A review by silvio
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

4.0

In the beginning I was a bit disappointed because I found the book to be a bit too materialistic (and thus a bit superficial) rather than diving into the actual act of perception, but I more and more realized that I had had wrong and romantic expectations. I wanted this book to make me absolutely fired up and inspired to explore the world of senses more - but, well, it is a "natural history" and not poetry or so. But actually, once I opened up to it, I found it to be quite poetic at times, and quite lovely, and I realized that it is full of information (not all of it news for me though). I found the chapters on touch and taste a bit disappointing/too shallow, but I really loved the exploration of music and (visual) beauty, and my favorite chapter was actually the postscript, where she both finally brought up two very important things that I was missing throughout the book: the acknowledgment that there are way more senses than the convenient "basic five", and the sense of wonder and newness that living on the senses brings. Yes. Thank you.