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Title: A Natural History of Love : Author of the National Bestseller A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman ISBN: 0-679-76183-7 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 21 February, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Counting the ways of the heart.
Comment: "We have the great fortune to live on a planet abounding with humans, plants, and animals," poet Diane Ackerman (A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES, 1990), writes in her Introduction to this book; "and I often marvel at the strange tasks evolution sets them. Of all the errands life seems to be running, of all the mysteries that enchant us, love is my favorite" (p. xxiii). Once again demonstrating her talent for blending the disciplines of history, anthropology, psychology, literature and natural science, Ackerman turns her attention here to the subject of love, "the great intangible" (p. xvii). In counting the ways of the heart, she reveals through a historical survey of Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, and Modern times that our attitudes about love are truly as old as the pyramids, and she also examines the evolution, psychology, and chemistry of love, the differences between men and women when it comes to love, monogamy and adultery, love-thwarted attachments, and aphrodisiacs and eroticism. While it may not live up to the standard Ackerman set in A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES, in addressing what it means to love from a variety of different perspectives, this book is nevertheless quite fascinating.
G. Merritt
Rating: 4
Summary: clear and readable
Comment: I read this to be entertained, and I was. Like her other books, this one was clearly written, easy on the eyes, clever, witty, and packed with interesting out-of-the-way information. It's a pleasant and well-composed discourse through the history of romantic love in the West. If you come to it from that point of view, you might like it.
If a criterion of a good read is that the author inspires in you some of the emotions she describes, then most of the book succeeded for me: at times I wondered what she'd be like on a date....
Parts of the book get into human instincts. While there's evidence for these--the rooting instinct in babies, for instance--we need to bear in mind that human instincts are heavily modified by time, place, and personality. The maternal instinct, for example, is painted in ideal colors: the loving mother mirroring her baby. We've all seen that; but some of us have also met mothers who hate their children (or, worse, feel indifferent toward them) and whose maternal instinct never sees the daylight. We shouldn't follow Freud's old 19th Century slippage from psychology into biology unless we're prepared to ignore the social and spiritual roots of human motivation.
I appreciate the author's knack for collecting a lot of information on a given topic, then giving us the best fruits of her learnings in breezy and often poetic language.
Rating: 5
Summary: A true treasure & a staple of your library
Comment: This book is amazing. If you haven't read Ackerman before, I suggest starting with _A Natural History of the Senses_. Then read this book. Ackerman is a very talented writer. Even if the subject isn't entirely interesting, her words and their rhythms are. This subject, however, is very interesting. Ackerman muses on myths (such as Dido) and history (such as Napoleon and Josephine), but also explores instincts and preferences (why women love horses and the influence of pheromones). This book is romantic, historical, sexual, poetic, challenging, and completely beautiful.
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Title: A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman ISBN: 0679735666 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 10 September, 1991 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Deep Play by Diane Ackerman ISBN: 0679771352 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 08 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Cultivating Delight : A Natural History of My Garden by Diane Ackerman ISBN: 0060505362 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: I Praise My Destroyer : Poems by Diane Ackerman ISBN: 0679771344 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 10 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: 'The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales by Diane Ackerman ISBN: 0679742263 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 29 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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