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Title: The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
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Manufacturer: Vintage
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| Customer Reviews: |
| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage Something to consider |
| An interesting discussion regarding the egocentric modern world. Abram makes reference to a myriad of unconsciously driven facets of human existence, now either ignored or forgotten. Although he limits his argument to the issue of language, his overall thesis is certainly something to consider and apply. |
| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage Wonderful, Wonderful |
I have been trying to figure out how to write about this book for years; all I can say, really, is that if you lvoe the Earth, and are trying to figure out how we got into this horrible ecological mess AND you want to read some of the finest writing EVER on this, buy this book.
This man writes poetically, lyrically and with profundity. Where is the NEXT BOOK!!!! |
| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage mind magic |
This is one of the rarest, most utterly original books there is, and indeed could ever be. It is written by someone whose soul is that of a magician and poet and whose art is so triumphant with sheer spirit that every sentence is radical and radicalizing. It is a book whose comprehension of the human condition is generous, natural and enormous. It describes the necessity of nature not just for human being but for human thinking; this is a cry for the protection of the human mind.
It has deeply influenced my own thinking, from the moment I read it, and has remained one of the best books I've ever read. |
| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage Changed my thoughts, my feelings, and my life. |
| I could go on and on about this book. I could quote it for hours. But it seems that people have already done that, which makes me very happy. This book CHANGED MY LIFE. I had to read it when I was about 19 in my philosophy of science, nature, and man class... and I have never been the same. I still meet my 77-year-old philosophy professor for lunch, and there's not a meeting that goes by in which we do not talk about this book. Fantastic. Soulful. Incredible. |
| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage A New Appreciation of Nature |
"A butterfly glides by, golden wings navigating delicate air currents with a few momentary flutters before they settle on a white flower...Fragrant whiffs from the new blossoms in the overgrown orchard by the creek stir...My sensing body now vividly awake to the world." ~ pg. 223
"The Spell of the Sensuous" is a fairly complex read that takes you on a journey through a myriad of experiences as related to the natural world. Through this journey we gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be human in a sensuous world. Language, lore and cultural heritage is also a focus.
David Abram subtly draws a stark contrast between how tribal cultures have viewed the earth and how modern man seems far removed from nature's protective beauty. Whether he is speaking about Native Americans or the Ancient Greeks he explores their culture from the viewpoint of how they relate to the land and air.
"The emergence or adoption of a formal writing system significantly solidifies the ephemeral perceptual boundary already established by a common tongue; now the spoken language has a visible counterpart that floats, fixed and immobile, between the human body and the sensuous world." ~ pg. 256
While at first this may seem like a casual discussion of how cultures pass along their traditions, you may soon realize that this is much more a serious investigation into how people either preserve or destroy the living breathing environment. A discussion of how cultures moved from oral traditions to the written word is fascinating. You can see how even today some cultures show a remarkable respect for their environments while others seem to have lost their connection to the earth.
At times highly intellectual and at other times pure, spiritual and poetic, David Abram's writing weaves through your soul to bring you to a higher awareness of the land in which you live and the importance of preserving your natural heritage.
~The Rebecca Review
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| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage Product Description |
David Abram draws on sources as diverse as the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician to reveal the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment. He explores the character of perception and excavates the sensual foundations of language, which--even at its most abstract--echoes the calls and cries of the earth. On every page of this lyrical work, Abram weaves his arguments with passion and intellectual daring.
"Long awaited, revolutionary...This book ponders the violent disconnection of the body from the natural world and what this means about how we live and die in it."--Los Angeles Times |
| The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by Vintage Amazon.com |
| David Abram's writing casts a spell of its own as he weaves the reader through a meticulously researched work that gently addresses such seemingly daunting topics as where the past and future exist, the relationship between space and time, and how the written word serves to sever humans from their primordial source of sustenance: the earth. "Only as the written text began to speak would the voices of the forest, and of the river, begin to fade. And only then would language loosen its ancient associations with the invisible breath, the spirit sever itself from the wind, the psyche dissociate itself from the environing air," writes Abram of the separation caused by the proliferation of the written word. In writing The Spell of the Sensuous, Abram consulted an engaging collection of peoples and works. He uses aboriginal song lines, stories from the Koyukon people of northwestern Alaska, the philosophy of phenomenology, and the speeches of Socrates to paint a poetic landscape that explains how we became separated from the earth in the first place. With minimal environmental doomsaying, Abram discusses how we can begin to recover a sustainable relationship with the earth and the nonhuman beings who live among us--in the more-than-human world. --Kathryn True |
