“Three Bags Full” is a book written by Leonie Swann and translated into English by Anthea Bell. It tells the story of a herd of sheep whose shepherd, George Glenn, is murdered. Together, the sheep work together to figure out who killed their shepherd. The story takes place in Glennkill, Ireland.
The concept of the book, the sheep being detectives in a
murder, is super creative and fun. Seeing how the sheep work together to solve
the case using the detective stories they were read was cool. Throughout the
novel, it is important for readers to keep in mind that the book is told from
the sheep’s perspectives, so they are navigating their lack of knowledge of humans.
There are several moments throughout the book where the
sheep say things that are profoundly wise. These statements can be applied to
human lives and resonate with readers. Animals have a deep wisdom to them, and they
have the power to aid and teach humans. At other points, they said things that
were silly and goofy due to their lack of knowledge of humans.
Throughout the book, there were several times that I
personally checked to see when the book was initially published (it was first
published in 2005). There are things that are said within the book that still
resonate with today’s political climate, even though it was written two decades
ago. The movie was released this year, so it will be interesting to see if
these nuggets make it into the movie. This could explain why the movie adaptation
was released when it was.
Because the book is a translation, there were moments when
things felt like they were, quite literally, lost in translation. Several of
the sentences felt choppy, and information felt missing. Throughout the book,
the author integrated past stories seamlessly with the present occurrences,
which made it feel disjointed and confusing, especially when this would have
been a major plot point change.
Overall, the book is a fun and quirky read, despite having a
few flaws. There are a lot of characters, but they are relatively easy to keep
track of, especially since there is a list of the names of the sheep and
information about them in the front. Readers should be warned that there are
dark moments in the book, especially involving self-harm, so they should be
aware.
Related Articles:
-Book Review: "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde: https://kiltedowl.blogspot.com/2025/09/book-review-importance-of-being-earnest-oscar-wilde.html