I came to this book, roundabout, by way of "The Unpersuadables." The author says our minds turn every experience into story: cause and effect, plus emI came to this book, roundabout, by way of "The Unpersuadables." The author says our minds turn every experience into story: cause and effect, plus emotion. He illustrates his point with a comment about Australian Aborigines possessing the oldest continuous cultural traditions in human history; all their history, knowledge, law, and philosophy transmitted through countless generations via stories. Coincidentally, I recently read that sea level rises which took place ~30,000 years ago are clearly recorded in a number of different local Aboriginal oral histories.
Obviously, any tradition that keeps its oral history accurate for 30,000 years is super intriguing. The stories in this book were recorded by K. Langloth Parker in the late 19th century, as told to her by Aboriginal friends.
And the stories themselves are amazing. I would love to read more.
Sadly, more than half the book consists of commentary by Johanna Lambert. She shared a few (very few) pieces of relevant/interesting information about Aboriginal culture and mores; those were helpful in understanding the stories.
The rest of the commentary could have been written by any freshman Women's Studies major who discovered Joseph Campbell and the Feminine Divine during fall semester. By chapter two I was struggling to skim the commentaries for cultural nuggets while averting my eyes from the tide of bollocks. Bless Ms Lambert's heart; every word she wrote made a profound and vivid tale smaller.
In the Introduction, she writes, "I have based my interpretation of these stories ... in the spirit that their symbolic material is 'alive,' transforming in time, viewable in a multiplicity of ways, and with meanings that do not deny each other." I agree, in principle. But the older I get, the more I think that a story's profundity is in its uniqueness, not its similarity to other stories. Or maybe my dissatisfaction is even simpler than that; breaking out your symbol dictionary is no way to greet a culture when you're meeting it for the first time. It's like getting to know someone by talking about yourself.
The stories will doubtless survive this discourtesy, as they have survived so much else....more
Wow wow wow, this book is so interesting! Like any other Grand Unified Theory, I will take it with a grain of salt. I do not plan to run out tomorrow Wow wow wow, this book is so interesting! Like any other Grand Unified Theory, I will take it with a grain of salt. I do not plan to run out tomorrow and infect myself with hookworms in hopes of curing my MS. (Though I'd totally sign onto a clinical trial, if one pops up in my RSS feed.) But it's a well-written, well-documented explication of a huge, plausible, and fascinating set of ideas.
This book reads like a great detective story. I could not put it down. I'd recommend it to any science nerd....more
**spoiler alert** Loved loved loved this book. That is all.
OK, now I've read some other Goodreads reviews and have more to say.
It's not Dostoevsky, i**spoiler alert** Loved loved loved this book. That is all.
OK, now I've read some other Goodreads reviews and have more to say.
It's not Dostoevsky, it has a happy ending, and people keep referencing the fact that this book was endorsed by Starbucks(?). Also, having myself recently lost a spouse to cancer and a dog to arthritis, Stein writes both types of death much quicker and easier than they really are. We all wish we could have dinner with our loved ones and depart neatly and voluntarily soon afterwards. Too bad it doesn't work that way.
Likewise, Enzo's insights are only partially true. Your car does go where your eyes go. Until one day it doesn't. But it doesn't hurt to be reminded of simple things sometimes. This book was a little sappy, but I wouldn't call it glurge.
If those limitations will cramp your cool, then steer clear. Those of us who sometimes enjoy standing up and cheering when the good guys win will be over here drinking beer, eating fried clams, and having more fun than you. ...more
One of my hobbies is worldview tourism. What is it really like to see the world from completely different paradigms than the ones that feel natural toOne of my hobbies is worldview tourism. What is it really like to see the world from completely different paradigms than the ones that feel natural to me? Can I tilt my head and squint until a perspective I'd normally find absurd, or even abhorrent, feels reasonable and coherent?
While Will Storr purportedly is writing about people who might, objectively (if there is any such thing, which there isn't) be considered delusional, he writes with so much human sympathy and self-awareness that the book becomes a meditation on epistemology.
I'd recommend this book even to those who find some of its initial premises (that, say, young-earth creationists are crackpots, or that homeopaths are "enemies of science") offensive. My hope is that fuzzy thinkers and rationalists alike will be charmed into cracking their minds open a tiny bit further....more
So far only on p 30. The self-conscioously clever writing style is taking some getting used to. Is this the characters trying too hard (I'm a Writer! So far only on p 30. The self-conscioously clever writing style is taking some getting used to. Is this the characters trying too hard (I'm a Writer! I'm Clever!), or the author? Ten pages after I started to wonder if this was some kind of Wind-up Bird Chronicle remake, a character goes ahead and outright refers to Wind-up, so I guess no, or at least not only. Anyway, I've decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and see where we're going.
Finished it - well, that was lots of fun, and it kept me up late 3 nights in a row. Previous objections overruled!...more
Beautiful, thought-provoking. Also, reading about Miami while it was 7 degrees outside was nice. I appreciated that the author had some mercy on her cBeautiful, thought-provoking. Also, reading about Miami while it was 7 degrees outside was nice. I appreciated that the author had some mercy on her characters. Rarely does anyone have an opportunity to walk to the edge, look over, and step back before it's too late. Even rarer are novels where that happens, outside genres where you know it's going to turn out fine from the moment you open the cover. All the warm fuzzy endings...more
A rollicking fun post-apocalyptic vampire road thriller. I read this over two and a half days, in bed, cup of tea at my elbow, while fighting off a coA rollicking fun post-apocalyptic vampire road thriller. I read this over two and a half days, in bed, cup of tea at my elbow, while fighting off a cold, in the depths of winter, while it was 5 degrees outside. That is possibly the perfect setting in which to read a post-apocalyptic vampire road thriller. Recommended to anyone who isn't put off by its length.
Ooh, I just found out there are sequels! I'd better stock up, it's cold season after all, and winters in Maine are long, long, long. ...more
This read more like a long short story than a short novel to me. I loved Cameron's economical prose. He also told instead of showing in a way that reaThis read more like a long short story than a short novel to me. I loved Cameron's economical prose. He also told instead of showing in a way that really worked for me. ...more
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