The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

Rating:
Summary: All things considered
Review: A great one. Michael Pollan inquires with the intention of finding clarity and sharing it with us. Once alighting on the answers, he succeeds at putting it all together in a book and making it friendly to all. Never claiming to find divine truth or undeniable fact, only shedding light and provoking thought. Leaving plenty of room for the reader to agree or disagree. Although his meaning is anything but ambiguous. He writes with clarity that comes from turning all the stones and delving into the myths, the hysteria, the impact and the undeniable co-existence of humans (our desires), and the world in which we all live. We are very fortunate to have a mind like Pollan's, working with us, shedding light on the apple, the tulip, the potato and marajuana, for those who dont have the time.

Rating:
Summary: The secret conspiracies of plants
Review: You don't have to be a biologist or a gardener to find this an entertaining and fascinating read. It's one of my book club's all-time favorites. It's world history told from the perspective of five plants that changed the world. If you don't know what kind of flower was once worth more than a mansion, or what Johnny Appleseed was really up to (hint: think hard cider), run out and get this book.

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Summary: Reworked 'Selfish-gene' theory
Review: This book came to me highly recommended, and the title has some sizzle. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sort of meditation on botany that I enjoy. Despite my reaction, it is obviously satisfying many readers. I find this more interesting than the text.

My problems begin on paragraph 3:
"A bumblebee would probably consider himself as a subject in the garden and the bloom he's plundering for its drop of nectar as an object. But we know that this is just a failure of his imagination. The truth of the matter is that the flower has cleverly manipulated the bee into hauling its pollen from blossom to blossom."

This is a twist on Dawkins' famous 'selfish gene' argument. Dawkins argues that you and I represent vehicles our genes have created to insure their 'survival'. Our genes have provided us with plenty of mindless passions which insure the gene's survival, not ours. We, the vehicles, emerge, reproduce and die. The genetic matter is passed on from generation to generation. The gene is immortal.

When Pollan elevates the flower to 'conscious subject', capable of tricking the bumblebee into heavy labor, he does for the flower what Dawkins did for the gene. The site of conscious control transfers from the active to the passive, from the traditional to the surprising, from you and I to 'it'. This metaphorical trick uses a familiar metaphorical allusion which suggests 'consciousness' has physical location, and within that location resides a 'little man' (much like you or I), who watches something of a TV show presented by the senses, before deciding what actions to take.

For idol worshipers, like the ancient Greeks, the 'little man' Dionysus might reside in the statue. For Descartes, the 'little man' was in the pineal gland. For Mary Shelly, he was in the brain Dr. Frankenstein stitched into the monster's head. For Dawkins he is in the gene. For Pollan, he is in the flower. The common thread here is the shift of responsibility from 'me' to the 'little man'. It is comforting, as long as we don't look too closely at the notion. When we look closely, the little man argument becomes silly. A 'little man' must have his own 'little man', which in turn must have his own 'little man', ad infinitum. Nothing about the nature of responsibility is addressed.

Pollan follows this format. We are told about the powerful genetic (little man) creativity of the original apple grove in Kazakhstan. We are informed of Johnny Appleseed's link to the Dionysian god-head. We learn about profiteer efforts to contain the life force (little men) of tulips of fixed shape, size and color. The `little men' in marijuana plants allow their growers to out-fox the government agents. So, Pollan is really doing nothing but offering comforting nostrums and hoping no one looks very closely.

Rating:
Summary: Coevolution with Plants
Review: This book was thought provoking as it encourages you to reevaluate man's place in nature, from one of dominance to a picture of coevolution despite our insistence that we have "domesticated" plants for our uses. This is a great companion piece to Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Rating:
Summary: Style over Substance
Review: The writing style and amount of information in this book bring it down. That is unfortunate because the topics are and should be very interesting and easy to write about. As other reviewers have said, the author talks about 4 plant species: the apple, marijuana, the tulip, and the potato. The information on the does not run that deep - at times it seems like he did some Google searches and cobbled together the facts into a story written at a middle or high school level. To make matters worse, interspersed within the information on these topics Pollan has inserted many annoying personal thoughts. I eventually found myself identifying and skipping these paragraphs. It is as if he didn't think the plants themselves are interesting enough on their own.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan, is a look at the world from a Plant's Eye view. Pollan discusses how plants and mankind have experienced an evolutionary dance, with each one effecting the other. People often feel as though they are in control of plants, when in reality, plants are changing in order to use humans for their own genetic advancement. Pollan explores this relationship by examining four plants: The Apple, The Tulip, Marijuana, and The Potato.

Pollan's writing is top notch throughout. Written for the casual reader, there is very little technical jargon. The author takes his time by discussing the history of each plant, its important role in the lives of humans, and then generalizes from this to paint a picture of the world. Each chapter is infused with references to great American literature and writers, poetry, the classics, and Greek mythology. Pollan attempts to characterize society, the nature of man, capitalism, the past, and the future with this book about plants.

Perhaps my favorite story in the book is about Apples. Pollan tells of how Johnny Appleseed, a.k.a. John Chapman, planted apple trees all over the frontier, but not solely for his appreciation of nature. Appleseed would venture deep into the frontier and plant trees in order to sell them to the settlers years down the road. Due to government laws, a settler had to have a fruit tree planted in order to homestead a piece of land. Appleseed showed remarkable entrepreneurial insights in providing for this need. He also made a substantial fortune in the process. Furthermore, apples were not usually eaten, but drank. Apple Cider was a favorite drink for nutrition and inebriation. Contrary to what many environmentalists say, Johnny Appleseed demonstrated that capitalism is often the best friend of nature.

Pollan certainly has no particular political axe to grind, but much of his discussion offers an overly cautious view about man's attempts to control plants. Pollan finds that fewer strains of apples and potatoes are being grown by farmers. This signals to Pollan that society is losing out on much needed botanical diversity. Commenting on potatoes, he feels "Monoculture is where the logic of nature collides with the logic of economics; which logic will ultimately prevail can never be in doubt." Immediately after this Pollan recognizes that this shift to a particular potato is the result of its great taste, look, and feel. Admitting that people enjoy these potatoes the best. Pollan overlooks many parts of his own book while making these cautious comments. Earlier he notes that increases in technology and the need for farmers to serve the consumer have allowed advances in the quality and quantity of different types of Apples and Marijuana. Furthermore, it was the Tulip Craze in Holland that yielded some of the most beautiful of flowers. Similar conjecture can be found in different chapters. While not improving the quality of the book, it certainly doesn't take away from it much either.

I recommend this book very highly. It is clearly from outside my own field (no pun intended), but it was interesting and educational throughout. Pollan's analysis of Tulipomania in Holland, the Drug War in the United States, the business skills of Johnny Appleseed, and the success of farmers to serve Platonically Ideal french fries around the world provide the reader a fun trip through the world of botany and evolution.



Rating:
Summary: Interesting idea, weak execution
Review: The central idea that guides The Botany of Desire is that plants have evolved to please people as part of their survival strategy. In order to explore this thesis, Pollan looks at some anecdotes from the histories of Apples, Tulips, Marijuana, and Potatoes. It is a clever idea, and Pollan has enough knowledge and style to make it an interesting read.

Unfornately, it never goes beyond an interesting read. If you think about the experience of reading a fairly long and well-written magazine article then you are probably going to get the idea about what this book is like for the reader. Pollan lacks the expertise as a writer to draw together the different threads of the chapters to lead to any real point about his central thesis. While several of the sections are nice to read in their own right (I particularly liked the chapter about apples) they do not really hang together well and often have the feel of a superficial collection of anecdotes. The writing style may also irritate some; he has clearly been heavily influenced by the Wendell Berry/NPR school of writing and while not in itself a bad thing, he lacks the substance to pull it off well and occasionally ends up sounding mannered in a fake folksy kind of way.

The sad thing about the failures of the book is that Pollan clearly knows his material. In the section on the potato, he makes a clear and balanced assessment of the issues that lay behind genetically engineered crop production. He goes far beyond the normal superficial treatment of the subject and speaks with an authority which is lacking for most of the rest of the book. It would have been nice if that confidence had extended to the rest of the work.

In summary, Botany of Desire is a mildly interesting time waster which should tell you some things that you did not know about plants. Do not read it expecting something larger than that. Pollan himself may well be a talented writer, and I would not be averse to reading something else that he had written.

Rating:
Summary: Fun Book easy quick read
Review: This was a fun book to read. I enjoyed his playful writing style and his personal experiences. I reccomend this book to anyone with a few hours to spend on a warm sunny day. Kick back with a beer and this book and chill.