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A review by jennycn__
Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel by Candace B. Pert
2.0
I really don’t know what to make of this book, but it certainly wasn’t what I expected.
Recommended to me by a nutritionist I really respect, I thought there was going to be something more tangible to take away from the discovery of emotions being *in* the body as well as the mind. What it was instead was a blunt overview of neuroscience research practices (some of which were hard to stomach), a story about being overlooked for a Nobel prize that made me audibly cry out in contempt for the unfair practices and sexism demonstrated, get the gist that Candace moved ever closer to alternative therapies as her career progressed, and that there’s more to be said about the HIV/AIDS treatment (which is featured in the 2013 film The Dallas Buyers Club, though obviously this doesn’t get mentioned in a boiled written in the 90s).
All of these stories could have been developed into more detailed accounts of their own, and the whole book felt like a series of thoughts that aren’t fully formed. And it didn’t really make me much more the wiser about how emotions are created in your physical body let alone what we can practically do to alleviate or improve moods — maybe I need to read it again and do some more homework into peptides to get a better idea.
Overall — I was disappointed but not bored by the book and have more questions that answers now.
Recommended to me by a nutritionist I really respect, I thought there was going to be something more tangible to take away from the discovery of emotions being *in* the body as well as the mind. What it was instead was a blunt overview of neuroscience research practices (some of which were hard to stomach), a story about being overlooked for a Nobel prize that made me audibly cry out in contempt for the unfair practices and sexism demonstrated, get the gist that Candace moved ever closer to alternative therapies as her career progressed, and that there’s more to be said about the HIV/AIDS treatment (which is featured in the 2013 film The Dallas Buyers Club, though obviously this doesn’t get mentioned in a boiled written in the 90s).
All of these stories could have been developed into more detailed accounts of their own, and the whole book felt like a series of thoughts that aren’t fully formed. And it didn’t really make me much more the wiser about how emotions are created in your physical body let alone what we can practically do to alleviate or improve moods — maybe I need to read it again and do some more homework into peptides to get a better idea.
Overall — I was disappointed but not bored by the book and have more questions that answers now.