Gluttony: The Seven Deadly Sins (Seven Deadly Sins)

Rating:
Summary: Is it Really a Sin?
Review: Francine Prose examines gluttony as one of the seven deadly sins, and discovers that we may need to update that list. Gluttony is no longer a sin in our society, but obesity is. We don't scorn a thin person who eats a lot, in fact, we envy her. (Oops, another deadly sin rears its ugly head.)Prose looks at the history of gluttony, in the church, in paintings and murals (check out Diego Rivera's Capitalist Dinner), and in popular culture. She uses literature, philosophy, and overheard conversations and jokes to make her points. For such a thin book (108 pages with color photos and index), there is an awful lot to chew on here.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but left me hungry for more
Review: Page 79 'Obviously, our culture exhibits a schizophrenic attitude toward gluttony. One minute, we're bombarded with images of food, advertisements for restaurants or the latest sweet or fatty snack, with recipes and cooking tips. A minute later, we're reminded that eating is tantamount to suicide, that indulgence and enjoyment equals social isolation and self destruction. And someone is making money from both sides of our ambivalence about, and fascination with, food, diet, gluttony and starvation.'

At least the author understand the complexities of modern day thoughts on gluttony. But I wanted to hear more about gluttony at the time the seven deadly sins idea first took root. It has only been since post World War Two that most humans throughout the world have had more than enough food to eat. And more than enough empty nutrition, high fat foods.

I would have liked to have read more on how gluttony in past centuries could be considered a sin for all people when malnutrition and death from lack of food were all to the norm.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but limited examination of gluttony
Review: This volume of the Seven Deadly Sins series published by Oxford University Press based on lectures held at NYPL was interesting. Prose traces the history of gluttony and the changing view of gluttony throughout history. She devotes a chapter to the view of gluttony in modern culture and argues that there no longer exists the belief that gluttons will burn in hell but that they suffer a hell on earth as a result of a culture fixated on eternal youth. She does mention the harmful health results of gluttony but seems far too careful not to offend anyone.

Rating:
Summary: The most deadly sin!? Really?! Prove it!
Review: Today the idea of gluttony seems almost like a strange anachronism. People in the United States eat a lot, and restaurants continually meet the demand for larger and larger portions, and shamelessly wave their "NOW BIGGER THAN BEFORE!" banners to all who enter the doors of fast food-hood or of international restaurant chains. Gluttony almost seems accepted, if not a social norm. Eat more! Live! Unfortunately, fat is the outcome of following the rules, and our society also chastises the fat for giving into the social conditioning of "MORE IS BETTER, ESPECIALLY WITH SPECIAL SAUCE!" As a result, obesity and guilt are currently rampant. People with weight problems are pulled in many directions with no seeming resolution to the tension.

"Gluttony" touches on this theme and these tensions. Consumers of food are in a strange position these days. Eat to fit in, but don't eat so much that the cellulite shows, otherwise you won't fit in. One of the most interesting themes that the book does a touch and go on is the notion that those that can get away with gluttony (i.e., those with mega-metabolisms) are not looked down on but envied, but those who gain with every masticulation are shunned. The book could have developed this very fascinating idea more, but as it is, it is mentioned only briefly.

Most of the book is contained in the first chapter. Here, an interesting history of gluttony is demarcated. Just why is gluttony a sin, and why is it often placed at the top of the sin ladder? These questions are answered, along with some very interesting tidbits such as how Saint Francis of Assisi used to put ashes on his food to ward off the pleasure of taste, and Thomas Aquinas' "weight problem". This makes up the bulk of the book. The second chapter describes some of the consequences of gluttony as seen by the Middle Ages and our own age. The weaving of the medieval idea of gluttony and the modern idea of gluttony is not an easy thing to do. There are too many differences between these ideas to really make a solid and incorrigible connection between them. The idea of gluttony today is just incredibly different from the medieval/classical view of it. This tension rides through the entire book, and sometimes the two notions just seem pasted side by side and result in a "yes, okay... that was then, this is now..." type of response that begs to know what the two ideas put side by side are supposed to teach us. Both are interesting in their own right, no doubt, but the book fails in connecting the two in an interesting way. Also, the final two chapters have the feeling of filler. They don't really advance the argument or the theme of gluttony very much. The last chapter, entitled, "Great Moments in Gluttony" is simply a collection from various works of extravagant scenes of gluttony (these scenes are memorable and fun in their own right, such as passages from Rabelais and Petronius). Lastly, there is a great collection of artworks included, some in color. Many of these works are not mentioned in the book itself, and some of the artworks mentioned in the text are not represented in the pictures. They are strangely disconnected from the text (there are no direct references in the text to the artwork, such as "see folio 10").

Nonetheless, this is an entertaining and fun little book to read. There is much to learn about gluttony here, and much to learn about the seven deadly sins in general (since Gluttony was seen as the worst of them and thus able to lead the innocent into violation of the other deadly sins, particularly lust). It may leave one with more questions than answers, but that's to be expected from a topic as enormous as this one. It may be best to think of it as a starting point for further reading on the subject. What it will do, which is why it's worthwhile in the end, is make you think about what you eat and why you eat it.