Anima

‘A classic for our times’ MONIQUE ROFFEY ‘Haunting, beautiful… Anima will live with me for a long time’ CAL FLYN 'A book that mesmerises with its sense of adventure and epic sweep, this is creative non-fiction at its best' GUARDIAN Over the course of one summer, Kapka Kassabova lives with perhaps the last true pastoralists in Europe. She joins the epic seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs, to find pasture in the mountains. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this isolated existence, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of this small community. Anima is a spellbinding portrayal of the human–animal interdependence in pastoral life, and a plea for a different way of living – one where we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world. ‘An extraordinary work of exploration, both inner and outer. It should be required reading for everyone thinking about our human environment: which is to say, all of us’ THE TABLET

‘A classic for our times’ MONIQUE ROFFEY ‘Haunting, beautiful… Anima will live with me for a long time’ CAL FLYN 'A book that mesmerises with its sense of adventure and epic sweep, this is creative non-fiction at its best' GUARDIAN Over the course of one summer, Kapka Kassabova lives with perhaps the last true pastoralists in Europe. She joins the epic seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs, to find pasture in the mountains. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this isolated existence, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of this small community. Anima is a spellbinding portrayal of the human–animal interdependence in pastoral life, and a plea for a different way of living – one where we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world. ‘An extraordinary work of exploration, both inner and outer. It should be required reading for everyone thinking about our human environment: which is to say, all of us’ THE TABLET

This award-winning novel by playwright Wadji Mouawad is a thriller and a road novel - written in the North African storytelling tradition in which events unfold from an animal point of view. The novel opens with a brutal murder: the protagonist arrives home to find his wife lying in a pool of blood. Driven by grief and the need to find whoever did this - "I want to see his face, I want to know who he is" - the protagonist sets out on desperate journey from Montreal to Indian reserves along the Canada-U.S. border, south through Civil War sites in the Midwest, to Animas, New Mexico. The furious odyssey awakens long-buried memories that make present circumstances even more painful. This masterful novel is told in a bestiary of voices, more than fifty animals, birds, and insects, each with their own characterization and style of speaking, reveal the unflattering contrast between the human and the natural. Violent and dark, the novel nevertheless moves beyond the thriller genre to become a book of multiple levels, rich in symbolism and open to complex interpretation. While set in North America, Mouawad's Lebanese roots suffuse the text, which becomes an examination of cultural influences and at the same time an excavation of childhood trauma and the legacy of war. Anima has resonated with readers worldwide. It's been translated into German, Italian, Spanish, and Catalan. It won the Thyde Monnier Grand Prize from the Société des Gens de Lettres, the Mediterranean Prize, the Literary Prize for a Second Novel in Laval, the Golden Alga Award, the Phoenix Award (as part of the Beirut Spring Festival), and the Catalan Llibreter Prize for Foreign Novel, all in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, Anima won the Lire en Poche, a prize awarded annually in France in celebration of the paperback book. An elegant translation by Linda Gaboriau brings this celebrated novel to English readers.

In Anima, Kapka Kassabova introduces us to the "pastiri" people--the shepherds struggling to hold on to an ancient way of life in which humans and animals exist in profound interdependence. Following her three previous books set in the Balkans, and with an increasinging interest in the degraded state of our planet and culture, Kassabova reaches further into the spirit of place than she ever has before. In this extraordinary portrayal of pastoral life, she investigates the heroic efforts to sustain the oldest surviving breeds of our domesticated animals, and she shows us the epic, orchestrated activity of transhumance--the seasonal movement, on foot, of a vast herd of sheep, working in tandem with dogs. She also becomes more and more attuned to the isolation and sacrifices inherent in the lives shaped by this work. Weaving together lyrical writing about place with a sweeping sense of the traumatic histories that have shaped this mountainous region of Bulgaria, Kassabova shows how environmental change and industrial capitalism are endangering older, sustainable ways of living, and by extension she reveals the limited nature of so much of modern life. But shining through Kassabova's passionate, intimate response to the monoculture that is "Anthropos" is her indelible portrait of a circulating interdependence of people and animals that might point to a healthier way to live.

In Anima, Kapka Kassabova introduces us to the "pastiri" people--the shepherds struggling to hold on to an ancient way of life in which humans and animals exist in profound interdependence. Following her three previous books set in the Balkans, and with an increasinging interest in the degraded state of our planet and culture, Kassabova reaches further into the spirit of place than she ever has before. In this extraordinary portrayal of pastoral life, she investigates the heroic efforts to sustain the oldest surviving breeds of our domesticated animals, and she shows us the epic, orchestrated activity of transhumance--the seasonal movement, on foot, of a vast herd of sheep, working in tandem with dogs. She also becomes more and more attuned to the isolation and sacrifices inherent in the lives shaped by this work. Weaving together lyrical writing about place with a sweeping sense of the traumatic histories that have shaped this mountainous region of Bulgaria, Kassabova shows how environmental change and industrial capitalism are endangering older, sustainable ways of living, and by extension she reveals the limited nature of so much of modern life. But shining through Kassabova's passionate, intimate response to the monoculture that is "Anthropos" is her indelible portrait of a circulating interdependence of people and animals that might point to a healthier way to live.

"This excursion is intended to supplement the main literature on the anima. Since that literature provides a goodly phenomenology of the experience of anima, I shall look here more closely at the rather neglected phenomenology of the notion of anima. Experience and notion affect each other reciprocally. Not only do we derive our notions out of our experiences in accordance with the fantasy of empiricism, but also our notions condition the nature of our experiences." (James Hillman)

"This excursion is intended to supplement the main literature on the anima. Since that literature provides a goodly phenomenology of the experience of anima, I shall look here more closely at the rather neglected phenomenology of the notion of anima. Experience and notion affect each other reciprocally. Not only do we derive our notions out of our experiences in accordance with the fantasy of empiricism, but also our notions condition the nature of our experiences." (James Hillman)

'A classic in the making for our times' MONIQUE ROFFEY 'Haunting, beautiful...Anima will live with me for a long time' CAL FLYN 'A beautiful book of passion and adventure... She is simply sublime' HORATIO CLARE The spellbinding new book by the prizewinning writer Kapka Kassabova tells the story of her time with the last moving pastoralists in Europe: a gripping portrayal of human-animal interdependence, and a plea for a different way of living. Living with one of these communities over the course of one summer, Kassabova experiences the intensity, brutality, beauty and isolation of their existence. She witnesses the epic, orchestrated activity of transhumance - the seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this work and the rich histories that shaped this Balkan region, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of the small community. Anima is an extraordinary portrayal of pastoral life, where humans and animals exist in profound interdependence. Kassabova conjures the spirit of this remarkable place with intimacy and empathy, and helps us imagine how we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world. **A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR SPECTATOR, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT AND NEW STATESMAN**

'A classic in the making for our times' MONIQUE ROFFEY 'Haunting, beautiful...Anima will live with me for a long time' CAL FLYN 'A beautiful book of passion and adventure... She is simply sublime' HORATIO CLARE The spellbinding new book by the prizewinning writer Kapka Kassabova tells the story of her time with the last moving pastoralists in Europe: a gripping portrayal of human-animal interdependence, and a plea for a different way of living. Living with one of these communities over the course of one summer, Kassabova experiences the intensity, brutality, beauty and isolation of their existence. She witnesses the epic, orchestrated activity of transhumance - the seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this work and the rich histories that shaped this Balkan region, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of the small community. Anima is an extraordinary portrayal of pastoral life, where humans and animals exist in profound interdependence. Kassabova conjures the spirit of this remarkable place with intimacy and empathy, and helps us imagine how we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world. **A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR SPECTATOR, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT AND NEW STATESMAN**