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Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature
What can elephant seals tell us about Homer’s Iliad?
How do gorillas illuminate the works of Shakespeare?
What do bloodsucking bats have to do with John Steinbeck?
Madame Bovary's Ovaries
A Darwinian Look at Literature
According to evolutionary psychologist David Barash and his daughter Nanelle, the answers lie in the most important word in biology: evolution. Just like eve...more
How do gorillas illuminate the works of Shakespeare?
What do bloodsucking bats have to do with John Steinbeck?
Madame Bovary's Ovaries
A Darwinian Look at Literature
According to evolutionary psychologist David Barash and his daughter Nanelle, the answers lie in the most important word in biology: evolution. Just like eve...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
May 30th 2006
by Delta
(first published April 26th 2005)
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Oct 18, 2008
MJ
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to MJ by:
Bookmarks magazine
Shelves:
really-liked
If you are one of those people who have wondered what evolution and literature have in common then this is a must read. If you are like me and just like reading about literature and enjoy other peoples observations and theories then I recommend this book to you also.
David Barash and Nanelle Barash take some of the most popular literature and explain why these books are still favorites due to their basics themes, which are all evolutionary concepts.
A fascinating look at Othello, Holden Caulfiel...more
David Barash and Nanelle Barash take some of the most popular literature and explain why these books are still favorites due to their basics themes, which are all evolutionary concepts.
A fascinating look at Othello, Holden Caulfiel...more
You gotta have a gimmick
("Gypsy")
Reader, beware! With all the sweaty desperation of a couple of cheap strippers, here comes the distinctly unsavory father-and-daughter vaudeville team of David P. and Nanelle R. Barash, bumping and grinding towards you, tipping you a leering wink as they try to lure you with their patented gimmick - the special high-tech e-vo-lution-ary reading lens.
Gentle reader, run for your life! It's not just that this pair of brachiate mouth-breathers have nothing of int...more
("Gypsy")
Reader, beware! With all the sweaty desperation of a couple of cheap strippers, here comes the distinctly unsavory father-and-daughter vaudeville team of David P. and Nanelle R. Barash, bumping and grinding towards you, tipping you a leering wink as they try to lure you with their patented gimmick - the special high-tech e-vo-lution-ary reading lens.
Gentle reader, run for your life! It's not just that this pair of brachiate mouth-breathers have nothing of int...more
I have never read so much bad science, bad literary theory and banalities in one volume before. Madame Bovary’s Ovaries is populist writing at its worst: misleading, vulgar and insulting to the intelligence of a hedgehog.
The book is a collection of random quotations glued together with such illuminating gems as these:
The book is a collection of random quotations glued together with such illuminating gems as these:
And that writes about it....more
. . . the evidence is now undeniable that much of human life is not socially constructed.
The play is great because it is wonderfully written . . .
True it is
Thoroughly silly (in a good way) academic look at the way that biology and particularly evolution can be seen in literature. Some of the points became a bit repetitive, i.e. and this is how this theory is shown in Anna Karenina and this is how it's shown in Kafka's work. Ended up sounding a bit like 'ooh, these are the books that i read'. Still, very entertaining, even more so when at the end I realized that it was written by a father and young daughter :o) Anyone who's taken an anthropology or...more
The concept of this book was very entertaining, but after several chapters, it seemed repetitive and rather simplistic. Most people who have taken English and biology in high school, or introductory courses on those subjects in university can probably put the two together.
While using literature to exemplify evolutionary human behaviour is novel, it is not exactly an 'eureka' moment of discovery. Literary works, whether they feature humans or animals (most anthropomorphized ones), often serve...more
While using literature to exemplify evolutionary human behaviour is novel, it is not exactly an 'eureka' moment of discovery. Literary works, whether they feature humans or animals (most anthropomorphized ones), often serve...more
With such an awesome title and chapter headings (e.g. How to Make Rhett Give a Damn, Wisdom from the Godfather) I expected a lot from this book, some real biology and an interesting look at literary works.
It didn't quite live up to expectation.
Chapter 1 - The Human Nature of Stories: A Quick Hit of Bio-Lit-Crit, gave the most information in why a biological perspective in reviewing literature is valuable and important, why certain stories endure (the Classics) and certain characters seem most...more
It didn't quite live up to expectation.
Chapter 1 - The Human Nature of Stories: A Quick Hit of Bio-Lit-Crit, gave the most information in why a biological perspective in reviewing literature is valuable and important, why certain stories endure (the Classics) and certain characters seem most...more
Depending on how you look at it, Madame Bovary's Ovaries is either a bit of a pop-science lark or one of the stupidest books written in a long time.
If you read it as a breezy application of current ideas in sociobiology and evolutionary science to the field of literature, it makes for an occasionally interesting primer. It analyses our selfish genes in action, using the classics as data. Exploring themes ranging from adultery to kin selection to parent-offspring conflict, it draws on the exampl...more
If you read it as a breezy application of current ideas in sociobiology and evolutionary science to the field of literature, it makes for an occasionally interesting primer. It analyses our selfish genes in action, using the classics as data. Exploring themes ranging from adultery to kin selection to parent-offspring conflict, it draws on the exampl...more
My professors had us use this book in class to interpret another novel through the concepts given in the book. It was easy to read and I loved all of the biological reasons behind what has been written and what continues to be written. It is easy to find all of ideas offered in this book in other literature after having been exposed. Overall, this book was a great reference. I would recommend it to everyone.
Interesting I think purely because of my love of biology ... definitely falls under the category of over-analysis. Strays away from the literature too much to call itself a darwinian look at literature, i think. more like ... basic evolutionary theory with occasional references to famous novels. meh. it was okay.
Noam Chomsky once said: “It is quite possible — overwhelmingly probable, one might guess — that we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology.” I think this insight speaks to something very important about the humanities and what they can reveal to us about the human experience. Literary theory (and some forms of literary criticism), however, can come across as obscure, esoteric, and confusing as hell. Fear not, the ideas from Charle...more
Jun 02, 2010
joy *the clean-reader extraordinaire*
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Shelves:
nonfiction,
skimmed-or-stopped
LOVED the title and thesis
the content and language, NOT so much
it's a bit racy and sensationalized, which would be admittedly hard not to do given the topic, but i gave up a few chapters in. there's no need to drop the f*bomb in a nonfiction lit crit book, in my opinion.
the content and language, NOT so much
it's a bit racy and sensationalized, which would be admittedly hard not to do given the topic, but i gave up a few chapters in. there's no need to drop the f*bomb in a nonfiction lit crit book, in my opinion.
How could I not love a book that married evolutionary biology with great literature. The father-daughter team of authors use examples from books like Pride and Prejudice and Madame Bovary to explain the biological roots of human behavior. My only complaint, and therefore the withholding of that final star, is that the explanations end up being too simplistic.
Recommended on Skeptically Speaking show #90 on December 17, 2010. http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/episode...
Sep 01, 2011
Alex
marked it as to-read
Check this thing out. Sounds like total bullshit, right? But sortof interesting bullshit. My Victorian homegirl says it's worth a read.
Sometimes the sheer strangeness is what makes life wonderful, don't you think? Loved this book. What a perspective.
Two of my favourite things rolled into one -- literature and evolutionary psychology!
Repetitive. Interesting subject which could have been done better. Sayang.
Finally I got my hands on a copy and I got a chance to read it before school. This is a fantastic non-fiction book. It's a strange combination, science and literature, but the author makes it all come together. There were many things in this book that I had never heard before, I thought the information about how fat in hips and breasts are an "evolutionary fake-out" made perfect common sense, I had just never heard/read it before. Very interesting book overall.
Entertaining, but with major holes in the logic. The "scientific" conclusions are sometimes merely conjecture...and I felt as if they started their research in the "middle of the book", so to speak. Pop science by concensus...although some of it seemed dead on- which is probably why they felt at liberty to fill in the holes with supposition. Truth mixed with fiction is the oldest hook in the book.
Interesting I think purely because of my love of biology ... definitely falls under the category of over-analysis. Strays away from the literature too much to call itself a darwinian look at literature, i think. more like ... basic evolutionary theory with occasional references to famous novels. meh. it was okay.
A great book, written by father and daughter to explain human nature, through the books in which have reached us through the years. Male pattern aggression is explained through shakespeare. What women want is want is explained through Austin. Fun for any lover of classic works.
They lost me by chapter two.
~chants apology that goes along with not finishing a book: Yes, David* I gave up. Sorry."~
It's a great idea; but the follow-through just didn't work for me.
*my friend who has NEVER put a book away without finishing it.
~chants apology that goes along with not finishing a book: Yes, David* I gave up. Sorry."~
It's a great idea; but the follow-through just didn't work for me.
*my friend who has NEVER put a book away without finishing it.
Nov 21, 2007
Deb
marked it as to-read
Recommended by my friend Beth, who has a wicked sense of humor. She nominated this one as a book club book, but it wasn't chosen. I thought it would have been a great one to discuss. But I still haven't read it.
Read my review of
Madame Bovary's Ovaries
. I loaned this book to a colleague and never got it back. NEVER lend your books to anyone!
I love Lit...
I love Anthro...
I did not so much love this book.
I's short, and a quick read, but I wouldn't read it again unless I had to for school.
I love Anthro...
I did not so much love this book.
I's short, and a quick read, but I wouldn't read it again unless I had to for school.
Skip the first chapter and the last one, they're boring and easy to bog down in. But the rest of the book is fascinating.
Fun. Fast. Biology. Contextualizes classic literature I never bothered read.
Loved it. Delightful read, makes for thought and conversation.
this wasn't nearly as interesting as I'd hoped
Oct 29, 2007
Erin
added it
*sigh* couldn't get through it.
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