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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book arose out of a lecture series given by the author at the University of Toronto. Divided into five chapters, which I guess represent five lectures he gave, this book is difficult to give a label to. A mix of science, biology, medicine, history, social commentary and personal memoir it covers all sorts of stuff about blood: the good stuff in our bodies that carries around oxygen that keeps us alive; the bad stuff that carries diseases such as HIV, malaria, plague; who invented blood transfusions; Lady MacBeth and that damned spot; blood as a weapon of power; his musings on blood being thicker than water or not; do men and women have different blood; human sacrifice; drug taking in sport; and taking up most of the book blood as a factor in race, culture and ethnicity. And this latter theme is really what the author is looking at in his exploration of blood and what it all means.
By way of background, Lawrence Hill is a successful Canadian author, whose black father and white mother migrated from the US to Canada when they got married in 1953 to escape the difficulties such a union at the time brought. He grew up in a family very involved in human rights, and most of his writings are concerned with issues of identity, especially race. For those of a certain age, you may be surprised to know that the author's brother is Dan Hill, he who sang that tear jerker song of the 1970s 'Sometimes When We Touch'. On googling their images, to me they look nothing like brothers, and I can understand his fascination and intense interest in looking at how our origins and blood lines define us. But more importantly perhaps how others see us and may label us differently from what we ourselves think we may be.
This, then is the crux of the book, and although it wasn't quite what I thought it would be, it really is a most interesting and informative read. There may be a little too much self-indulgence on the part of the author, but in a world where peoples of different cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities are meeting and having children of their own, these are very real issues that he is bringing up. It made me feel good to be an NZer, where on our five yearly census form, under the 'Which Ethnic Group Do You Belong To' there is a space for 'Other' where increasingly people are simply putting 'New Zealander' rather than identifying themselves as just one of the many others listed.
By way of background, Lawrence Hill is a successful Canadian author, whose black father and white mother migrated from the US to Canada when they got married in 1953 to escape the difficulties such a union at the time brought. He grew up in a family very involved in human rights, and most of his writings are concerned with issues of identity, especially race. For those of a certain age, you may be surprised to know that the author's brother is Dan Hill, he who sang that tear jerker song of the 1970s 'Sometimes When We Touch'. On googling their images, to me they look nothing like brothers, and I can understand his fascination and intense interest in looking at how our origins and blood lines define us. But more importantly perhaps how others see us and may label us differently from what we ourselves think we may be.
This, then is the crux of the book, and although it wasn't quite what I thought it would be, it really is a most interesting and informative read. There may be a little too much self-indulgence on the part of the author, but in a world where peoples of different cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities are meeting and having children of their own, these are very real issues that he is bringing up. It made me feel good to be an NZer, where on our five yearly census form, under the 'Which Ethnic Group Do You Belong To' there is a space for 'Other' where increasingly people are simply putting 'New Zealander' rather than identifying themselves as just one of the many others listed.
Fascinating, short, but not quick, read about the myriad meanings of blood. Talks about race, identity, sport, live... Highly recommended.
reflective
slow-paced
Far from being just another biology book (as I expected it to be), this is a comprehensive review of the role of blood in various societies through the ages. Hill examines the symbolism attributed to blood in everything from ancient Aztec culture and the Old Testament to evolving taboos and misconceptions about menstrual blood in modern history. He tells the story of medicinal discoveries about circulation, blood types, blood storage and transfusions and the complexities of blood doping in sport. He also discusses metaphorical ideas about blood such as race, dynasties and hereditary monarchies. I was particularly interested in Hills thoughts on race and identity. He speaks of being born to a black father and white mother and the intricacies of his identity as a mixed race Canadian, as well as the subsequent identities of his children. This book also extensively examines the myriad of societies throughout history that have used unfounded notions about blood to justify discrimination, racism, slavery and genocide. Hill eloquently writes about the absurdity of the ideas that led to these atrocities and how elements of them continue to prevail in society today. A very interesting book, inviting us to examine our own ideas about blood in all elements of life.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This is a thoughtful meditation on the many meanings we ascribe to blood. It covers science, history, sociology, with a wide range within each discipline; from the witch hunts to OJ Simpson, it has something to say about it all.
Really well-written and captivating, it delves into our veins and explores our connections with the liquid that flows through us and keeps us alive.
informative
fast-paced
It is always a pleasure to find non-fiction that qualifies as a gripping page turner!
If Lawrence Hill’s Blood were a musical composition, one might characterize it as a brilliant, free-wheeling and far-ranging improvisation on a single note – that single theme note (well, it’s obvious, isn’t it!) is “blood”! A couple of random quotations might serve better to illustrate Hill’s eclectic intent in pulling together such a disparate collection of essays. For example, consider this tidbit from the close of the first chapter:
“Blood, indeed, filters into every aspect of our language and defines who we are: in our emotional states, in our social ranking, in our state of innocence or moral guilt, and most important of all, in our relationships to each other.”
“Blood is truly the stuff of life: a bold and enduring determinant of identity, race, gender, culture, citizenship, belonging, privilege, deprivation, athletic superiority and nationhood. It is so vital to our sense of ourselves, our abilities, and our possibilities for survival that we have invested money, time, and energy in learning how to manipulate its very composition.”
and an excerpt of the description of Hill’s CBC Massey Lecture that formed the kernel from which he created Blood:
“Blood: The Stuff of Life is a bold meditation on blood as an historical and contemporary marker of identity, belonging, gender, race, class, citizenship, athletic superiority and nationhood.”
Racism; persecution, blood sacrifices and religion; the imaginative ways that athletes, their coaches and their doctors have devised to cheat in sports; misogyny, feminism and menstruation; blood diseases; tainted blood, homosexuality and blood transfusions; the history of the science of blood; blood in mythology; the cultural definitions of “being” black, Jewish or aboriginal; genocide; entertainment and the public thirst for blood and gore; the popularity of vampires in today’s literature – well, I think you get the idea. The breadth of topics that Hill touches on is almost dizzying in its eclecticism.
On virtually every line of every page, Blood:The Stuff of Life is informative, entertaining, provocative, thoughtful and – that element so often missing from drier and less well-executed non-fiction – it is compelling.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
If Lawrence Hill’s Blood were a musical composition, one might characterize it as a brilliant, free-wheeling and far-ranging improvisation on a single note – that single theme note (well, it’s obvious, isn’t it!) is “blood”! A couple of random quotations might serve better to illustrate Hill’s eclectic intent in pulling together such a disparate collection of essays. For example, consider this tidbit from the close of the first chapter:
“Blood, indeed, filters into every aspect of our language and defines who we are: in our emotional states, in our social ranking, in our state of innocence or moral guilt, and most important of all, in our relationships to each other.”
“Blood is truly the stuff of life: a bold and enduring determinant of identity, race, gender, culture, citizenship, belonging, privilege, deprivation, athletic superiority and nationhood. It is so vital to our sense of ourselves, our abilities, and our possibilities for survival that we have invested money, time, and energy in learning how to manipulate its very composition.”
and an excerpt of the description of Hill’s CBC Massey Lecture that formed the kernel from which he created Blood:
“Blood: The Stuff of Life is a bold meditation on blood as an historical and contemporary marker of identity, belonging, gender, race, class, citizenship, athletic superiority and nationhood.”
Racism; persecution, blood sacrifices and religion; the imaginative ways that athletes, their coaches and their doctors have devised to cheat in sports; misogyny, feminism and menstruation; blood diseases; tainted blood, homosexuality and blood transfusions; the history of the science of blood; blood in mythology; the cultural definitions of “being” black, Jewish or aboriginal; genocide; entertainment and the public thirst for blood and gore; the popularity of vampires in today’s literature – well, I think you get the idea. The breadth of topics that Hill touches on is almost dizzying in its eclecticism.
On virtually every line of every page, Blood:The Stuff of Life is informative, entertaining, provocative, thoughtful and – that element so often missing from drier and less well-executed non-fiction – it is compelling.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Well, this book definitely didn't go as I expected when I picked it off the library shelf!
This book isn't really a science book, despite giving the outward impression of it. About half the time is spent with the author waxing on about racism or sexism in some way. It is about blood, but more in a how it is seen in a societal way, and over time, rather than it's make-up and function (though this is touched upon).
It was interesting to read, if a bit random, just not what I was expecting. There is one thing I hated about it though. It mentions Harry Potter and claims he is a 'half blood' because his mother was a muggle, when actually she was muggle-born. Surely anyone who's read the books knows that!
This book isn't really a science book, despite giving the outward impression of it. About half the time is spent with the author waxing on about racism or sexism in some way. It is about blood, but more in a how it is seen in a societal way, and over time, rather than it's make-up and function (though this is touched upon).
It was interesting to read, if a bit random, just not what I was expecting. There is one thing I hated about it though. It mentions Harry Potter and claims he is a 'half blood' because his mother was a muggle, when actually she was muggle-born. Surely anyone who's read the books knows that!