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Summary: the equivalent of a year-long college humanities class
Review: In college my favorite classes were the first, second, and third year humanities classes. I love the big picture. This 464-page book, I think, offers the popular equivalent of a year-long college humanities class. (But be prepared for upper-division college vocabulary!)Schlain's controversial but compelling thesis is that in human culture over time, we can see a pattern: when linear (alphabetic) reading & writing prevail, cultural respect for women diminishes. "Alphabetic" means linear character script not including pictographs such as hieroglyphics but yes including ideographs such as Chinese characters. An inverse relationship exists, he claims, between high levels of *alphabetic* literacy and low levels of respect & protection for women, between patriarchal dominance and feminine subjugation. To prove his point, Schlain takes us on a humorous, readable, *erudite but easily understandable* tour of recorded world civilization. His thesis may or may not be justifiable. You be the judge. But buy this book for the recorded history tour!! Schlain's thesis is radical now but maybe in a few years it will be widely accepted. I personally was convinced! Plus, I gained a new teaching perspective. Recommended for language & humanities teachers especially! If you assign this book to your college students, tell them to read it with serious English dictionary handy.
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Summary: More than worth the time it takes to read......
Review: I still have seven pages left to read, but I couldn't wait to submit my review. I found this book while trying to learn everything I can about 'Goddess' - while it wasn't what I expected - it is a book that I will recommend forever. I started this book just after Sep 11, 2001 - it took me until now to complete it as I found myself spending alot of time soaking in what I was reading, underlining selections, writing notes in the margins and just closing my eyes and considering... For me, I kept anticipating a clue as to why our world is it's current situation - USA at war with the Taliban - and sure enough - page 424 addressed it. My personal revelation...I see the information in this book as a guideline to understanding the phases of a country, a people. Like a child who goes through phases - the terrible twos or the rebelling teenage - a parent or society can learn that the child isn't 'evil' it is just doing what all children do when they grow up. Instead of punishing the child - try to work with the phases and be in love and compassion. I highly recommend this book, there is much food for thought - I find that I have been referring to the book in conversations non-stop since I began reading it in September. Hope you have the opportunity to find your way to this information - I thank you Leonard Shlain for producing this very good book. Enjoy!
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Summary: Free thinking
Review: After reading Leonard Shlain's book, my overall impression was that this is what a liberal arts education is suppose to be all about. We have become so specialized and compartmentalized in our thinking that rarely does anyone stop to look at the broad strokes. Read this book not as a scholarly treatise, but as a thought provoking and refreshingly new way to view our humanity and a wonderful review of western history, religion, and philosophy. While scholars may nit pick his approach, it was not written for them, but rather it was written for the rest of us who still give thought to what it means to be human. I highly recommend this book, it will stimulate you to think.
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Summary: WOW!
Review: This is very likely the most interesting book of its kind that I have ever read.
An amateur scholar, I have read many hundreds of books on art, anthropology, religion, history, philosophy, psychology, male/female relations, the forms and history of writing, and linguistics, among other subjects. The Alphabet vs. The Goddess touches on all of those fields of interest and study as Leonard Shlain dishes up some of the most substantial and delicious Food For Thought I have yet tasted. The book is well written and as engaging as a good novel. It was hard to put down, but I had to in order to digest the myriad of mouthfuls I consumed.
I see here at Amazon that this book has elicited quite a response from readers. Most reviewers love it or hate it, which is a very good sign for a book which leads one to look at Important Things differently. The "bad reviews" were interesting, and some inadvertantly support the authors ideas. You'd have to read the book to see that.
I had to ignore my pile of waiting fiction and go get Shlain's first book on art and physics. Wow! As a professional artist for 30 years I am most impressed. I am learning more about the Essence of art history than I did in my university courses. I wonder how it will affect my future work...
I see in both books that Leonard Shlain has an astounding genius for Pattern Recognition, which is enhanced in how he compares and contrasts the ideas and events he writes about. Whether you agree or not with what he says, you can't help but wonder at his convincing insights. His work is a mix of art and science. The result of which is rarely seen. I am glad he is alive and still writing. I look forward to his next book.
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Summary: Pathetic attempt at science
Review: This book has an interesting thesis, unfortunately, it is riddled with inconsitancy and pseudo science. The first couple of chapters deal with the evolution of the human brain. However, Shlain doesn't have the foggiest idea about what evolution is or how it works. The concept is good and I think that their might be a case for a less sweeping version of it. But this book isn't worth the time.
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Summary: One of those books you won't be the same after
Review: If you've lived awhile, and noticed what's going on around you --things are changing! We're shifting from left-brain thinking to right-brain thinking and Schlain does an excellent job of describing what's happening and why. This is a romp through recorded history. He makes some indefensible "leaps" at times, but that's a writer's prerogative. His writing is delightful. I especially like the way he eases you into controversial ideas. Every time I came to one of his, "Just consider the possiblity, for a moment," I smiled. He takes on some BIG ideas and goes right after it. I like a person who takes on some of the beasts in our collective history without temerity. What is life but to be looked at -- our personal life, or the recorded history of life. This is one of those serendipitous books that will teach you many things - history, art, religion, politics, economics, philosophy, psychology all as a spoonful of sugar. I hope he'll write more.
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Summary: missed it by that much...
Review: Shlain's concept seems truly novel and raises welcomed consideration of what we consider "civilised". However, not enough consideration is given to some basic and rather glaring issues, such as: Why, then, do boys have such a difficult time with reading? Supposedly, it would "fit their brains". Why are women in societies dominated by pictographic literature (e.g. China, Japan) treated even worse than in the literate, "enlightened" West? Why did older, "primitive", and strongly matriarchal societies demonstrate just as much and some times more violence and volatility than contemporaneous and comparable patriarchal cultures? It would seem no culture, patriarchal or matriarchal,primitive or more developed or "literate" has a lock on barbarism. The issue seems to focus not on literature, technology, or even economics: the issue is respect for one another regardless of gender. My experience with such theories as Shlain's: with the right selection you can "proof text" any position you choose. His has at least the virtue of being intelligently provocative. Another, with more pragmatic application:"The Myth of Male Power".
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Summary: A thought provoking read
Review: This book made me think hard. I learned things about ancient history that I hadn't known, such as how women in ancient Greece were treated as horribly as they were and I honestly had never thought about how the alphabet may have contributed to the fall of the Goddess Cultures and helped place women in subservient roles. This is a wonderful book. A heavy read but well worth every page.
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Summary: I'm positively embarassed to have bought this book.
Review: It's not so bad that I read it, but *buying* it... contributing money to such garbage, embarasses me. Shlain's thesis rests on the assumption of the existance of prehistoric matriarchal, egalitarian cultures, an assumption that has been soundly prove to be downright false-- see The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory for an extremely well researched and written explanation of why. Furthermore, by linking the rise of the written word to male dominance over women, Shlain contributes to a disturbinbly widespread complacency about the poor state of literacy in our culture. He endorses, be it purposely or accidentally, the worst fallacies affecting our educational systems today, and doesn't even string together a compelling, logical argument for doing so. If it were possible to give this book less than one star, I would do so.
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Summary: MOST THOUGHT PROVOKING BOOK I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME
Review: My husband stumbled across this book in a bookstore, and picked it up. He read it first, and couldn't wait to have me read it. Now, I'm normally a very fast reader -- but this book took me weeks to read. Why? Because it contains so many of what I call "Ah-HA!" moments -- times when something you've unconsciously known all your life suddenly becomes crystal clear to you. I would sometimes spend an hour on one page, where I'd read something and then be drawn to think about it, and its effect on my world. In fact, I probably got pretty obnoxious about this book, as I sent it to at least 4 different people as Christmas presents, shouting "READ THIS!!!! YOU'VE GOT TO READ THIS!!!" Oh, well -- they're all friends, hopefully they'll forgive me.... Seriously, if you've ever wondered about the decline of goddess-based spirituality and the rise of the Judeo-Christian- Islamic world view, read this book. You may not agree with everything in it, but I guarantee it will make you think. It is an easy read -- he's a great writer -- although it may take you some time to get through it, because of all the information he presents.
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