Posts tagged with "Review"

The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat meets Memory: A Very Short Introduction

This is a short review of the book Permanent Present Tense: The Unforgettable Life of the Amnesic Patient, H. M. by Suzanne Corkin.  The title of the post gives my one sentence summary for those familiar enough with books on psychology.

Permanent Present Tense has two primary characteristics that make it a worthwhile read. First, it presents a significant amount of cutting edge research on human memory, much of which was performed in Corkin’s lab at MIT. This presentation remains at the level of the lay person with a limited amount of technical language related to brain regions. It covers key distinctions in memory research, such as declarative memory (broken down further into episodic versus semantic) versus procedural memory and long-term memory versus short-term and working memory. It also covers key figures in the history of memory research such as Ebbinghaus and Bartlett, as well as at least part of the history of brain surgery for neurological disorders.

Second, the book presents this research in the form of a compelling narrative about one of psychology’s most famous subjects of all time, H.M. After his death in 2008, H.M. was publicly identified as Henry Molaison. “Henry” as he was known among those who worked with him experienced severe memory deficits after a surgical procedure intended to alleviate his frequent and debilitating epileptic seizures. While Corkin does attempt to maintain the stance of an objective observer the book is somewhat in the tradition of Oliver Sacks’ The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat (a classic in the field of psychology that I also highly recommend). The reader leaves with a better understanding of human memory and the way in which experiments involving Henry have advanced that current understand; however, the author doesn’t allow the reader to lose sight of the fact that Henry was a human being who, along with his caregivers, experienced a tragedy difficult for many of us to imagine.

For those interested in human memory, but who might prefer something other than a textbook type treatment of the subject this book is definitely worthwhile. For those who read this blog who are interested primarily in language there are also lengthy sections of the book that deal with Henry’s language deficits as well. Permanent Present Tense both aids in understanding memory and at the same time inspires sympathy for the unfortunate people through whom we sometimes gain our understanding.

Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Volume 6 (Review)

I recently received the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary 9 (=CBC), Volume 6 on Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs in the mail from Adam Sabados (you can follow him and Tyndale house on Twitter).   I will give a brief mention of the authors and talk a bit more about the contents mixed in with a few of my own personal impressions.

The Job section was written by August Konkel and the Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs sections by Tremper Longman III.  For information on Konkel see HERE and for Longman see HERE.  Both authors are well credentialed and qualified to be writing on their respective books, though I should state up front that I found the volume a bit uneven as I thought the sections written by Longman were a bit stronger than the one written by Konkel.  No offense intended though, the Job section was still good.

In terms of the contents, I might offer a comparison.  The CBC reminds me of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary with regard to the extent (i.e. length) of comments, but with a different focus that is reflected in the layout.  The comments are focused on communicating the theological message of sections of the Biblical books rather than on smaller details, though there is some focus on detail in the “notes” sections.  Thus, the commentary does not move through verse by verse in the same way that some others do.  This may appeal to some readers and not to others.

The commentary is decidedly evangelical in outlook.  I think an example of this is found in Konkel’s insistence on making sure that he is not ruling out that Job may have been a real person: “The phrase translated ‘There once was a man’ does not imply that Job is a literary creation, as the English expression ‘Once upon a time’ does” (p. 29).  I didn’t get the feel from the introduction that this was a major issue for Konkel as he talks about the timelessness of the story.  And, I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would care about matters like that, but I guess it might be an issue for some potential readers.

With that said, I still found the commentary useful as a non-evangelical.  The authors are familiar with critical scholarship and bring it into the discussion when needed.  There are adequate parenthetical notes and good bibliographies for each book.

Particularly helpful are the introductory sections to each of the Biblical books.  In a day when generalists are very difficult to find, good introductions to Biblical books written by people who are experts on those particular books are always helpful.  The introductions in the CBC certainly fall into this category.

As an overall appraisal, I would recommend the volume to pastors and lay people.  I’m not sure that it would make the cut for students, but perhaps that is too much to expect of one volume.  It would be valuable for those who developing sermons or study lessons in a church setting.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor – Review

Recently, I picked up a copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines by Thomas Foster.  It is one of those books that you’re walking through the bookstore and maybe think “That looks interesting.  Probably wouldn’t take long to read.”  Here are my impressions.

The author exhibits a wide exposure to various types of literature.  So, every point is illustrated with a wide variety of examples ranging from the Iliad to modern works of literature that I’ve never even heard of.  This gives the book a great deal of color as the examples that the author has to drawn upon seem somewhat limitless.  There is a good bibliography at the end of the book.

The book is strong on aspects of literature like characterization and setting, but thin on plot.  The apparent reasoning for this is that plot is somewhat more easily grasp than the subtleties of characterization and setting.  While I agree with this to a certain extent the book could have used at least a dash of discussion about plot.  It may be the easiest to pick up on, but I initially became more interested in literature myself through a better understanding of plot development.

Probably my favorite part of the book was the discussion of how “there is only one story.”  The point being that all stories build upon others and add to the conversation later to be built upon by other stories.  Literature begins to come more alive when one begins to the interconnections.

One area where I do think the book falls short is in explaining why one would even want to read literature like a professor.  I remember having a discussion once with a friend about music.  He played piano by ear, and I asked him if he ever wanted to study music.  His response was that studying music would have ruined it for him.  Something that was relaxing and beautiful would have become mechanic.  I think that is a concern for many who perhaps read for pleasure.   “If I looking and thinking about all of that stuff when I’m reading, I think that would ruin it for me.”  Indeed familiarity can sometimes breed contempt.

With that said, with a title like How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines the author may not have felt the need to address this more explicitly.  It would seem that most who would buy a book with this title might have already answered that question for themselves.