Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain
Proust and the Squid: The Tale and Science of the Reading Brain Books
- ISBN13: 9780060933845
- Shape up: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
“Human beings were never born to read,” writes Tufts University cognitive neuroscientist and child development expert Maryanne Wolf. Reading is a human invention that reflects how the brain rearranges itself to learn something new. In this ambitious, provocative book, Wolf chronicles the remarkable journey of the reading brain not only over the past five thousand years, since writing started, but also over the course of a single child’s life, showing in the administer why children with dyslexia have reading difficulties and singular gifts.
Lively, erudite, and rich with examples, Proust and the Squid asserts that the brain that examined the tiny clay tablets of the Sumerians was a very different brain from the one that is immersed in today’s technology-driven literacy. The potential transformations in this changed reading brain, Wolf argues, have profound implications for every child and for the intellectual development of our species.
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Author Maryanne Wolf’s part science attempt to
thwart M.I.T. Prof. Noam Chomsky’s excellent work in
the area of research on language acquisition. I
judge the attempt is courageous but the author is
clearly not in Chomsky’s class as a researcher.
Child Development can be a dicey area of research,
but all of us that have children should be able to
at least give our kids elementary answers on where
logorythyms (primative stone markings, runes), sylla-
baries, hieroglyphs, and fixed alphabets come from.
Instead the author relies on evolution, which unfortu-
natley Chomsky seems to give some credence to also. At
least Chomsky distains from psuedo-science like Freud
(which translates to “fraud”). The written word is still
more inportant than not, as I agree with Chomsky. Wolf
tries too hard to prove the oposite. Therein lies the
problem. Sort of sage advice here: read Chomsky first
instead of trying to compare him to Wolf. Nice try Maryanne!
Rating: 2 / 5
I haven’t read this book, but I just heard an interview in which Dr. Wolf discussed this text on WNYC Radio in New York City. I’ll limit my explanation because I can’t evaluate the book itself, but I sought after to share my impression of Dr. Wolf’s comments. She speaks *passionately* about the many topics which she discusses in the book. She seems to know these fascinating subjects deeply and exhaustively, and she displays an *admirable* appreciation of them. I’m only assuming the book is packed with the type of insights which Dr. Wolf communicated in the radio interview, but the prior reviews which have been posted here seem to suggest readers won’t be disappointed. Dr. Wolf appears to be a recognized expert in her field. I suspect she’s an brilliant guide to these vital and stimulating topics.
Another reviewer mentioned that an audio version of this book hasn’t yet been released. I reckon Dr. Wolf should record her own audio version! She’s an *exceptional* speaker. Who better to “converse in” this text?
I’m encouraged to hear someone of such deep and profound learning who also communicates such interest and such appreciation.
Rating: 5 / 5
I tried listening to this several times. I plotting this would be more fascinating to me based on the products description but it was not. I have since tried to make more judicial decisions about what I pick. This happened to fall small for me. That is not to say it is not excellent, just nore for me.
Rating: 2 / 5
I find it a bit odd that Wolf cites Hebrew and Aramahic, not Arabic, which is by far the most widely spoken and vital Semitic language today, as examples of writing systems that are written from aptly to left. Any hidden/political agenda here for the omission?
Rating: 4 / 5
The theme is fascinating, or appears to be so — how reading is affected by and affects the brain, with the teaser that we are now entering a new post-reading age with unforeseeable consequences. Unfortunately the book is poorly written and poorly organized and has small new to say. Correctly where you guess analysis you get vagueness and unclear rhetoric. I’m not sure how helpful it is to know what sections of the brain are activated when reading, or when reading with dyslexia, or reading Chinese rather than English. It is fascinating if dyslexia is caused by attempting to read with the aptly hemisphere instead of the left, as is ‘normal,’ but this is not really new, either. Although the book claims to address issues as regards the brain rather than the mind, I reckon it really fails to make the necessary connections with its readers with this separation.
Rating: 2 / 5