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cleothebengal's review against another edition
3.0
I think this is one of the cases where the concept of a book seems more interesting than the book itself. There were cases where Roach stretched a single, only mildly interesting anecdote out for an entire chapter, when the point it made was weak at best. I really enjoyed “Stiff”, but this doesn’t come close.
jwilding's review against another edition
4.0
Read this book for a good time. I read her first book during detention in high school. Found her a little obnoxious and self-deprecating at the beginning of this one--but who wouldn't be a little bit, if they were a non-scientist trying to write this book?
I laughed out loud probably eight times. Thought she would talk more about ghost sightings. The parts about mediums were the most interesting to me, especially the, ahem, various places they came up with to hide the "ectoplasm". It's disappointing that almost none of the scientific experiments she describes ended in favor of the paranormal, but it's a little comforting, too.
I laughed out loud probably eight times. Thought she would talk more about ghost sightings. The parts about mediums were the most interesting to me, especially the, ahem, various places they came up with to hide the "ectoplasm". It's disappointing that almost none of the scientific experiments she describes ended in favor of the paranormal, but it's a little comforting, too.
ineffable_bowtie's review against another edition
4.0
It was pretty good. Better than Stiff in my opinion.
sklus's review against another edition
4.0
Just a warning, if you're uncomfortable with death, this isn't the book or the review for you.
Spook isn't full of concrete answers. If you want a yes or no on the whole question of ghosts' existence, then this isn't the book for you. But it is the book for you if you want full of quirky anecdotes and fun (and not so fun) science, then I would recommend it. Spook gets a lower rating from me than Stiff because the latter has definitive answers; we know what happens to the human body after death, but not the soul. The writing in Spook was just as entertaining and amusing as in Stiff. I got the same amount of second-hand embarrassment from the pointed, but valid questions Mary Roach posed to random members of the scientific community in both books. So the long and short of it is that I recommend this book, but not if you're not comfortable with death and not if you expect definitive answers.
Spook isn't full of concrete answers. If you want a yes or no on the whole question of ghosts' existence, then this isn't the book for you. But it is the book for you if you want full of quirky anecdotes and fun (and not so fun) science, then I would recommend it. Spook gets a lower rating from me than Stiff because the latter has definitive answers; we know what happens to the human body after death, but not the soul. The writing in Spook was just as entertaining and amusing as in Stiff. I got the same amount of second-hand embarrassment from the pointed, but valid questions Mary Roach posed to random members of the scientific community in both books. So the long and short of it is that I recommend this book, but not if you're not comfortable with death and not if you expect definitive answers.
witchofthemountains's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
zachnachazel's review against another edition
1.0
This might be my least favorite book I’ve read in a long time. I just didn’t jive with Roach’s humor, the book didn’t really take me along the path I thought it was going to go (but not in a good way), and honestly, it feels like you can she’s only a platform peering down judging folks not on her level. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
theodarling's review against another edition
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0