Scan barcode
octavia_cade's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Every so often I come across a book on something I know nothing about, and I decide to pick it up and have a go. This is one of those books. It's a very broad treatment of obsession, seen through a historical and cultural lens. As Davis says in the conclusion, he's trying to compile a history of obsessions, because "you can’t understand a disease like OCD without a thoroughgoing knowledge of the social, cultural, historical, anthropological, and political view of that entity." Understanding that biocultural history, he argues, might be of use when it comes to treatment. He admits that he's not a doctor or medical researcher; much of the focus of this book is on other ways of approaching obsession. For example: obsession in literature, in visual art (paintings and sculptures, mostly), in sex, and so forth.
I don't know, to be honest, that this book leaves me with a very clear idea of what a condition like OCD actually is. In this I'm not much wiser than when I started. Then again, maybe that's the point. Both popular and medical opinions about obsession have changed substantially over time, and there's no real reason to believe that they're unlikely to change in the future, as the way that we understand obsession, and the cultural conversations about it, continue to develop.
I think the chapter on visual art was the most interesting for me. I've come away from it with the titles of two artist biographies that I'd like to get hold of, anyway, so that's something. On my to-be-read list they go!
I don't know, to be honest, that this book leaves me with a very clear idea of what a condition like OCD actually is. In this I'm not much wiser than when I started. Then again, maybe that's the point. Both popular and medical opinions about obsession have changed substantially over time, and there's no real reason to believe that they're unlikely to change in the future, as the way that we understand obsession, and the cultural conversations about it, continue to develop.
I think the chapter on visual art was the most interesting for me. I've come away from it with the titles of two artist biographies that I'd like to get hold of, anyway, so that's something. On my to-be-read list they go!
More...