Comments on: To be or not to be — a cow, that is

By: Chris Stein

Chris Stein — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:59:59 +0000

As a neurologist Dr. Sean Kenniff has a unique understanding of the human brain. As an author he shows his unique understanding of the human condition. This book tapped into a well of emotion I thought had run dry years ago. Following the journey of this innocent cow I remembered my own innocence and those precise and powerful moments of revelation. But that was my experience, another reader may hear a completely different translation. And that is the true beauty and genius of this book.
Although it is meticulously written the neurologist’s words flow easily into your mind – triggering your memory and imagination.

By: Esther Martinez

Esther Martinez — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:59:59 +0000

Parable. Sattire. Existential manifesto. Etre, is a lot of things.

At the risk of sounding dramatic, I might even offer that—-as the title suggest—-it’s everything it means “to be.” What DOES it mean?

We all start out as Etres, innocent and curious. And this little book is about the big thing that makes us turn: knowingness; coming to the awareness of what it means to be alive. Too often it means failure, insecurity, and impotence. But then there is beauty. In a child’s soft singing. In the way a tiny firefly defies the boundless dark. Beauty even in the blameless brutality of nature, with its own system of economics where “cows feed on the grass and uproot the worms [which] the egrets feed on…”

This existence, between the greener grasses Etre longs for and the slaughterhouse he wants to escape, is OUR existence, and it’s what makes “Etre the Cow” hard to define or fence in.

What is not in question is the beauty of the writing, elegant in its simplicity. Think the themes of Keats, Whitman, Camus, written in the style of Hemingway. I know, I know—-it’s “a book about a cow.” But Kenniff makes Etre real and his struggle meaningful, not so much in spite of the cowtagonist, as because of him.

In the same way that humor makes talking about difficult things a bit more palatable, seeing the world through the eyes of a cow allows the reader to see life as it is, without judgment or sentimentality—-at times harsh, at times lovely, always sublime.

Does Etre escape the cow pasture? His destiny? Can any of us? Don’t be fooled by Etre’s humble voice or the book’s modest size. Both are asking bold and worthy questions.

By: Steve Yavner

Steve Yavner — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:59:59 +0000

The beauty of Être is its simplicity and its complexity. A cow develops awareness, which ironically could also be called “humanity.” The greater possibilities of life are now apparent to him, with most hopelessly out of reach – thanks to our own limited and stagnant awareness. How much do we really know about what any other being thinks or is capable of? It is humankind’s lack of awareness that imprisons Être in a world where he is only valued as a stud and a steak.

Another reader might take away a completely different message, and that’s the power of this parable. Être reminds me that our own individual experience (and awareness) enables each of us to have a unique interpretation of the same events. Which one is best? Is there a “right” one? Whoever’s at the top of the food chain defines reality, and Être suggests to me that we ought to give that a little more thought while we’re there.

By: Jeremy Barr

Jeremy Barr — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:59:59 +0000

You’re comment about being hard to talk about – and harder to talk about – is right on point. I remember trying to explain what it meant to me, what it didn’t mean to me, but instead I found myself searching for the right word.

The book is compelling precisely because I wasn’t able to fall into some easy bag of generic expressions or facile descriptions. In some ways it seems that the narrative actually brings the reader into contact with the same dilemma faced by the cow – an inexplicable existential desire coupled with the frustration of limited self-expression.

By: Jose I. Mendez

Jose I. Mendez — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:59:59 +0000

It was a very touching and thought provoking book. I am still thinking abou it. I read the book in one sitting. Once you start reading about Etre, you will not want to stop.
Jose Mendez

By: Art Barron

Art Barron — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:59:59 +0000

This is such a great idea!

I mean life and a self realization through the eyes of a cow.

How many of us go through life, at the work place like an expendible slab of beef only to find ourselves chewed up and spit out at the end.

Marvelous concept!