ajaggers324's review against another edition
4.0
This is an interesting medical humanities text. I enjoyed reading it. I am critical of the title being misleading. It is not a cultural history. It is a Western European cultural history of the human body. This is interesting enough, but it should advertise itself as that. It barely mentions, if that, beliefs, art, and other cultural phenomena of Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese, ancient Egyptians, Africans, Indians, Aborigines, etc. I recognize that this book would be entirely unwieldy, but an acknowledgement of other ideas would not have gone amiss.
bileducks's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I could have finished this sooner if I didn't stop every few pages to look up more details about something referenced in each chapter. This is not a complaint though-- there's just a lot in it. And I've added approximately 8 other books to my list solely based on this one.
nithyaez's review against another edition
2.0
I was expecting more... more of what, I'm not quite sure. Some parts were interesting but overall I was bored and I wasn't expecting to be bored. I much preferred the author's book on the elements (Periodic Tales).
querciola's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
tcweeks24's review against another edition
3.0
This book was very interesting. I think it brings up a lot of interesting thoughts about the ethical limitations of the human body, as well as the historical perceptions of the body. However, the book suffers from focusing heavily on Western culture, white Western European culture to be specific.
terryfre's review against another edition
5.0
La raccolta di racconti perfetta lega i clown alle teste che ci sono dietro, tutto comincia da Rembrandt.
doomkittiekhan's review against another edition
4.0
I am grateful for the subtitle of this book - that this is a cultural history of the body and not a science text. I could not help but compare this book to Adventures in Human Being by Gavin Francis. I think the two work well in tandem - or maybe I just think that because I read them almost back to back. Aldersey-Williams work focuses on our artistic and literary perceptions of the human body. Touching on Shylock's infamous demand for a 'pound of flesh', phantom emotions from organ transplants and the history of gift giving, Van Gogh's ear, the public anatomy lessons of 17th century Dutch Republic, synesthesia, the stigma associated with donating "the right" blood, under-representation of the clitoris, and ancient Egyptians disregard for the brain.
I truly loved Part I of the book which focuses on the Skin and Bones. Honestly, the pages devoted to really dissecting (pun intended) Shylock's speech about a 'pound of flesh' has totally rocked my interpretation of that scene from The Merchant of Venice.
A fun read about our need to make sense of ourselves.
I truly loved Part I of the book which focuses on the Skin and Bones. Honestly, the pages devoted to really dissecting (pun intended) Shylock's speech about a 'pound of flesh' has totally rocked my interpretation of that scene from The Merchant of Venice.
A fun read about our need to make sense of ourselves.