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A review by tani
The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Revised Edition by Richard E. Cytowic
3.0
Another one bites the dust! I've had this book on my to-read list basically since I joined Goodreads, so it feels so nice to get it off of there!
So, the first 2/3rds of this book focuses on synesthesia, an interesting phenomenon where a person's senses are intertwined. Each person is individual, so one person might taste shapes, as in the title of the book, whereas another may see colors in connection to sounds, or taste different colors. Which is interesting, but maybe not enough to carry a book, at least for me. I enjoyed the book, but I definitely had a couple issues with it.
Part of this was stylistic. There are a lot of conversations in here, and it's kind of weird in a nonfiction book. I appreciate that Cytowic is illustrating how things happened, but the conversations just felt strange and stilted. The age of the book also works against it. There's a lot of time spent explaining theories that are old enough that I never learned them in the first place, which felt like time wasted for me.
On the other hand, there's a lot to like. Cytowic's got a brilliant mind, and it's fascinating to see how it works. It's also really interesting to learn more about that time and the climate in the medical field. Behaviorism was really strong at the time, so it's fun to see how Cytowic deals with that. I also really liked the essays at the end of the book, which range through a variety of topics, many of which still feel pretty current.
In sum, an enjoyable work that didn't blow me away, but that I don't regret spending my time on.
So, the first 2/3rds of this book focuses on synesthesia, an interesting phenomenon where a person's senses are intertwined. Each person is individual, so one person might taste shapes, as in the title of the book, whereas another may see colors in connection to sounds, or taste different colors. Which is interesting, but maybe not enough to carry a book, at least for me. I enjoyed the book, but I definitely had a couple issues with it.
Part of this was stylistic. There are a lot of conversations in here, and it's kind of weird in a nonfiction book. I appreciate that Cytowic is illustrating how things happened, but the conversations just felt strange and stilted. The age of the book also works against it. There's a lot of time spent explaining theories that are old enough that I never learned them in the first place, which felt like time wasted for me.
On the other hand, there's a lot to like. Cytowic's got a brilliant mind, and it's fascinating to see how it works. It's also really interesting to learn more about that time and the climate in the medical field. Behaviorism was really strong at the time, so it's fun to see how Cytowic deals with that. I also really liked the essays at the end of the book, which range through a variety of topics, many of which still feel pretty current.
In sum, an enjoyable work that didn't blow me away, but that I don't regret spending my time on.