably mean cruel. I don't feel that we have the right to knowledge if we have to put animals through that kind of torture. What does that make us?

A good read

I was expecting awe and wonder after reading The Hidden Life of Trees. This book is still a beautiful and thoughtful reflection that asks one to open up his/her mind and grow. This one was good; the other was amazing! Thanks for another wonderful book!