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espeon's reviews
36 reviews
Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science by Carol Kaesuk Yoon
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
What a nightmare. This book is awful. Going to be honest, I'm decades younger than the author. That means I grew up long after the shakeups in taxonomy she names, and it really isn't difficult to conceptualize. The umwelt she references and abuses is a tenuous concept at best. The only compelling evidence she gives for it is the thing about brain damage making it so people can't separate biological organisms. But even this really isn't as compelling as it seems. Damage to certain parts of the brain also results in an ability to speak coherently - am I meant to believe English is codified by human evolution?
What I find so insulting about this insufferable author is not that she's preoccupied with the umwelt - it made me dislike the book, but I would have finished it anyway if for no other reason than to make my criticism more complete. No, the thing that made me set it down in disgust was her effusive praise at Linnaeus for capturing the "umwelt"...only to turn around and scoff in disgust at indigenous peoples around the world for, in her words, their "kooky" classifications.
Classifications that are no more "wrong" evolutionarily than Linnaeus's, lmao. Her praise of the unscientific babblings of early European taxonomists, only to turn around and scoff at folk taxonomies of non-white people, makes it incredibly clear that this is a washed up hack who learned "fish" is not a taxonomical category and lacked the mental flexibility to internalize this. I wouldn't normally be so harsh on someone for that, I'm not unsympathetic to that sort of difficulty, but making it anything but a personal problem is absurd. I can't believe this drivel got published.
Hot tip: try not gasping in confusions at Filipino people naming orchids after human body parts when there's plants with english names like "bleeding hearts" and "lip ferns". I wonder why it is they would not be offered a drop from the gallons of grace she pours on Europeans.
By the way, Linnaeus also classified human races and ranked them. Am I to believe this is more genius of the umwelt? Please.
Read a different book. Other reviews mention "Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller - I second this recommendation for an actual look at the dangers of the "natural" ideas peddled in this one.
What I find so insulting about this insufferable author is not that she's preoccupied with the umwelt - it made me dislike the book, but I would have finished it anyway if for no other reason than to make my criticism more complete. No, the thing that made me set it down in disgust was her effusive praise at Linnaeus for capturing the "umwelt"...only to turn around and scoff in disgust at indigenous peoples around the world for, in her words, their "kooky" classifications.
Classifications that are no more "wrong" evolutionarily than Linnaeus's, lmao. Her praise of the unscientific babblings of early European taxonomists, only to turn around and scoff at folk taxonomies of non-white people, makes it incredibly clear that this is a washed up hack who learned "fish" is not a taxonomical category and lacked the mental flexibility to internalize this. I wouldn't normally be so harsh on someone for that, I'm not unsympathetic to that sort of difficulty, but making it anything but a personal problem is absurd. I can't believe this drivel got published.
Hot tip: try not gasping in confusions at Filipino people naming orchids after human body parts when there's plants with english names like "bleeding hearts" and "lip ferns". I wonder why it is they would not be offered a drop from the gallons of grace she pours on Europeans.
By the way, Linnaeus also classified human races and ranked them. Am I to believe this is more genius of the umwelt? Please.
Read a different book. Other reviews mention "Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller - I second this recommendation for an actual look at the dangers of the "natural" ideas peddled in this one.
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
5.0
amazing book!! highly highly highly recommend
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Self harm, and Police brutality
Moderate: Addiction and Sexual violence
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia
Minor: War
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual assault and Homophobia
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Islamicates Volume I: Anthology of Science Fiction short stories inspired by Muslim cultures by J.P. Heeley, Niloufar Behrooz, Sami Ahmad Khan, Nick 'Nasr' Pierce, Nora Salem, Marianne Edwards, Sazida Desai, Peter Henderson, R.F. Dunham, Alex Kreis, Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, Jehanzeb Dar, Gwen Bellinger
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.75
this anthology sucked. i liked exactly one story in it and disliked all the others to varying degrees
Tongtong's Summer by Xia Jia, Ken Liu
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
i loved this story soooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch