Sheep: Classified Book Review – Can a Talking Sheep Expose Society’s Darkest Truths?

What is Sheep: Classified by F.E. Fraser about? 

At the heart of this satirical and absurd novel, Dr. Francis Shepherd, a government veterinarian, dives into an adventure of timely proportions, but he is not alone. He travels through time with a Sheep that is quite observant and who talks. She remembers events it could never have witnessed and sees to have a curios relationship with history. As Shepherd, pun intended, follows the story and history, we see them both moving through Rome, Elizabethan England, London, Venice, Delphi and more. But as they go through time, they also explore power, truth, memory, and the human tendency to repeat the mistakes from the past. 

Sheep: Classified Book Review

While reading Sheep: Classified, we can tell the passion F.E. Fraser had when writing this incredible yet wonderful strange story of a talking sheep. From beginning to end, Fraser takes us by the hand and ensures we go into detail on different historical events that carry significant weight in today’s society: the political fight against fascism, the witch trials of innocent women, and how the media works to destroy truth when reality does not fit the system’s narrative. The reader is taken one city and one story at a time; each with its own richly described setting, but what makes the story so easy to digest are the witty conversations between Dr. Shepherd and The Sheep.

“No,” said a woman near the table. “The point is whether all runners began from the same place.”

Although the story may seem absurd or humorous on the surface, that is precisely the mechanism Fraser uses to defuse the tension surrounding the difficult topics the novel explores — namely, how society tends to descend into madness and revert to the dark ages out of a simple need for power. In the first chapters, a woman is put on trial for witchcraft, but her only “sin” is herbal knowledge and independence. This reminds us how women’s rights are constantly being challenged, rights that were obtained less than a hundred years ago. Likewise, the novel helps compare and contrast the privileges of being born one way or another — the opportunities granted to some, while denied to others.

Some people are born into wealthy families, allowing them to build and dismantle companies without the fear of going broke, while others must work a nine-to-five simply to exist. These are the runners who do not begin from the same place.

“One thinks men die of bullets. They do, of course. But I have lately seen what an adjective can do.”

F.E. Fraser uses his skill and craft to denounce how intellectualism is being challenged and how rhetoric, as much as action, can put you in the crosshairs. This brings to mind the theme of language explored in 1984 by George Orwell — how language is used to alter reality and manipulate the masses, but more importantly, how our words and thoughts can ultimately be weaponized against us. Critical thinking and voicing one’s opinions have become increasingly dangerous in a reality where everyone has an opinion but few have the critical thinking or intellectual foundation to support it with facts or evidence.

In this capitalist society, what matters is wealth and power, not social justice or pushback: just profit. This is why we see figures from different backgrounds building empires on lies while helping dismantle democracy, as we witnessed in the Fernando Cerimedo case, who is considered a highly influential communications strategist for Latin America’s right-wing movements.

Through sharp wit and incisive criticism, F.E. Fraser has crafted a wonderfully strange story that calls us to think and question our reality and the events that have shaped it. He rights wrongs through his novel and through the interference of one cunning little sheep, a figure that could represent any of us, if we only began to think seriously about changing the world. Even the smallest act can drive change in a world where inaction from the just allows evil to succeed.

Sheep: Classified is a humorous yet pointed reminder that no matter how far forward we move, the system is always working to push us back, determined to retain its power and control over us.

Book Recommendation of Sheep: Classified by F.E. Fraser

Sheep: Classified is a novel for readers who enjoy literary fiction, historical fiction, and politics woven into their reading. Through philosophy, language, and humor, F.E. Fraser delivers powerful messages similar to your all time favorites. Those who enjoyed The Farm or 1984 by George Orwell, as well as novels about the past that seek to call readers to action in the present — like The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah — will find much to appreciate in this novel and its commentary.