A Natural History of the Senses
by Diane Ackerman
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Book Reviews of A Natural History of the Senses
Book Review: Poetic & Informative
Summary: 5 Stars
"A Natural History of the Senses" by Diane Ackerman is such a wonderful book; poetic and informative, it is among the best creative non-fiction that I have found. After having read the book, I find myself taking extra care when I touch my husband, listen to the sounds around me, and eat and experience food.I love to acquire knowledge about, everything, and I love to do it by reading unfortunately, I have a short attention span when it comes to reading the usual book or journal entry about science or health. While this book only touches the surface of the senses and the how and why of them; she only has so much space after all, Ackerman gives the reader enough information about the senses so that the reader can go research more about the subjects if she is so inclined.
Ackerman's literate and scientific mind combined with her masterful and poetic use of language has created a wonderful book and if I could give this another ½ star, I would.
Book Review: Somewhat Unnatural
Summary: 3 Stars
This unique combination of poetry, philosophy, science and history is both enthralling and repelling. Ms. Ackerman is truly gifted and passionate in her descriptive enthusiasm. But she grasps at an evolutionary worldview that is completely unsupported by the facts she so brilliantly uses from a scientific and historical perspective.
How delightful is this same sensory world she describes when viewed within the context of a world designed to be experienced and enjoyed by a loving and kind Creator! Rather than being meaningless, nonsensical or ironic, the senses then become more apparent and appropriate for their intended use.
The author also tends to infer a sexual aspect to just about every experience she describes, which detracts from the inherent essence of those unique experiences of smell and taste. Though all the senses undoubtedly contribute to our sexuality, this was over-emphasized and distracting.
Book Review: Utter Pap- Doesn't deserve ANY stars
Summary: 1 Stars
Icky! The last sentence of every paragraph is meant to be overtly thought provoking. How much better the book would be if Diane spent more time making the whole chapter good rather than just the last sentence. I was able to flip through the book at random and read the last sentences to my husband to illustrate how desperately deep this woman tries to be and he said that with just the few sentences I pulled, there is no way he could sit through a whole book filled with such pap. I was introduced to this book after telling someone about "Botany of Desire" and they felt that "A Natural History of the Senses" would be something I would enjoy. It is not a history of history or the senses, or nature. It took three tries for me to get past the first PAGE and agony to get through the entire book. Utter Torture. Utter Pap. I love books of all sorts, but this was a waste of time, ink, printing presses and effort.Book Review: A Winner for Content and Style
Summary: 5 Stars
Every time I see a baby make a face I think of this book. So many questions that I never even thought to ask are answered in this beautiful tour through our senses.
Ms. Ackerman breaks down our entire ability to perceive into seven bite sized pieces. In the end, you'll know yourself better than when you started.
The first graph in her chapter on vision is worth the price of the book. She builds a "sense" of drama before the climax of declaring you a predator. The present tense explanation of how we really use our senses is convincingly proven with irrefutable rhetorical questions that prove the universality of how and why we react to stimuli the way we do.
Read this book and the you'll see why your child doesn't eat her brussels sprouts. It's too bad wine is an alcoholic beverage. If it weren't, the best wine critics would be second graders.
Book Review: Don't be misled...
Summary: 2 Stars
This book is anything but a Natural History of the senses. Ackerman takes a few scientific facts about the senses and fluffs them up with rambling prose about her own experiences.The more science-oriented passages were superficial and extremely brief, and I found the prose to be monotonous and dry. Other reviewers' description of her prose as "cloying" is very appropriate. Her use of imagery and metaphors is at times creative, yet overwhelming, and she offers very little substance to balance it.
I can only begin to imagine the thrills of hearing about the luscious and sensual natural history of her garden. Too bad I won't be getting around to reading that one...
I give the book two stars instead of one for the interesting factoids she inserts here and there, irrelevant though they may be to the surrounding text. Overall, not recommended.