Slime: A Natural History, Susanne Wedlich, trans. Ayca Türkoglu
Slime: A Natural History is a very readable book. Often with translated works, I can tell that they’re translated, but this translator is very good at making the book feel chatty and colloquial. It slips by really quickly, with the author’s enthusiasm for the topic shining through.
However, it doesn’t quite feel organised. Although the chapters are arranged into sections by theme, it feels very “and another thing, and another thing, and another thing” — a pile of facts that doesn’t really cohere into a structure. I also thought that the human “fear” of slime was a bit over-egged. Sure, there are times when slime is very gross and touching it would be aversive, and there are horror films which use that grossness as part of the fever-pitch of emotion, but I don’t find slime inherently frightening.
Still, an enjoyable read, and I learned some interesting things!
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