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Summary: Perfect nonsense.
Review: The only evidence supporting this author's thesis is his complete illiteracy. Perhaps he has a point: he seems to be happily moving away from the world of literacy.How anyone could take this book seriously is beyond me. This book is stupid and absurd.
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Summary: Goddess Good, History Bad
Review: This book epitomizes the kind of pseudo-history that has become a subfield of ancient history and archaeology. See B. Thornton, "The false goddess and her lost paradise," in Arion (Spring/Summer 1999), 72-97; Thornton, The Plagues of the Mind: The New Epidemic of False Knowledge (1999); Mary Lefkowitz, New Republic 4.046 (3 Aug. 1992), 29. Since the pre-literate,prehistoric cultures left no records, feminists and other left-wing utopians project their view of what the past should have been on them. Shlain's knowledge about the ancient world is highly superficial. I am a Ph.D. student in ancient history; he'd barely pass an undergraduate course. I wouldn't want to be his surgical patient. The large numbers of highly enthusiastic reviewers on Amazon.com "THIS BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE!" are even more disturbing, since they show how miserable the state of American education is if this sort of pseudo-science and pseudo-history can find a wide audience. The "post-literate" culture means the abdication of historical fact and rational thought, e.g. the viewers of Oliver Stone's JFK who believe it to be historical truth. Shlain's and the readers' hypocrisy is even more disturbing, since they have benefited in all sorts of ways (Shlain professionally) from Western literate high-technological culture; they then trash this in favor of a therapeutic fantasy.
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Summary: This book was incredible
Review: I found this book in the women's section, and the title grabbed my attention. I found the scientific approach to the disappearance of the Goddess, and how that related to language a fascinating intersection.
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Summary: A revelation of mans relation to the mystery of existence
Review: If you were to read a book on the most important events to effect the history of the human experience, this would be the book. Human history can be seen as a continual striving to join and understand the mystery of existence. Shlain brings us through our distant past and our struggle to find balance, by showing how alphabetic, linear, monotheistic thinking affects our perception of the world. Whether its a left or right brain thing I can't really say. It seems clear, however, that wherever the written word has dominance, women seem to suffer a secondary existence. "In the beginning was the WORD, and the word etc." Where the word dominates, images seem to be repressed. How this works on a physiological level I can't imagine. Until reading this book I thought it was a danger that so many people were reading less. Now I can understand why J.Krisnamurti was against reading anything. "Freedom from the Known" he called it. Its important to see what IS, he would council. My oh my. If you have time for one more book before you leave this planet, this is the one.
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Summary: This book provides a mindmap of wholebrain awakening.
Review: By necessity, any hypothesis that purports to extend beyond the present has to be rooted in history and historiography. Leonard Shlain covers his historical terrain with aplomb and grace. His capacity for reading between the lines of the consequences of literacy is a mighty achievement of analysis and imagination. The gift of this book to me resides, in no small part, in Dr. Shlain's cogent construction and shaping of his theory. He dialogues with the sages and seers who have come down through the ages, who have pointed to context as a critical aspect of grasping understanding into deeply troubling, toxic patterning. This book is a visionary book. Yes, Dr. Shlain offers comprehensive overview and critical analysis. He goes beyond that, however, in offering both promise and hope that we can work our way out of the malaise we have created in our mindless indulgence with our tools and inventions. When the dust of this excruciating epoch has settled, Dr. Shlain's book will be seen for its two exemplary qualities. It is magnanimous in that calls each of us to transcend conditioning in order to come to balance (masculine to feminine, right lobe to left lobe). It is also profoundly courageous in that a privileged white male would begin the deconstruction of the rickety edifice of privilege, causing it to implode from within. This man is a powerful thinker and a committed humanitarian. He brings honor to his two professions, surgeon and author.
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Summary: This book has changed my life.
Review: From the first chapter, reading this book is profoundly changing the way I see my life and how I perceive the world, from moment to moment, from day to day. The goddess, always in charge of daily living, indeed resides here. Leonard Shlain brings together a wide-ranging scholarship and view of history, a logical scientific approach, a keen and imaginative mind, and a masterful story-telling ability. He forges a new view of literacy and its historical impact on the reign of the great goddess, particularly as reading and writing exercise primarily the linear left brain at the expense of the holistic right hemisphere. Using a left brain form--a supremely logical, literate book--Dr. Schlain infuses the whole with a right brain artistry which brings the goddess again to the forefront of our lives. This book is a massive call for a new rebalancing of the sexes. It is a textbook for the new millenium.
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Summary: The kind of stuff that gives BS a bad name.
Review: This is the kind of stuff that gives BS a bad name. The author's claims are so hilariously ridiculous that the book can only be a hoax. -- Charles Bigelow, former professor of Digital Typography, Stanford University
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Summary: Intriguing but unconvincing
Review: Shlain has an interesting thesis, his scholarship is impressive, and the book is fun and provoking to read. But his argument ultimately fails (I feel) because the right brain vs. left brain dichotomy he bases it on simply doesn't agree with the facts: although it's abundantly clear from recent research that the two halves of the brain have their areas of specialization, it's also clear that their differences aren't as marked as people commonly think, and that the two "brains" need to work together or we can't make sense of the world around us. (See Robert E. Ornstein's latest book, "The Right Mind," for a concise summary of the current state of our understanding.) Shlain's discussion of how language shapes our thought processes is pretty solid (and has been echoed by other writers, e.g., David Abram and Thom Hartmann), although I think he takes it too far: research shows that a person whose language has 20 different words for "snow" doesn't actually SEE snow in a different way than someone whose language has two or three; he just has a better vocabulary in which to describe it. In general, I enjoyed reading the book, but I think it needs to be taken with about a pound of salt because its central thesis is flawed.
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Summary: A provocative look at the shadow side of literary.
Review: This book shattered my previous understanding that Goddess worshipping societies were invaded by "foreigners" and that they thus disappeared due to the physical onslaught from their assailants. Instead (or in addition) many compelling and profoundly provocative reasons are offered to suggest that the emergence of alphabet literacy is the cause of the demise, not only of the "Old Religion" but of the importance of the right hemisphere brain and its "feminine" values and functions.The left hemisphere brain and its "masculine" values became dominant in the societies where words overshadowed the importance and availability of images. The resulting imbalance that occured between the status of women and men has led to extreme patriarchy and violence. This book is a thought-provoking and meticulously researched look at the shadow side of literacy. It's a powerful and suspenseful journey detailing not only the rise and fall of the condition of women, but of the re-emergence of images which foretell more balanced gender relations.
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Summary: cannot think of another book with more impact on my thinking
Review: This book is facinating on so many levels. It is an exciting romp through history from an intriguing and new perspective. It may be the most definitive book on the evolution of the role of women in society. As someone who is both an artist and a PhD mathematician, the most meaningful aspect for me was insight into the evolving balance between left and right brain orientation in society and individuals. Current societal trends point to a more tolerant, creative, balanced, insightful, and workable future for us as individuals and as a world village through integrating the wholistic wisdom of intuition with analytical ability.
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