Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf

Nov 22, 2009 Hayes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bc-bookring, read-in-2009

I learned a lot from Maryanne Wolf's history of reading, starting with the meaning of the title: The squid taught us (in the 1950s) how neurons fire and transmit to each other and gave later scientists the wherewithal to become neuroscientists. Proust saw reading as a way for humans to discover myriad realities, to go where no man has gone before (at least until Captain Kirk arrived on the scene!)

The book begins with a short history of writing systems, starting with the first, which was in reali...more I learned a lot from Maryanne Wolf's history of reading, starting with the meaning of the title: The squid taught us (in the 1950s) how neurons fire and transmit to each other and gave later scientists the wherewithal to become neuroscientists. Proust saw reading as a way for humans to discover myriad realities, to go where no man has gone before (at least until Captain Kirk arrived on the scene!)

The book begins with a short history of writing systems, starting with the first, which was in reality an accounting system: clay tokens enclosed in clay envelopes, impressed with markings to show what commodity was being tracked. There is some scientific instruction about how our brains work as we are reading (I learned that people reading in Chinese, Japanese and English use different parts parts of their brains while reading, because of the basic natures of the three languages). Each section is introduced by a passage describing how famous writers (Hermann Hesse, Graham Greene, Sartre) felt about reading.

I learned too that the human brain was not designed to read, that reading is accomplished by "recycling" brain structures that were originally for other purposes. There is a very interesting section which speaks about what happens when the brain is not able to re-invent itself, when it cannot learn to read properly, and why dyslexia is often accompanied by great talents of a different nature (artistic, organizational, athletic). This part was particularly interesting to me as most of the members of my family (on my father's side) suffer from dyslexia, including my brother, my half brother and his three children.

Ms. Wolf leaves us with some questions about the future of reading.

p 220-221:

When all is said and done, of course, Socrates' worries were not so much about literacy as about what might happen to knowledge if the young had unguided, uncritical access to information. ... Will unguided information lead to an illusion of knowledge, and thus curtail the more difficult, time-consuming, critical thought processes that lead to knowledge itself? Will the split-second immediacy of information gained from a search engine and the sheer volume of what is available derail the slower, more deliberative processes that deepen our understanding of complex concepts, of another's inner thought processes, and of our own consciousness?

An interesting book. I was, as Socrates cautioned against, forced to read it rather quickly as it must go to the next participant in the book ring. I will re-read it at some point.

- - - - - - - - - - -

another quote: p 138:

"...For young readers who are moving from simply mastering content to discovering what lies beneath the surface of a text, the literature of fantasy and magic is ideal.

Think of the many images that Tolkien uses in Lord of the Rings to portray good and evil. The worlds of Middle Earth, Narnia, and Hogwarts provide fertile ground for developing skills of metaphor, inference, and analogy, because nothing is ever as it seems in these places. To figure out how to elude ring-wraiths and dragons, and how to do what is right, calls on all of one's wits. During their different journeys, Huck and Frodo learned to choose virtuous actions, however powerfully they are challenged. And so do the young readers who accompany them all the way."

(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 08, 2009 Steve Kettmann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At times the book probably delved deeper into the science than I as a general read would have preferred, and the emphasis on dyslexia was at times distracting - but no question, a fascinating, valuable book. For two points alone I'd recommended it: One, Wolf's fluent, intelligent consideration of Socrates' opposition to the development of written language, which he feared would have an adverse affect on the imaginative capacity of the educated. Two, the whole notion that read books actually rewi...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 10, 2009 Will Byrnes rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology-and-the-brain

I found the beginning of the book fascinating, offering new (to me) information about the beginning of written language, how it takes different forms depending on whether it is picture-like or not, noting differences between languages that were representative of sounds or of things. Fascinating stuff. It was news to me that Socrates railed against the spread of written language, believing that spreading a way for many people to gain knowledge would have a net negative effect on the ability of pe...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 02, 2008 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Literacy folks

Recommended to Jon by: Linda Gambrell (at the U of A Literacy Symposium)

Shelves: books-about-reading, education-literacy

Wolfe convincingly layers the story of reading disabilities on top of the story of the development of the reading brain and the story of language itself. Her conclusions are similar (but more thorough and more effectively supported) to those drawn by Davis and Braun in The Gift of Dyslexia.

I learned from the middle section of the book that neurologists believe the human brain was never wired specifically for the task of reading. That means that in order to read, each individual's brain must bui...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 22, 2008 Maureen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers

Shelves: brain, science

This book deals with the evolution and mechanics of the reading brain, an absolutely fascinating topic. I did not know until I reading this that the human brain is not set up for the process of decoding letters and phonemes. It has had to develop intricate synaptic pathways utilizing many different parts of the brain in order to cope.

The earliest symbolic representations were clay tokens, and knotted ropes. We then move on to cunieform and hieroglyphics, which made for more diversity, but limit...more This book deals with the evolution and mechanics of the reading brain, an absolutely fascinating topic. I did not know until I reading this that the human brain is not set up for the process of decoding letters and phonemes. It has had to develop intricate synaptic pathways utilizing many different parts of the brain in order to cope.

The earliest symbolic representations were clay tokens, and knotted ropes. We then move on to cunieform and hieroglyphics, which made for more diversity, but limited the number of people who were able to read to the most educated classes. The more complex the symbols became, the fewer people could read them. Then came a breakthrough: the Sumerian and Egyptian alphabets, where letters were used in combination to produce polysyllabic words. Moore uses a wealth of diagrams to chart the changes made as the brain evolves from the primitive tokens to the alphabetic system.

This is where it starts to get really interesting: she discusses Socrates fight against reading and writing. Another part of the story with which I was not familiar, Socrates thought that the written word would rob man of his ability to memorize, and would also hamper the dialectic process through unsupervised access to information. Many parallels may be drawn between Socrates' dilemma, and the world today, which has turned from the printed page to the digital screen.

Wolf goes on to describe in intricate detail the developmental process of the modern reading mind, from that of emerging pre-readers, all the way to the expert reader. Anyone who has ever taught another person to read, or vividly remembers the process of learning to read will find this section particularly riveting.

She ends with an overview of dyslexia, using it to describe the types of disruptions that take place in the brain when a person cannot learn to read in the normal way. No doubt, this study benefits from the fact that one of Wolf's children is dyslexic. It is a fascinating look at recent research into the topic.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 13, 2008 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Proust and the Squid is a surprisingly tendentious book masquerading as a review of the science of reading. It describes how our brains have changed as a result of learning to read, and what happens to dyslexic brains when they try to read. The science seems sound for some of it, especially how our brains work now, and the differences between English-speaking brains, say, and Chinese-speaking brains. But the rest of it reads like a Just-So Story -- the scientific theory created to explain how we...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2012 Cheryl in CC NV marked it as skimmed-reference-dnf · review of another edition

Meh. I read the preface, skimmed the first chapter, read the conclusion; then skimmed the notes (interesting stuff gets tucked away there in many books, just because the author or editor thinks the info. disrupts the text or detracts from the argument). That's all I could motivate myself to face. Then I came here and read the other reviews, and what the GR members say makes me feel like I got out of the book all that they did. So, though I didn't really read it, I'm shelving it so I don't get co...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 26, 2009 Drew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are so many profound insights about the nature of reading, neuroplasticity, and cognitive linguistics in this very approachable book that I will not even attempt to describe them all. A few of the most exciting still keep me pondering at night and may well influence my avocational use of time.

First, it is postulated that owing to the hundreds of milliseconds saved during brain processing when reading an alphabetic, orthographically consistent language (Italian, German) rather than an alpha...more

like · see review

Jun 08, 2013 Buchdoktor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, pedagogics

"Ich bin mir sicher, wenn ich mit prüfendem Blick in umgekehrter Reihenfolge durch die Bücher meiner Kindheit hindurchlesen könnte, würde sich mir meine gesamte Entwicklung erschließen. Das Kind lebt im Buch; doch genauso sehr lebt das Buch im Kind." Elizabeth Bowen

Maryanne Wolf ging als Kind in eine einklassige Schule. Alle Schüler saßen im gleichen Raum, die erste Klasse in der ersten Reihe, die zweite in der zweiten Reihe usw. Für das Weiterrücken in die nächste Reihe mussten bestimmte Leistu...more "Ich bin mir sicher, wenn ich mit prüfendem Blick in umgekehrter Reihenfolge durch die Bücher meiner Kindheit hindurchlesen könnte, würde sich mir meine gesamte Entwicklung erschließen. Das Kind lebt im Buch; doch genauso sehr lebt das Buch im Kind." Elizabeth Bowen

Maryanne Wolf ging als Kind in eine einklassige Schule. Alle Schüler saßen im gleichen Raum, die erste Klasse in der ersten Reihe, die zweite in der zweiten Reihe usw. Für das Weiterrücken in die nächste Reihe mussten bestimmte Leistungen erbracht werden. Am Beispiel eines Jungen, dem das Lesenlernen besonders schwer fiel, konnte die kleine Maryanne erkennen, mit wieviel Geduld die Lehrerin jeden Tag nach dem Unterricht mit diesem Schüler übte. Wolfs Kindheitserinnerung enthält bereits einen großen Teil dessen, was sie als Professorin für die kindliche Entwicklung und Neurowissenschaftlerin später über den Leselernprozess herausfinden sollte. Das Lesenlernen ist ein komplizierter Prozess, für den nur ein begrenztes Zeitfenster zur Verfügung steht - wichtig ist die Zuwendung der Person, die das Lesen fördert - Kinder brauchen eine persönliche, individuelle Leseförderung.

Die Autorin geht zunächst zu den Sumerern, den Erfindern des Leselernprozesses, zurück. Die Sumerer ließen ihre Kinder Wortgruppen in Keilschrift in feuchte Tontäfelchen pressen. Nur weil unser Gehirn durch Erfahrung formbar ist, waren die Menschen damals flexibel genug, um Lesen zu lernen. Wolfs Forschungen an Legasthenikern haben ihr gezeigt, welche Voraussetzungen für den Prozess des Lesenlernens nötig sind. Lange bevor ein Kind in die Schule geht, braucht es einen Erwachsenen, mit dem es gemeinsam Bilder ansieht, der ihm Geschichten erzählt und Reime vorspricht, bis es schließlich erkennt, dass die kleinen schwarzen Zeichen in Büchern eine Bedeutung haben. Vorlesen ist Grundlage der emotionalen Reifung; denn Geschichten erzählen Kindern über Gefühle. Mit dem Vorlesen von Geschichten entwickelt sich Verständnis für andere; denn wer selbst eine reiche Sprache hat, versteht andere besser. Kindern lernen aus Geschichten, auch aus dem Ungesagten Schlüsse zu ziehen und sich ein eigenes Urteil zu bilden. Die Fähigkeit und die Schnelligkeit eines Kindes Dinge zu benennen, weisen bereits früh darauf hin, wie erfolgreich später das Lesenlernen verlaufen wird.

Der Wortschatz, den ein kleines Kind entwickelt, entscheidet darüber welche Bedeutung es in einem Text finden kann. Für unseren Wortschatz gilt, dass die Reichen immer reicher werden und die Armen immer ärmer. Ein geringer Wortschatz bei 5-Jährigen ist später kaum wieder aufzuholen. Wortarmut zeigt sich in der 6. Klasse als Rückstand um 3 Schuljahre, ein ungeheure Verschwendung von Resourcen. Kinder, die den Schritt vom entziffernden zum verstehenden Lesen bis zur dritten Klasse noch nicht vollzogen haben oder einfach zu langsam lesen, sind in unserem Schulsystem nicht vorgesehen. Wie Luke, der selbst feststellte, dass er die Texte seiner Arien nicht schnell genug lesen konnte, um sie singen zu können, bleiben sie meist unentdeckt.

Ein Legastheniker ist nach Wolf eine Person, die Probleme mit dem Rhythmus von Sprache oder eine geringe Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit für Texte hat. Aus dieser Definition die richtige Folgerung zu ziehen, dass mit Witzen, Sprachspielen und Kinderreimen die Bereitschaft zum Lesenlernen gefördert wird, sollte nicht schwer fallen.

Die Bedenken, die Sokrates gegen die Entwicklung einer Schriftsprache vorbrachte, vergleicht Wolf mit den Sorgen heutiger Eltern, ihre IT-versierten Kinder könnten Informationen zukünftig nur noch in winzigen Häppchen verarbeiten und deren Wahrheitsgehalt nicht mehr beurteilen. Sokrates fürchtete, der Übergang zu einer Schriftkultur würde die Menschen glauben lassen, etwas zu wissen, während sie erst über einen Bruchteil des Wissens verfügen. Für ihn war das Memorieren Fundament persönlichen Wissens, das im Dialog mit einem Lehrer weiter verfeinert werden muss. Auch Maryanne Wolf befürchtet, dass wir zu einer Generation von Informationsdekodierern werden könnten, die ihr geistiges Potenzial nicht ausschöpfen, weil sie glauben, schon alles verstanden zu haben. Ob Schüler erfolgreicher sein werden, die wieder mehr Texte auswendig beherrschen, wird aktuell gerade wieder temperamentvoll diskutiert.

Weshalb sollten alle Eltern das engagierte Plädoyer für das Vorlesen im Kleinkindalter von einer auf Legasthenie spezialisierten Neurowissenschaftlerin lesen?

* Weil aus jeder Zeile ihres Buches geradezu ansteckend Wolfs Liebe zu Büchern spricht

* Weil Maryanne Wolf uns anhand vieler Zitate und Anekdoten zeigt, wie wir frühzeitig die Bereitschaft zum Lesenlernen, Medienkompetenz und Kritikfähigkeit unserer Kinder fördern können.

* Weil sie zu einem komplizierten Problem eine plausible Lösung bereit hat, die kaum Kosten verursacht:

Kinder brauchen für ihre normale Entwicklung ein gemeinsames Gespräch am Familientisch, Bücher und (vor-)lesende Menschen, die ihnen ein Vorbild sind. (less)

like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Ioannis Savvas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: Νευροεπιστήμες

Σε αυτό το βιβλίο με τον παράξενο τίτλο -τι σχέση μπορεί να έχει ένας συγγραφέας με ένα καλαμάρι;- η Maryanne Wolf περιγράφει με τρόπο σαφή και ανάγλυφο την ιστορία του γραπτού λόγου και τις έως σήμερα έρευνες των νευροεπιστημών σχετικά με τα κυκλώματα του εγκεφάλου που σχετίζονται με τη γραφή και -κυρίως- την ανάγνωση. Επίσης, με απόλυτα επιστημονικό τρόπο εξηγεί γιατί οι άνθρωποι με δυσλεξία -παρά την αντίθετη κυρίαρχη αντίληψη της κοινωνίας μας- δεν υστερούν σε τίποτα διανοητικά σε σχέση με τ...more Σε αυτό το βιβλίο με τον παράξενο τίτλο -τι σχέση μπορεί να έχει ένας συγγραφέας με ένα καλαμάρι;- η Maryanne Wolf περιγράφει με τρόπο σαφή και ανάγλυφο την ιστορία του γραπτού λόγου και τις έως σήμερα έρευνες των νευροεπιστημών σχετικά με τα κυκλώματα του εγκεφάλου που σχετίζονται με τη γραφή και -κυρίως- την ανάγνωση. Επίσης, με απόλυτα επιστημονικό τρόπο εξηγεί γιατί οι άνθρωποι με δυσλεξία -παρά την αντίθετη κυρίαρχη αντίληψη της κοινωνίας μας- δεν υστερούν σε τίποτα διανοητικά σε σχέση με τους υπόλοιπους ανθρώπους, ίσως δε να είναι και περισσότερο χαρισματικοί.

Η ομιλία είναι έμφυτη και κωδικοποιείται από συγκεκριμένα γονίδια. Αντίθετα, ο ανάγνωση δεν χρειάζεται κάποια ειδική δομή του εγκεφάλου. Οι ήδη υπάρχουσες δομές του μπορούν να «ανακυκλωθούν» ώστε να εξυπηρετούν τις ανάγκες της ανάγνωσης. Έτσι, ο εγκέφαλος τροποποιείται από το κείμενο (καθώς η λειτουργική ανασυγκρότηση του εγκεφάλου απαιτεί και προκαλεί νέες συνάψεις), με αποτέλεσμα να αναπτύσσεται και να εξελίσσεται σε νέα διανοητικά επίπεδα. Τελικά, και ο εγκέφαλος τροποποιεί το κείμενο, αφού τα συναισθήματα, οι σκέψεις και η φαντασία που αυτό προκαλεί, οδηγεί τον εγκέφαλο σε νέους κόσμους, νέες αντιλήψεις, νέα συνείδηση -ατομική και συλλογική. Έτσι, το κείμενο ερμηνεύεται και ανάγεται σε μία νέα πραγματικότητα κάθε φορά που αναγιγνώσκεται.

Το Proust and the squid είναι ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο εκλαϊκευμένης επιστήμης, αν και συγκριτικά με παρόμοια του είδους του χάνει ελαφρώς σε γλαφυρότητα. Οι μη σχετικοί αναγνώστες θα το βρουν αρκετά τεχνικό. Ωστόσο, αξίζει να διαβαστεί. Επίσης, οι ανησυχίες που εκφράζει η συγγραφέας για το εξελικτικό μέλλον της ανάγνωσης, ειδικά στην εποχή του internet που κυριαρχείται από την εικόνα και την εύκολη πληροφορία είναι μάλλον παρατραβηγμένες. Τα επιχειρήματά της για τον κίνδυνο διανοητικής έκπτωσης των νέων που αρκούνται στην εύκολη και ρηχή ανάγνωση, για την υφαρπαγή τής εύκολης και αμφιβόλου αξίας πληροφορίας δεν πείθουν.

Αλήθεια, τι μεταβολές θα προκαλούσε αυτό το βιβλίο σε εγκεφάλους διαφορετικών ανθρώπων, ανάλογα με το βαθμό εξοικείωσής τους με το αντικείμενο;(less)

like · see review

Sep 03, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-have-listened-to-while-comm, books-to-re-read, brain-books

(Please add half a star to my rating.)

I listened to this on the round trip ride between Chicago and Sturgeon Bay, WI, and I would not recommend anyone else doing this. It's a fascinating book full of wonderful history and science, but I would have preferred it to be either A) spread out among a week of commutes or B) read in a hard copy. Both of these alternatives would have allowed me to better absorb Wolf's ideas, which is why I've put this book on my "Books To Re-Read" shelf.

Wolf immediately...more (Please add half a star to my rating.)

I listened to this on the round trip ride between Chicago and Sturgeon Bay, WI, and I would not recommend anyone else doing this. It's a fascinating book full of wonderful history and science, but I would have preferred it to be either A) spread out among a week of commutes or B) read in a hard copy. Both of these alternatives would have allowed me to better absorb Wolf's ideas, which is why I've put this book on my "Books To Re-Read" shelf.

Wolf immediately made me nervous by writing early on about her own apprehension about writing for a non-scientific audience. I thought, "oh, crap, am I going to understand anything she says?" I did, of course, because she does know how to write clearly and effectively, but I think an audience with a background in brain studies would have gotten a lot more out of this book. And Wolf's frequent reference to "expert readers" was never fully explained: am I an expert reader? or is an expert reader someone who, like Wolf, understands the science behind the reading brain? But on a whole, Wolf has written this book as a cautionary approach and as a call for more study and research, which is something I wholeheartedly respect and admire.

Part of me wished she had cut down a bit on the history of language, which starts the book. But then I realize that the numerous references to this history, which she makes throughout the book, are really important (and I just loved hearing about Socrates and his disdain for the written word). I do wish, as a teacher, that she'd have spent more time discussing teaching to the dyslexic brain, and more time exploring the effects of electronic reading for the current generation of new readers. In my ideal world, Wolf would have added another part to the book for such explorations (at just over 6 hours of audio, the book could have easily been extended).

A note on the narrator, Kirsten Potter: she sounds just a shade like Sigourney Weaver, and for me this was a bonus. Her reading is eloquent and calm, and scientific without being dull.(less)

like · see review

Aug 12, 2012 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-writing, psych, audiobooks

I am not a neuroscientist, not a literacy expert, not a child psychologist, not an educator, but I am a voracious reader, which is how I became interested in this book. As such, I was not prepared for the technical details, and was not aware of some of the fundamental premises necessary.

Proust and the Squid, a very technical book, details how language affects, and is affected by the brain, going into the differences between different types of languages and their development and focusing on dysle...more

like · see review

Jul 06, 2012 Julieann Wielga rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was fully prepared to be critical of this book, but it is finely wrought and I do not think I can be.

The book begins with carefully chose quotes that I would like to remember: on page 6, she quotes Proust On Reading something that totally speaks my heart: There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lives as fully as those.... we spent in our favorite book... she continues and it makes me want to read Proust's whole book. Another quote from Proust on page 17 that I would like to Savor is on p...more I was fully prepared to be critical of this book, but it is finely wrought and I do not think I can be.

The book begins with carefully chose quotes that I would like to remember: on page 6, she quotes Proust On Reading something that totally speaks my heart: There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lives as fully as those.... we spent in our favorite book... she continues and it makes me want to read Proust's whole book. Another quote from Proust on page 17 that I would like to Savor is on page 17: We feel quite truly that our wisdom begins where that of the author ends..." Wolf goes on to say that Proust's understanding of the generative nature of reading containss a paradox: the goal of reading is to go beyond the author's ideas to thoughts that increasingly automnomous, trans formative , and ultimately independent of the the written text. With quotes and interpretations likes these, the reader can guess that Wolf is not going to write a knee jerk exposition against whole language and for phonics.

Wolf wants to understand that the brain does not have a genetically determined organ that reads. Every child that learns to read and than becomes automatic at reading does so because through development their brain recruits and wires older more basic functions to be the parts of the brain that reads. In the beginning the brain uses large areas having to do with language, working memory, longterm memory, vision. Much of these sections of the brain are found, not surprisingly in the left hemisphere. As the reading brain becomes more automatic it pairs down the portions of the brain that are used to efficient pathways.

Wolf has a broad and deep understanding of reading. She talks about the history of reading by writing about tokens, INcan Quipas which are knots on a rope to Cuneiform and Heiroglyphics. Throughout the book she references studies on readers in different languauges such as China and Spanish and how that effects their emergence and maturity as a reader. She discusses Socarates' worry that when men learn to read they will become forgetful because what they need to remember will be written. He also worries about who will help men decide what a loss to read in private when the ideas can not be discussed.

Wolf gives a round understanding of all the tools each child needs to really read. She gives a generous nod to phonics and phonemic awareness but goes on to talk about word poverty and morphemes.On page 103 she tells us that the Canadian psychologist Biemiller says that kids who come to kindergarten in the bottom 25percentile are 3 grades behind in 6th grade in vocabulary and reading comprehension. She reminds us t hat semantics are important and that David Swinney shows that every word read activates many possible meanings even when we are oblivious of that fact. (page 122) wolf endorses fluent reading with comprehension, expression and phrasing but does not dwell on it because of her other academic publications.

Through out the body of the book we are promised to end with a piece of Wolf's own heart, her son's dyslexia. And indeed, Dyslexia is the exception that brings to light the trueness of the rest of the book. Since it is not one organ that reads but a bunch of earlier brain centers that are co-opted for reading, it is not surprising that their are brains who seem to be different and string together a different set of primal brain tissues to be their reading machine. These are characteristically brain areas predominately on the right side of the brain. There are many lessons to be learned her. The jerry-rigged reading brain of the dyslexic child are not all uniform. So the brains of dyslexics are not uniform. There is no such thing as A reading disorder. Geschwind (page 202) made the analogy of sickle cell anemia saying "that the the very same anomalies on the left side of the brain that have led to the disability of dyslexia in certain literacy societies also determine superiority in the same brains. Like many before her Wolf reminds us of Einstein and Da Vinci and many others.(less)

like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Mommalibrarian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

"Marcel Proust as a metphor and the largely underappreciated squid as an analogy for two very different aspects of reading." The bulk of this book is concerned with the research that divides all the minor steps the brain goes through in the process of reading. There are multiple steps and things can go wrong at any or more than one place. The ability to break text into phonetical units and the efficiency of the entire decoding process seem to bee the main problems for persons with dyslexia. She...more

like · see review

Jul 03, 2012 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book covers four areas: 1) science, 2) personal anecdote, 3) public policy and 4) cultural rumination.

The science in this book is exceptional, especially its insights into dyslexia. The personal anecdotes and public policy sections are a little tiresome but well intentioned.

Regarding Wolf's cultural ruminations, the author makes the critical and early mistake of equating Socrates' skepticism of literacy with her own skepticism of the internet age, resulting in a lot of unsubstantiated hand-...more

like · see review

Jul 02, 2012 Dale rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brilliant. One of the best books I've encountered this year

Maryanne Wolf
Read by Kirsten Potter
8 hours, 21 minutes

Filled with everyday examples but also full of technical explanations about how the brain actually works when it reads, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain is a bit of history, a bit of science, a bit of philosophy, a bit of educational theory and a whole lot of learning bundled into an entertaining package.

I may be an ideal reader for Maryanne Wolf since...more

like · see review

Jan 03, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: psychology, nonfiction, audiobook

This is an interesting book, organized in three sections. In the first section, Maryanne Wolf describes how the human race developed reading (and writing, of course). Symbols denoting words evolved into symbols denoting syllables and then individual sounds, as letters. As Wolf reiterates, this evolution took 2,000 years, yet a child learns to read in 2,000 days. The development of an alphabet was a strikingly innovative concept. Scholars do not agree on the definition of an alphabet, and by some...more

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 27, 2011 BarbaraNathalie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book because the parent of one of my students I tutor told me about it. I have been teaching reading since I was five years old. I first taught my younger siblings after my older siblings taught me to read. I earned my masters degree in reading and have continued to be passionate about discovering what best helps a child learn to read and seeing the light bulb come on after many hours of saturating the brain with the beginnings of our wonderful code that creates the words we read.

Ms....more I read this book because the parent of one of my students I tutor told me about it. I have been teaching reading since I was five years old. I first taught my younger siblings after my older siblings taught me to read. I earned my masters degree in reading and have continued to be passionate about discovering what best helps a child learn to read and seeing the light bulb come on after many hours of saturating the brain with the beginnings of our wonderful code that creates the words we read.

Ms. Wolfe is one of many authors I have read who have written about the acquisition of the human potential to read. I love reading about the fine details of how alphabets were developed and how long it takes to fine tune their components. I particularly enjoyed her writing style as she imbued her book with accessible language yet did not dilute the essential information. There were many interesting points made in the book, but what was most important to me, as a teacher, was
her statement that it took 2,000 years to for humans to complete the
necessary brain changes so they could read while children today make the necessary brain adjustments to learn to read in 2,000 days.

There are many children who learn to read quite easily because they quickly understand the code. With our current drive for testing and proving that a school is bad, good or excellent, we neglect the need that children have for mastering beginning reading skills before requiring them to jump ahead to something that their brain is not equipped for, just to say their students are reading at so and so reading reading levels. That is why I am in demand for teaching beginning and struggling readers. I make sure they have internalized a skill before going forward. I build on the previously known, as Ms. Wolfe so eloquently explains is required of a successful reading brain.

I wish more teachers, and particularly administrators, would read books such as PROUST AND THE SQUID. Then, perhaps, we would be growing more successful young readers instead of creating so many gaps in the reading skills in so many young learners. The joy of reading and the ideas that are hidden in the pages of books and other print can and should be available to a higher percentage of human beings.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Melody rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book because it was assigned for our faculty retreat.

Some of the things I liked:
* It's really interesting to be pushed to think about how complex reading is - how much our brains each have to do to develop the ability to read.
* It was also interesting to think about how people in history have dealt with changes in the processing and recording of information, and how that might apply today as the way we take in and consider information is so rapidly and immensely changing.
* She exp...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 13, 2011 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: education, psychology, science

There are many things in life that need to be explained. One of those things is why is it that some people learn to read as if reading was like breathing or like fish taking to water, while others can struggle for decades and still only read haltingly and even then never quite ‘get’ what it is they are reading? I know that looks like two things – actually, a moment’s reflection might make you think that what needs to be explained isn’t one or two things, but rather many, many more. Perhaps as ma...more

9 likes · like · see review

Jul 14, 2011 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I save 'five stars' for books I know I'll come back to over and over again and this is sure to be one of them. Maryanne Wolf clearly has a love for reading - each chapter started with a wonderful quote from an author, scientist, or child, and her title comes from French novelist Marcel Proust who saw reading as an intellectual sanctuary, and a squid, which was used by scientists in the 1950s to understand how neurons fire and transmit to each other. Somehow Wolf combined science and beautiful pr...more

like · see review

Mar 22, 2011 Al Bità rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an interesting work on a subject clearly outlined in its sub-title: the story and science of the Reading Brain. It stems from the author's researches into the brains of dyslexics, and in a sense this is an interim report on the initial results thus far gleaned from that research. As such it might alienate some readers not particularly interested in the details of that research, which is a pity really — but then again how else can one report on specific findings without reference to those...more This is an interesting work on a subject clearly outlined in its sub-title: the story and science of the Reading Brain. It stems from the author's researches into the brains of dyslexics, and in a sense this is an interim report on the initial results thus far gleaned from that research. As such it might alienate some readers not particularly interested in the details of that research, which is a pity really — but then again how else can one report on specific findings without reference to those details?

Much more interesting for the ordinary reader, however, are the conclusions about reading and the brain which Wolf beautifully describes in the 'other half' of this book — a 'half', incidentally, which is interspersed throughout the book. There is an undoubted love for reading and for literature, and readers will relish what she has to say. There are many literary quotes to back her stance.

At the core of this book, however, is the realisation that reading is not something inherent in the human genes: it is a trained quality, and one which helps determine how we perceive and deal with the world around us. Dyslexics have trouble dealing with that world; but Wolf is at pains to show us that indeed it may be through a deeper understanding of the 'problems' of dyslexia that we may come to also understand something about the creative spark that illuminated good writing and reading. Indeed, Wolf suggests that creativity is linked with some forms of dyslexia.

Other concerns Wolf comments on deal with the worry that the computer revolution, with its emphasis for online reading, may have deleterious effects on our cognition, and therefore on our understanding of the world. She is rather sanguine about this, however, pointing out that even Socrates complained about the written word as destructive of what he understood to be true wisdom and learning, while ironically his very ideas would not have survived had it not been for Plato's assiduous writing them down for posterity's sake!(less)

1 like · like · see review

Oct 03, 2010 Jeremy Kauffman rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Proust and the Squid is a book about reading in three parts: the history and development of reading, an analysis of the typical process with which the brain reads, and the ways that the reading process can break down, particularly in dyslexics.

I didn't take that much away from this book. The origins of reading are fascinating, but I would have liked appreciated a more rigorous analysis. Wolf repeatedly claims that modern writing systems are almost perfect. There is no doubt that are writing syst...more

like · see review

May 21, 2010 Caren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who love to read and are curious about how our brain developed the capacity to read

Shelves: adult-nonfiction

The author refers to Proust in her title as a metaphor for his reference to reading as a "divine pleasure"; she refers to the squid for its capability to "repair and compensate when something goes awry". Her book is a broad study of how the human brain adapted to be able to read (there is no "reading gene", so every brain must take the same learning path taken by the first humans as they confronted written language), and how brains that adapt differently (i.e. the brains of those who have diffic...more The author refers to Proust in her title as a metaphor for his reference to reading as a "divine pleasure"; she refers to the squid for its capability to "repair and compensate when something goes awry". Her book is a broad study of how the human brain adapted to be able to read (there is no "reading gene", so every brain must take the same learning path taken by the first humans as they confronted written language), and how brains that adapt differently (i.e. the brains of those who have difficulty learning to read, i.e. those with dyslexia)are able to compensate. She begins with a fascinating look at the first systems of writing humans developed and how they differed. I was very interested to read that Socrates frowned on the invention of writing because young learners needed to be in dialogue with their teacher and the words on a page were dead and unresponsive (that is, unable to correct errors in their thinking). Wolf points out that Socrates couldn't have known that the time gained by not having to memorize every piece of knowledge meant humans were able to develop richer thought with the invention of written language. Wolf then moves on to discussing the stages a new reader's brain goes through at every level of learning to read. She stresses that the process cannot be hurried and that for most people the development is in place between ages five and seven. Before that age, there are important steps to take in preparing a reader. It is beneficial for young children to be made aware of speech sounds, especially rhyming ones. Here then is the value of learning Mother Goose rhymes. It also makes all the difference if the child is read to often. She says, "Unbeknownst to them or their families, children who grow up in environments with few or no literacy experiences are already playing catch-up when they enter kindergarten and the primary grades....The sheer unavailability of books will have a crushing effect on the word knowledge and world knowledge that should be learned in these early years." Further, she states, "The importance of simply being talked to, read to, and listened to is what much of early language development is about..." In the late stages of learning to become a fluent reader, she speaks of how reading a text at different ages brings to the reader different meanings and the importance of being able to read behind the words to their inferences, becoming what she calls an "expert reader". She says, "I fear that many of our children are in danger of becoming just what Socrates warned us against--a society of decoders of information, whose false sense of knowing distracts them from a deeper development of their intellectual potential." She delves into the mysteries of dyslexia, a reading disorder which affects her own son. She concludes her book with some thoughts on the digital revolution in information. She doesn't see books vs. the explosion of information on the internet as an either/or proposition. She hopes our brains will learn to best use both means to information. I loved her concluding sentence: "A book about how our species learned to leap beyond the text shouldn't have a last sentence. Gentle readers, it is all yours..." This was a wonderfully thought- provoking book with a wealth of information about reading.(less)

like · see review

Jul 27, 2009 Kathleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: math-science, non-fiction, read-in-2009

My brain freaks me out. I find idea that the essence of my self, my thoughts--from those that poke sleeping dragons to the ones that net purses--are the transmission of chemicals and the firing of electrical impulses to be, in turns, horrific and mortifying. The brain is the squishiest, messiest, most stomach turning of all the squicky, unclean, vomit-inducing biological facts of human existence. So kudos to Maryanne Wolf for writing a book about the brain that I could actually read.

In this boo...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 05, 2009 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: professional

Wolf describes how the brain learned to read (and Socrates' objections to the process), the changes in the reading brain over time, and the differences in the brains of those who find reading difficult.

I took away two thought-provoking ideas:

The parallels between Socrates' time and his fears about moving from an oral culture to a written culture, where words are static and can't easily be questioned, and our own time and movement toward a much more visual and immediate platform. He worried that...more

like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an absolutely fascinating read and I learned so much about both the history of reading and what goes on in our brains as we gain this function.
As Wolf says, our brains were not designed for reading, but have adapted to achieve this skill. Reading uses several parts of the brain and depends on the functionality of each of those parts as well as the connections between them to succeed. Learning to read has some differences depending on the language of the reader, and that can affect the s...more

like · see review

Feb 11, 2009 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read an article about a year ago that had an excerpt of this book in it. The article was fascinating, and it led me to think that I should read the entire book. The entire book is good, but a little dry.

I enjoy researching how reading has changed in the digital age. I was hoping the book might talk more about that, because it's something I cover in my research and information literacy class. However, the book only covers this topic in a little detail near the end.

The book itself is great at ex...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 05, 2010 Lauredhel added it · review of another edition

What I Learned From This Book: Alphabetic systems of writing are much more evolved and efficient than ideographic systems, and therefore "our" brains are Wired Differently from The Chinese. And that "we" all grew up reading Twain and Austen and Proust. Also, the internetz are destroying literacy and creating a new generation of people who are unable to read or memorise anything, I mean real reading and real memorisation, like we did in the old days. We know this because if we ask children how ma...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 17, 2009 Oscar rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-reading, language

Wolf's book operates under the belief that reading is not an innate function of the human brain. She argues that speech (assuming that there is not any evidence of pathology) is picked up automatically by anyone exposed to it. The ability to read, however, is a completely different matter. One can be surrounded by text and never learn to read. So how and when did the brain 'learn' how to read? Woolf attempts to answer such a question by looking at more visually oriented writing systems (think: h...more

2 likes · like · see review

title link	preview: Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain
avg rating	preview: Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain Goodreads rating: 3.77 (1637 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2768798-proust-and-the-squid?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348064659l/2768798.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2768798-proust-and-the-squid?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf[/url]

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (10)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Maryanne Wolf

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Proust and the Sq...

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (10)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Maryanne Wolf

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Proust and the Sq...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (10)