The author of "Art & Physics" now offers "a fascinating account of the evolution of our male and female ways of knowing" (Clarissa Pinkola Estes, a...
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Dec 16, 2009
vladimir
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Ok, for bibliophiles, this book is like being told that the parents you've admired and cherished and emulated for so long were drunken, abusive, misanthropes.
But if you tough it out, accept the possibility that this habit, this passion that keeps making life worth living, has had possible side-effects, then the pay-off is astounding.
Shlain provides copious examples for his thesis--that the invention of the abstract alphabets (western and, to some extent, eastern pictograp More...
But if you tough it out, accept the possibility that this habit, this passion that keeps making life worth living, has had possible side-effects, then the pay-off is astounding.
Shlain provides copious examples for his thesis--that the invention of the abstract alphabets (western and, to some extent, eastern pictograp More...
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Jun 27, 2008
Janna
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Jul 18, 2007
Holly
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Dr. Shlain definitely takes some liberties in his review of history, but he also asks himself questions that you find yourself equally as curious about as he is when he presents them. The historical flux between word and image, masculine and feminine is often filled with reversals of fortune, tales of religious zealotry, attempts to wipe out the past, sweeping changes by rulers, and equally as sweeping changes back by their successors. History is by no means boring when you are looking through
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Oct 06, 2009
Anneke
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What I appreciate about this book is that it doesn't put itself forward as a sure thing. (Clear to those who read forewords or introductions.) He disclaims very clearly that this is a hypothesis that he feels is very likely true. Naturally, he spends the book trying to support that hypothesis strongly.
Some of the connections he makes feel like he's stretching: linking the binding of Chinese women's feet with the surge of printing at the same time, because they use the same type of ma More...
Some of the connections he makes feel like he's stretching: linking the binding of Chinese women's feet with the surge of printing at the same time, because they use the same type of ma More...
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Nov 28, 2008
Jude
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stimulating, fun, insightful - and you don't have to buy his theory to enjoy this book. it is that fantasy - a history of the world - of thought and art and language - as if women mattered. starting at the beginning is a good idea, but you can also just open to any of the pairings.
so much history, perspective and wonder-ing in this book. He is all about his theory, but its enthusiasm, compassion and intelligence that define his voice for me - and i am grateful for it.
so much history, perspective and wonder-ing in this book. He is all about his theory, but its enthusiasm, compassion and intelligence that define his voice for me - and i am grateful for it.
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Dec 11, 2008
Barbara
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What an interesting hypothesis--that acquisition of literacy goes hand-in-hand, through history, with misogyny. The scope of Shlain's work is truly breathtaking--I would sit here thinking "if 200 would be a theoretical maximum for IQs, Leonard Shlain must have an IQ of 300." Even so, I couldn't help worrying that Shlain was cherry-picking data. Since I'm not a historian, it's hard to know. But, for example, I did notice that Schlain said that the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural
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Jan 31, 2012
Kelli
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My favorite book of all time. I've owned my copy for over 12 years and it's definitely showing it's age. I have read it time and time again, always gleaning a bit more from it every time.
Slain's writing style is almost addicting. This book, like Art and Physics before it, uses parralel ideas/concepts as chapter headings. For examples, chapters such as Reason/Madness, Adam/Eve, Humanist/Egoist, present diametrically opposed ideas as illustrations for his theory that the linear, left bra More...
Slain's writing style is almost addicting. This book, like Art and Physics before it, uses parralel ideas/concepts as chapter headings. For examples, chapters such as Reason/Madness, Adam/Eve, Humanist/Egoist, present diametrically opposed ideas as illustrations for his theory that the linear, left bra More...
Feb 17, 2011
Carlos
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I am a feminist and lover of women. I admire women as a mysterious entity that never stops fascinating me. This book walks you through the history of women power through out the years. As you understand the constant battle that women have had to fight against a male dominated world, one begins to understand why the written world has become a way to chain them and take their power away.
However, the future will tell us differently. Already there are more women graduating in the US than men. More...
However, the future will tell us differently. Already there are more women graduating in the US than men. More...
Sep 10, 2009
Maggie
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A blurb by Bart Schneider in "The Washington Post Book World" says this book is a "bold and fascinating investigation of the 'dark side of literacy.' Shlain...makes the startling claim that the advent of literacy ushered in the demise of goddess societies, and shifted the balance of power from women with their intuitive and holistic, right-brain orientation to the more concrete, linear-focused, left-brained men...Both hemispheres of my cerebrum...remained stimulated throughout."
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Jul 12, 2009
Colin
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Offers an amazing review of the co-evolution of language and religion with a fascinating and compelling central thesis: the arrival of alphabetic (vs. pictographic) literacy via religious texts (Old Testament, New Testament and the Quran - all with a singular abstract God) brought a paradigmatic leap into left-brained, abstract thought, encouraging the male hunter (killer) mentality to take hold of the collective consciousness. Up until then, world religions generally involved worship of concret
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Apr 26, 2009
Damien
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Imagine that you have a rich friend whose Saint Bernard ate a solid gold ring. The friend tells you that you can have the ring if you are willing to go through the dog's poop to get it. That's what this book is like, something valuable within a big pile of crap.
It begins along these lines: early human females needed a lot of iron to give birth to their big brained children, and since they were too weak to hunt the great woolly mammoth needed to get this iron, they offered sex in exch More...
It begins along these lines: early human females needed a lot of iron to give birth to their big brained children, and since they were too weak to hunt the great woolly mammoth needed to get this iron, they offered sex in exch More...
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Jul 22, 2009
Jinny
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This is an amazing book.. Shlain has a theory about the process of most of humanity losing contact with the immense importance of the feminine aspect and perspective on our world view. He goes all the way back and before to the early development of language and subsequently the alphabet and the written word. His research is vast and quite stunning. It is not a new book, and I have had it for years--- it is very dense so I am slowly chipping away at it. I heard the author interviewed on NPR.
Oct 21, 2010
Edwin
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The Alphabet Versus the Goddess is a paradigm shattering work that will transform your view of history and mind.
Proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture.
Makes remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain function, anthropology, history, and religion.
Argues that literacy reinforced the brain's linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the e More...
Proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture.
Makes remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain function, anthropology, history, and religion.
Argues that literacy reinforced the brain's linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the e More...
Dec 03, 2011
Nick
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I had seen this book on the shelves of an ex-girlfriend, who was into pagan/goddess/counterculture ideas. Essentially, Shlain is positing the shift from a more visual-Goddess culture to a more text-based Alphabet culture, which started a few thousand years ago. He relates the two modes of representation to different brain states and also ties the change-over to correspond to a switch to a patriarchal culture. Shlain is a good writer and I enjoyed the book rather more than most non-fiction books
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Sep 13, 2011
Danaca
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Leonard Shlain certainly had some interesting ideas. I haven't always found his theories to stand up to facts, but they are always intriguing and (usually) pretty well researched anyway. I doubt that the premise of this book - that the development of the alphabet rewired our brains to favor abstract, linear, literal and masculine ideas, which in turn gave rise to patriarchy and misogyny - I doubt that this is the sort of thing that could ever be proved. But he raises an abundant number of int
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Dec 03, 2009
Ben
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To suggest that the process of becoming alphabet literate destabilizes the human mind in favor of masculine left-brain values and to the detriment of the feminine right-brain, is at the very least an interesting theory. I personally find some of the author's hypotheses to be stretching it a bit, but also feel that he makes some interesting points. At best, the book is a good alternative interpretation and summary of world history, culture, and religion, which purposes to explain many of our dark
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Nov 03, 2010
Won-ton
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the book ordered history for me, from 10,000 B.C. to 1900 A.D. while presenting an elaborately interesting hypothesis of why women have received the short end of the stick and posits a creative reason for monotheistic male gods in each of the three predominant religions. refers to almost all main characters in the history of the world and touches upon a near complete range of modern cultures retained philosophies. reading the Table of Contents is an adventure in itself. and check out the Inde
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Dec 14, 2008
Debbie
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This book is a great romp through the history of the alphabet, literacy, right-left brain thinking and perception, and the impact all of this has had on the role of women in cultures past and present. The author's theory is intiguing; although, I'm not quite convinced that so much blame for the subjugation of the women should be placed on Judeo-Christianity and Bible reading. Afterall, traditional (not the newer literal approaches so often accepted as the "only way" in contemporary s
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Mar 20, 2010
April
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i was given this book years ago, and started it, upon fred's recommend, i am picking it up again. the beginning, i loved, and the historical tidbits, i found really intriguing. his premise, is interesting, although a little too 'guns germs and steel' for my taste. i am a bit of an anthropology nerd and i could come up with a dozen examples of how hardcore misogyny exists in many non-literate cultures, so i often felt he was forcing the data (and omitting data that did not fit) to prove his p
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Feb 15, 2012
Barbara
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If you've ever wondered what happened to the Goddess in ancient belief and myth, why She vanished, as well as why women have been treated so abysmally at certain times in history in nearly every culture, this makes fascinating and disturbing reading.
According to the author, in nearly every culture that has a phonetic alphabet, there was a kind of culture shock that occurred, first when the alphabet was developed and a lot of people became literate, and later when printing became com More...
According to the author, in nearly every culture that has a phonetic alphabet, there was a kind of culture shock that occurred, first when the alphabet was developed and a lot of people became literate, and later when printing became com More...
Jul 22, 2011
Quinn
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This might take some time... it's a fascinating read, but not the kind of thing you can read while tired -- which is when I get some of my best reading in. It very much needs active reading and thought.
I think he has an interesting hypothesis, and does a great job of recapping other theories and anthropologists' suggestions, but sometimes it feels that he's making a bit of a stretch to take correlation and turn it into causation to support his view of an inevitable decline in women's More...
I think he has an interesting hypothesis, and does a great job of recapping other theories and anthropologists' suggestions, but sometimes it feels that he's making a bit of a stretch to take correlation and turn it into causation to support his view of an inevitable decline in women's More...
Oct 19, 2008
Damian
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This book has an interesting thesis: literacy causes misogyny. The advent of literacy, according to Shlain, altered neural pathways in the literate, leading to strengthened "masculine"/left-brained characteristics (as linear thinking, rationality, reductionism, etc.), which in turn, lead to increasing the mistreatment of women.
As I said, interesting hypothesis. Except that his supporting evidence is lacking, misinterpreted, misunderstood, or simply made up at every step a More...
As I said, interesting hypothesis. Except that his supporting evidence is lacking, misinterpreted, misunderstood, or simply made up at every step a More...
Dec 31, 2008
Marita
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Mind boggeling theories of human history and development. I'd give this 5 stars if it was not quite so long and tidious at times and if I could say it was all true :). Other times it was so engaging it was hard to put down. Anyway, totally my kind of a book that makes me so thankful to be living this time in history. I love the way the author described it: "neuroanatomical hypothesis to explain a historical enigma."
This book helped me to understand and put away my angst about Ari
This book helped me to understand and put away my angst about Ari
Feb 18, 2011
Ryver
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The author presents a different perspective on the events of history, filtered through the lens of literacy and the effects linear thought has on the mind and culture. It’s interesting to note some of the links he makes between socio-cultural revolution present at the time and the sharp rise in literary accomplishment. Also, the resulting differences on cultures using alphabet-based systems vs. pictorial ones.
Dec 11, 2010
Grace
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The author tries to make a connection between the development of the alphabet and written language to the development of misogyny. He does a nice job on a lot of his history but just about the time you start to feel persuaded, he presents an off the wall logic that just doesn't work for some readers. That said, it is still an interesting book but I don't think it is the 'cause' of misogyny.
Feb 25, 2010
Pauraque
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This was really a terrible book. The author is totally ignorant of how writing systems work, and has clearly not bothered to read the relevant research on how the human mind processes logographic as opposed to alphabetic writing. Answer: Exactly the same way. The processing difference that he posits simply does not exist. The thesis is wrong and the book is a waste of time.
Apr 13, 2009
Jim
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This will change the way you see women, religion and many aspects of human behavior. Have you ever thought about how the alphabet has changed human behavior? Do you think their may be a survival advantage to being gay or bald or left-handed? This book will make you think. Women really rule the universe but men use their testosterone and violence to keep them in check.
Jan 23, 2010
This book is just fantastic! It should be required reading for every woman. It's a hard read though with much scientific, antropological and greek myth information that I don't ordinarily know about so I have to re-read many paragraphs two and three times to understand it. But when I do, a light bulb just goes off in my head and I feel so enlightened!
Nov 06, 2011
Hnasman
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Though I didn't agree with his hypothesis -- mainly the idea that left-brainedness in a culture inherently makes it more patriarchal -- this book was damned interesting. If you're into hieroglyphics, archaeology, anthropology or ancient cultures I highly recommend this. He sort of delves into cognitive science a little as well.
Aug 17, 2009
Started reading it. Stopped when I came to the part in the introduction about how the advent of the written word advanced misogyny. Just seemed like a horrible combination of exoticism (of both past cultures and today's "primitive" culture), latent sexism (hypothesizing that women are more successful in more primitive cultures), and crazy psychobabble.
