Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson

Book Description

Vita Sackville-West, novelist, poet, and biographer, is best known as the friend of Virginia Woolf, who transformed her into an androgynous time-traveler in Orlando. The story of Sackville-West's marriage to Harold Nicolson is one of intrigue and bewilderment. In Portrait of a Marriage, their son Nigel combines his mother's memoir with his own explanations and what he learned from their many letters. Even during her various love affairs with women, Vita maintained a loving marriage with Harold. Portrait of a Marriage presents an often misunderstood but always fascinating couple.

"Portrait of a Marriage is as close to a cry from the heart as anybody writing in English in our time has come, and it is a cry that, once heard, is not likely ever to be forgotten. . . . Unexpected and astonishing."--Brendan Gill, New Yorker

"The charm of this book lies in the elegance of its narration, the taste with which their son has managed to convey the real, enduring quality of his parents' love for each other."--Doris Grumbach, New Republic

Customer Reviews:

PORTRAIT OF AN OPEN MARRIAGE AND ONE AFFAIR.......2007-10-03

The centre of the book and its raison d'etre is Vita Sackville-West's own extraordinary memoire about her life so far including her catalytic 3 year affair with Violet Trefusis. The affair came very close to wrecking her life with her husband, Harold Nicolson, who she loved deeply but no longer felt sexual passion for. Harold threatened to leave Vita and it was only under such pressure - on both sides of the affair - that it was ended. The memoire, written in 1920-21, and discovered by Nigel in 1962 begged a narrative and an afterword; Nigel provided this and presented an eloquent, classic book which has never been out of print since it was published in 1973.

Whether this marriage is to be admired as much as Vita, Harold and Nigel felt it should be admired is for the reader to judge. What makes it most extraordinary is the homosexuality of Vita and Harold and the fact that their once discreet open marriage is now in the public domain. They would each be getting on for 120 years old today but they still seem so fresh that readers, whatever their sexual preferences are, might learn lessons (positive and negative) from them even today.

I suppose I can't help feeling that Vita's wild and romantic nature was too penned in by the arrangement leading her to truncate or diminish all her romantic relationships. Towards the end of her life in 1961, she wrote (in a letter to Harold not included in 'Portrait') that she had been 'madly in love' with Violet but the affair was now 'passion completely spent'; she wrote 'the true love that has survived is mine for you, and yours for me.' She also gently rebuked Harold for not explaining his own homosexuality in the first place. 'It would have saved us a lot of trouble and misunderstanding. But I simply didn't know.' Harold's reply, if there was one, is not published.

The intimacy of Vita and Harold's relationship is contained in their voluminous correspondence. Harold's diary, Violet's letters and Vita's mother's diary are also key sources for this book. All these were at Sissinghurst in the early 1970's. Nigel separates Vita's memoire into two chapters, draws from the other sources and adds his own voice and, to a lesser extent, that of his brother Benedict. Vita's relationship with Virginia Woolf is affectionately documented. The book created the legend of Vita and Harold who led compartmentalised lives, had multiple relationships, multiple careers and remained devoted to one another. It is a well written and well crafted tribute.

`Portrait' is, as it would be, slanted in favour of Vita and Harold. This book could not be the whole truth or a detailed portrait of the marriage but it is a portrait of two fascinating and productive people. Because of the scandal it caused, Nigel was excoriated by some for publishing this book and in essays written afterwards he would defend his decision and fill in some of the aps. But the gaps are justified in this labour of love because it is written from such a personal stand-point. This is a wonderful read and is well recommended.

Searing, totally blows you away.......2005-05-27

I recently re-read this book for research on the novel I was working on (having not looked at it in many years). Unlike many things read in youth, it was even more searing and electrifying this time than the first go-round. Perhaps that's because the subject matter has become routine (there are even web sites devoted to polyamory, lesbianism, bisexuality, open marriage, etc.), while the emotions that Vita Sackville-West's affair with Violet Trefusis have not been dealt with by this explosion of sexual variety.

This book is not for the faint-hearted. It's not great writing, as it was meant to be a personal diary of Vita's passage through fire, and is not literary in that sense. But given the weakness of Vita's professional writing (most of which has been forgotten), it's perhaps a good thing she couldn't re-write and mar the freshness and raw emotion of this tale.

The book has been a Bible for some, including the protagonist of my novel. It has that kind of "read me if you dare" emotional dynamite.

The Great Adventure Is Never Over.......2003-04-08

Both those unfamiliar with the extraordinary life of British aristocrat Victoria (Vita) Sackville - West and those who have read Victoria Glendinning's compelling Vita (1983), Virginia Woolf's Orlando (1928), or Sackville -West's own multiple published works of fiction, poetry, or nature and travel writing will thoroughly enjoy Portrait Of A Marriage (1973). Composed around a posthumously discovered confessional manuscript Sackville - West wrote and hid away in 1920, the book's chapters alternate between portions of Vita's nuanced, forthright manuscript and son Nigel Nicholson's more objective recounting of the facts in the lives of his parents, Sackville - West and her spouse, author and diplomat Harold Nicholson.

Chiefly remembered today for her garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent and for being the romantic ("Better to gloriously fail than dingily succeed"), daring, and bisexual inspiration for Woolf's historical, gender-addressing novel Orlando, Sackville - West was a temperamental, multifaceted, and deeply emotional woman who followed the dictates of her heart and defied the conventions of her era to what many would think an alarming degree. As her manuscript clearly reveals, Sackville - West was a very human, self - honest individual who was conscious of her moral and ethical weaknesses and who continually struggled with her wayward nature and its debilitating affects on her husband, children, and extended family. Today a hero to some and a somewhat ridiculous figure to others, readers of Portrait Of A Marriage are likely to come away with more than a modicum of sympathy for the not - entirely enigmatic Vita; throughout her life she managed to straddle a great number of seeming paradoxes and today remains potent proof that many Western conventions concerning love, marriage, parenthood, sexuality, and friendship are as not as tightly mapped out as most would generally like to believe. Unlike fellow writers and contemporaries Hilda Doolittle, Djuna Barnes, or Jean Rhys, her excesses, dependencies, and emotional vacillations did not ultimately undo Vita, either psychically, artistically, or socially. Admittedly, Sackville - West was a child of privilege and remained financially comfortable most of her life. However, her managerial skill, expert monetary planning, and her own hard work as an author, radio broadcaster, lecturer, and internationally acclaimed gardener went a long way towards securing that position.

Portrait Of A Marriage and the story of Sackville - West's life may be the ultimate romantic tale of the twentieth century, though one in which the glamour of wealth, palatial family estates (365 - room Knole), creative talent, international fame, and steadfast love were offset by dark episodes of betrayal, spousal abuse, transvestitism, emotional violence, and apparent child abandonment. Remarkably, Vita's story was ultimately a happy one, and the end of her life, relatively serene. Increasingly a loner with age, Sackville - West sequestered herself in her private tower at Sissinghurst, where she continued to write novels and other literature. But men and women continued to fall in love with her and she with them; as Victoria Glendinning wrote, "For Vita the great adventure was never over."

a compelling must-read.......2002-08-01

Despite the fact that Vita Sackville-West was the subject of Virginia Woolf's Orlando as well as her lover, the author of numerous books, and a world famous gardener, she still manages to be a somewhat enigmatic character. This unusual and engrossing portrait, written by her son, contributes a great deal to bring substantial light on Vita's very interesting life and loves. Nicolson is generous in quoting her verbatim from her diaries, the most compelling of which recounts her wild affair with Violet Trefusis, during which the two women fled to Paris pursued by their husbands, where Vita passed as a man by dressing as a wounded soldier. This is one of the most passionate accounts of any love affair I have read.

Nicolson's act of documenting his parents' intimate passions is a great contribution to literary history. He did us a great service by writing this book and in quoting liberally from their own writings, in many ways lets his parents speak for themselves. Any one interested in Bloomsbury, women of the left bank, passing women, feminism, gay/lesbian/bisexual history should make this part of their library.

A Remarkable Journey.......2002-07-24

I have had a copy of "Portrait of a Marriage" since it was published in 1973. For me, it has been a revelation on marriage, but it is also a story of two remarkable people: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. Nigel Nicolson relates the story of his mother's Sapphic affair with Violet (whose mother was the mistress of Edward VII) with great detachment, allowing Vita to speak for herself in the form of a secret diary. The non-conformity of this marriage was the reason for its success and that it survived love affairs and differing interests speaks to us of the toleration, forgiveness and understanding that is lacking between so many married people. This book was not put together by Nigel Nicolson as a guide to married life but is a story of the adventure of living.

It was from reading this book that I gained a deep interest in Vita and Harold. I have read many of their books and paid the ultimate pilgrimage of a visit to Sissinghurst. So, I highly recommend "Portrait of a Marriage" for the writing, an enlightening account of two people and a unique experience for the reader.

Book Description

During the night of August 14, 1944, an Italian prisoner of war was lynched on the Fort Lawton army base in Seattle--a murder that shocked the nation and the international community. It was a time of deep segregation in the army, and the War Department was quick to charge three African American soldiers with first-degree murder, although there was no evidence linking them to the crime. Forty other black soldiers faced lesser charges over the incident, launching one of the largest and longest army trials of World War II. In this harrowing story of race, privilege, and power, Jack Hamann explores the most overlooked civil rights event in American history. On American Soil raises important questions about how justice is carried out when a country is at war, offering vital lessons on the tensions between national security and individual rights. "Not only riveting, On American Soil is also essential reading for anyone concerned about the delicate balance between national security and individual rights. Jack Hamann proves that a true tale well told can be as gripping as fiction."--James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys "Rarely has a book inspired legislation in the U.S. Congress, but that is exactly what happened with Jack Hamann's On American Soil. I had barely finished reading it before I instructed my staff to introduce legislation directing the Secretary of the Army to re-open the cases of the African American soldiers, find the truth, and correct any injustice found. This is an important book, and I hope many more people have the opportunity to read it." -Congressman Jim McDermott "A welcome piece of military history, adroitly balancing racism and legal questions in one story." -Kirkus Reviews "Jack Hamann has crafted an impressive debut book that is painstakingly researched and documented but also manages to be an enthralling read." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer "This book reads like an outstanding piece of literary fiction, but it is investigative reporting of the highest order. Hamann uncovered a web of lies in a book that holds lessons for today on the tensions between natonal security and individual rights." - Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. "A surprisingly relevant work about prejudice, scapegoats, and cover-ups in a time of war." - Daily Nebraskan "The storyline that Hamann uncovers is compelling enough. But it is the crime's historical context - wartime racial dynamics, colossal Army incompetence, international political implicatins, and the (humane) treatment of POWs, for example - that makes this book so relevant now." - Booklist "This book reads like an outstanding piece of literary fiction, but it is investigative reporting of the highest order. Hamann uncovered a web of lies in a book that holds lessons for today on the tensions between national security and individual rights." - Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc.

Customer Reviews:

Timely and fascinating.......2005-07-18

It is rare that a book of history is so eminently timely to the events of the present day. It is even rarer when it has such an immediate impact. In June, a scant three months after the book's release, House Representative Jim McDermott of Washington introduced a resolution, cosponsored by 25 representatives, calling for an inquiry into the convictions of 28 black soldiers for rioting and murder, as chronicled in Hamann's debut novel "On American Soil."

Hamann weaves a compelling narrative of the events of 1944 at a remote army base at Fort Lawton in Seattle that culminated in the largest army court martial of WWII and the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war.

After hundreds of thousands of Italian and German soldiers surrendered in North Africa, the Allies found themselves unexpectedly confronted with the problem of housing POWs on an unimagined scale. America's military leaders were determined that they would set the standard for compliance with the Geneva Convention. The environment that sparked the lynching of Private Olivetto was the American public's dismay at the "coddling" of Italian prisoners and the military's attempts to defend that treatment.

To describe the book's events further would do disservice to the pleasure of the read. It progresses quickly, through short but compelling personal narratives, high court room drama, and even a thrilling whodunnit murder mystery.

In the end, it is the gripping story, as uncovered through Hamann's painstaking research that make the book the masterpiece that it is. Indeed, in an Indiana Jones-style twist, the key document uncovered by Hamann was found deep in the National Archives in a stack of boxes entitled "Miscellaneous." Yet, it must also be noted that what is striking as one reads the book is that it reads like the most tautly-paced work of fiction. I, a week before my first year law school finals, picked the book up for the first time. I did not put it down until I had read the book in its entirety.

In an America that continues to be plagued by issues of race relations and the treatment of prisoners, this is an accessible book that should be required reading.

A must read!.......2005-07-10

The subtitle of On American Soil says it all: Murder, the Military, and How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II. Seattle journalist James Hamman stumbled onto "a story" 18 years ago about an Italian soldier dying while in a prisoner of war camp in Seattle-and finally wrote the story when the documents were declassified.

Some Italian soldiers had been captured after years of toiling under Fascist rule, fighting without buying into the politics. Over 200 of the POWs, those who were not troublemakers, were moved to a camp near Seattle. These prisoners made up the Italian Service Unit (ISU) where they did the work of American soldiers, dressed in plain uniforms.

The Italians were allowed to go into town to visit Italian-American homes for a family dinner. Also in this encampment were the black soldiers, whose primary job was loading and unloading ships (thus called Port soldiers). A small scuffle ensued one night after three Italians returned to the camp. The black soldiers were furious with how poorly they were treated as American soldiers-and the privileges the POWS had.

The alarm went out to deal with the Italians who had hurt "one of our boys." A riot ensured for almost an hour, without MPs arriving, and violence was meted out without discerning if they were badly beating Italian or American soldiers.

The camp commander was so embarrassed by the riot-and lack of response by the MPs, that he ordered everything cleaned up immediately-removing fingerprints and other evidence needed to deal with the intruding soldiers. More than 40 black soldiers were charged for the riot.

On American Soil becomes the story of how one Italian POW was found hung. At first it was ruled a suicide, unlikely as that seemed as there were no footprints under his body. As this was August 1944, in the midst of the war, any mistreatment of POWs on our land could mean more mistreatment of captured Americans. Someone had to pay...and that leads up to a trial prosecuted by Leon Jaworski (later of the Nuremberg Trials, Kennedy's assassination and Nixon's impeachment fame).

I'm not going to reveal anything else. It is a fabulous read and would make a great movie-if we really wanted to know a true but unbelievable story of segregation, POWs, wartime problems here and abroad, ineptness of commanders-the list goes on.

The author has done a thorough job of research and On American Soil is a two-thumbs-up book.

A Reflection On Our Past.......2005-06-05

"On American Soil" details the story behind the offically-known story of events that took place at Fort Lawton during World War II. How many of us can imagine a U.s. Fort being a staging facility for troops heading to the Pacific as well as a prisoner-of-war camp as well as the 1940's separation of black and white American soldiers? Jack Hamann's book describes in a flowing and fact-filled narrative this history and what happened 'during the riot' and at the court martial of over 40 black soldiers. Hamann's writing reminds me of Anthony Lucas's "Big Trouble", allowing the reader the luxury of feeling present during the events as they happened. Hamann is a gifted writer. The book is full of detailed facts that were gleaned and gathered from archives and interview with surviving soldiers and their families. When I finished 'On American Soil' I felt informed about the realities of World War II and entertained by the Hamann's description of events, not unlike the trial described in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". I am impressed by the quality of writing and rich content of Hamann's first book.

Racially Charged Courtroom Drama.......2005-06-01

With frequent charges of prisoner abuse being leveled at the US government, it is perhaps time to remember that keeping prisoners of war, and doing it fairly, has never been perfectly accomplished in any war. In World War II, the largest and the longest court martial was one dealing with prisoner abuse. The prisoners were surely abused in the riot that sparked the court martial; one was hung. But the judgement in the trial, now largely forgotten, was an unfair one tainted by the racial prejudice of the time. In _On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II_ (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill), Jack Hamann has revised his original story, a one-hour documentary about the murder and court martial, described the event as the court martial had discovered it. The description was not true. Fifteen years after his first report, he found the records of the abandoned Fort Lawton, near Seattle; all military installations keep lots of paperwork, but the orphaned files of the defunct installation were only to be found in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and only recently had some of the documents been declassified.

Strangely, the incident may have happened because of the way the Americans were bending over backwards to treat the Italian POWs fairly. Those at Ft. Lawton had cool weather, good food, comfortable quarters, and privileges of visiting in downtown Seattle. Many Americans resented that Italian prisoners were mollycoddled while those who had defeated them had to fight on. Near the POW barracks were those for "Negro troops" who required their own segregated quarters for eating and sleeping. On 14 August 1944, black soldiers rioted, probably at least partially as a result of comparisons to the POWs' lot contrasted to their own. Several POWs were wounded, and the body of Private Guglielmo Olivotto was found hanging from a tree the next morning. The point of the court martial was to assign punishment for those who had rioted and committed the murder, but Brigadier General Elliot Cooke, a troubleshooter assigned to look into the event immediately afterwards, had come to some conclusions beforehand. His eventual report castigated inept leadership at the fort, and especially criticized how evidence had been lost. Cooke's voluminous report showed that it was unlikely that Olivotto had been hung by blacks in the frenzy of the riot, but it did not deter the Army prosecutor brought from Texas, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Jaworski (more famous for winning the Supreme Court decision that ultimately led to Nixon's resignation).

Though the defense attorneys demanded to see Cooke's report, the report that Jaworski was using for prosecution, this was never allowed, crippling the defense's efforts. Some of the defendants were found innocent, but three were found guilty of the lynching; their sentences were eventually reduced to three or five years as a result of post-war clemency. In 1948, President Truman signed the order that all races would be equally treated in the armed services. The Ft. Lawton riot and subsequent trial were a step on the road leading from a Jim Crow society. Hamann cannot finger a particular culprit in the hanging; neither could Cooke or Jaworski, and the evidence just isn't there, but he indicates that a white military policeman who found the body in the morning may well have done the murder and depended upon the Army to blame the rioters. There can be nothing but speculation on the matter, but it is no matter of speculation that the trial reflected the unfairness of its times. Hamann's text is good as a court drama, but it is especially useful in describing the era's POW issues and treatment of black soldiers.

On American Soil - How Justice Became A Casualty Of World War Ii

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On American Soil - How Justice Became A Casualty Of World War Ii
Jack Hamann
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000U94KJI

On American Soil: Murder, the Military, and How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II

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On American Soil: Murder, the Military, and How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II
Jack Hamann
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WFE26Q

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Said it all

Why some seek what they cannot see

A decent survey...but not a deep one

More naturalistic nonsense

Entertaining, erratic

The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes
Dean H. Hamer
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief

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ASIN: 0385720319
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Book Description

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God; this conviction has existed since the beginning of recorded time and is shared by billions around the world. In The God Gene, Dr. Dean Hamer reveals that this inclination towards religious faith is in good measure due to our genes and may even offer an evolutionary advantage by helping us get through difficulties, reducing stress, preventing disease, and extending life.

Popular science at its best, The God Gene is an in-depth, fully accessible inquiry into cutting-edge research that can change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Written with balance, integrity, and admirable scientific objectivity, this is a book for readers of science and religion alike.

Customer Reviews:

Said it all.......2006-08-29

I was going to write a review... But, everyone else has said it already. I did, however, keep getting confused with his use of spiritual versus religious. He tended to want to fuzzy the difference and call the religious spiritual, then differentiate them again. Didn't work.

Why some seek what they cannot see.......2006-06-17

Before this, I read Sam Harris' The End of Faith polemic and Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell (both reviewed by me). While Dennett notes as an aside in his book that no such single "god gene" exists, Hamer himself early on admits the same, but acknowledges it's not as catchy a title otherwise. The subtitle needs to be changed too: "How Faith Is Hardwired--in perhaps a significant but not overwhelming percentage of our genetic makeup for some of us." God is not proven or disproven, only that some of us tend to look for the divine more than others, and that this may be biased for some in our neural transporters of monoamines.

Looking into the distinction between believing and belonging, Hamer seems to get sidetracked into other studies that he paraphrases, and finding out who tends towards the spiritual--not the same as organized religion in its more public manifestation--certainly proves elusive. Unless you're a twin, since they get to be tracked by eager technicians in labs across the globe, at least from the evidence summarized in this book, ad infinitum.

In March/April 2006, studies of twins in Minnesota by Dr. Koening seem to back up Hamer but with an added proviso: environmental tendency in childhood being a bit stronger but the genetic tendency towards the spiritual in adulthood gaining power among the admittedly small group analyzed. I have heard it summed up that one may tend to revert back to one's childhood faith as one gets older, a point Hamer brings up if at all only tangentially I reckon.

As one with theological but not biological background, I admit that the middle of the book with its exploration of brain chemistry lost me. But Hamer at other places has a knack for being straightforward and engaging. He may well be accused of dumbing down his book to reach people like me. But there's plenty of recondite knowledge I'm certain has escaped many of his peers.

His chapter linking the DNA findings of the priestly Cohen caste to their biblical time, while intriguing on its own, seems grafted into his study, however. It fits his other points, but either deserved more in-depth study as its own brief book or more integration into the wider implications of his argument. Hamer does raise a fascinating crux: if historically, Jewish women only had a 1:200 rate of exogamy outside the tribe, how did the Jews wind up looking more or less like all of the many peoples among whom they dwelt for as much as two-and-a-half millennia?

Differing from E.O. Wilson's sociobiology, Hamer argues with this Jewish example (although again I wish it was clearer) that his own findings show an inner tendency towards the divine impulse not part of transmitted ritual like circumscision or learned cultural behavior like keeping kosher. Differing from Richard Dawkins (I kept waiting for Dawkins' thesis to be confronted by Hamer, and he does not do so until well on in the book) and his attack on religion as a parasitic meme, Hamer seeks not to prove God, but merely to chart how roughly half of one's makeup might be in some cases genetically predisposed towards the spiritual search. He notes rather depressingly, although it may get lost in the whole argument, that parents have barely a miniscule influence on the religious or spiritual tendencies of their offspring. The behavior and the outward adherence can be inculcated and enforced, but not the interior tug towards what Rudolf Otto nearly a century ago called the numinous.

He does not seem to demolish Dawkins as hard as he could have. Why a parasitic meme would not die out after millenia if religion gave its bearers no advantage seems a bit overlooked. Dennett--whose earlier work on consciousness is not mentioned in Hamer, who wrote this about three years before Dennett's new book--might help. Dennett shows the social and psychological advantages and disadvantages of religious faith for human communities and the individual psyche and one's mental health and physical endurance. One disappointment: Dennett's book's chock full of careful documentation. Hamer uses no specific citations, only adding a bibliography but no end or footnotes, so his research cannot be easily traced or challenged. For such a veteran scientist, this seems unprofessional. I know this is a popular book for dummies like me with insufficient training, but these notes--as such as Harris and Dennett show--can be incorporated without overwhelming a lay reader.

Still, while Hamer's book despite its brief length feels too often padded, it does serve as a useful and at its best thoughtful summation of dopamine, serotonin, psilocybin, and their analogous feel-good detached states that meditation and prayer, arguably but intriguingly, seem to imitate. In her account (reviewed by me) "An Infinity of Little Hours," of the austere Catholic hermit order of Carthusians, Nancy Klein Maguire wonders if in every generation there's a "god gene" that impels a brave or foolish few of us to leave the herd and seek the fiery or icy mountaintop alone. It's a awe-filled question, and Hamer's book will inspire more such contemplation and wonder about why this longing persists in every corner of the world despite the secular powers of ideology, persecution, and ridicule.

A decent survey...but not a deep one.......2006-05-31

Persinger and Wilson may be deeper, but, let's face it, for most of us Hamer is probably the better guide to the new study of spirituality's biological foundations. He makes a compelling case for the existence of these, in a readable sweep of current thinking on the subject.

His writing slips up from time to time; for example, when he implies that serotonin causes depression when he really means to say the lack of serotonin does. In a survey text like this, that's a venal sin at most.

My greater complaint is that Hamer jumps to some sappy conclusions about the evolutionary advantages of religiosity, willfully dismissing its demonstrated military and reproductive effects to focus instead on the supposedly superior health and happiness of religious people. Biologically speaking, that seems a stretch.

More naturalistic nonsense.......2006-05-26

I'm unfairly selecting Hamer's book as a polemic against the recent wave of scientific and reductionist accounts of religion (neurotheology, the god part of the brain, etc.). I'm a doctoral student in philosophy/religious studies and my largest grievance against this new trend is that all of the scientists involved display a complete ignorance of the history of human religiosity in their attempts to "stuff" religion into a framework more genial to Darwinist evolution. Specifically, as Hamer does in his work, religion promotes a feeling of well-being and an assurance of our continuation after death. It seems that he doesn't take into account the history of religious conviction prior to the New Testament and certain of the later texts of the Hebrew Tanakh. Has he ever read Job, for example? Ecclesiastes? The immortality of the soul was a late development in antiquity. The Hebrews never held such a doctrine....it came into their imagination due to diffusion from Persian and LATE Greek religion. The gods previous to this could not be propitiated; their ways were capricious and a source of terrible anxiety to humans. In no way could humans join them in enjoying immortality. Even in Egypt, a person's ba (soul) only existed after death so long as people remembered his/her name. Read Bernstein's THE FORMATION OF HELL to see this development. Only with Jesus did God appear benevolent, as a Father (Abba--daddy). There was 10,000 years of human religiosity prior to that where God/the gods were hardly an assuaging reality to human beings.
Where this biological basis for religion is helpful is in its claim that religion is an irreducible sui generis--a distinct phenomenon and not an epiphenomenon of ideological or politically driven forces/factors which is the pathetic claim of postmodernism and its neo-sophistic outlook.

Entertaining, erratic.......2005-10-19

To start with, the title is misleading. The important parts of the book are about spirituality (as in what Buddhists seek), which has little connection with God or churches. He does a moderately good job of describing evidence that he has identified a gene that influences spirituality. He makes plausible claims that spirituality makes people happy (that part of the book resembles the works of Csikszentmihalyi and Seligman). He makes a half-hearted attempt to argue that spirituality has evolutionary advantages which isn't very convincing by itself, but in combination with the sexual selection arguments in Miller's book The Mating Mind it becomes moderately plausible.
About halfway through the book, he runs out of things to say on those subjects and proceeds to wander through a bunch of marginally related subjects.
His descriptions of psilocybin, prozac, and ecstasy were interesting enough to make me want to learn more about those and similar drugs.
His claims that placebos are effective seem very exaggerated (...)

The God Gene How Faith Is Hardwired Into Our Genes

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The God Gene How Faith Is Hardwired Into Our Genes

Manufacturer: Doubleday
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ASIN: 073945188X

Divine DNA.(The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes )(Book review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)

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Divine DNA.(The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes )(Book review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
William Olkowski
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2005. The length of the article is 829 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Divine DNA.(The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes )(Book review)
Author: William Olkowski
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Page: 77(2)

Article Type: Book review

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Book Description

The Reader is the first comprehensive history of the noosphere and biosphere. Drawing on classical influences, modern parallels, and insights into the future, the Reader traces the emergence of noosphere and biosphere concepts within the concept of environmental change. Reproducing material from seminal works, both past and present, key ideas and writings of prominent thinkers are presented, including Bergson, Vernadsky, Lovelock, Russell, Needham, Huxley, Medawar, Toynbee and Boulding, and extensive introductory pieces by the editors draw attention to common themes and competing ideas.

The Biosphere and Noosphere Reader includes an introduction by former Sovier Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.

Customer Reviews:

Vindicating Teilhard.......2002-05-20

Coined in 1922 by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (1881-1955), in association with Edouard Le Roy and Vladimir Vernadsky, the word and notion of the NOO-SPHERE were introduced to the English-speaking world by Vernadsky's paper on "The Biosphere and the Noosphere" published in 1945 in "American Scientist" (Vol.33, pp.1-12). In "Fundamentals of Ecology" (1962:26; 1971:35) Eugene Odum said, "This is dangerous philosophy, because it is based on the assumption that mankind is now wise enough to safely take over the management of everything!" In fact, Teilhard assumed nothing about the wisdom of HOMO SAPIENS. But, whether we like it or not, we ARE increasingly responsible and accountable for the management and husbandry of everything, starting with Planet Earth but already extending to the nearest "islands" of outer space. As Mikhail Gorbachev said in 1999 in his foreword to this Reader, "We have reached the phase in cultural evolution where we must assume full responsibility for our power... Knowing and reaching our fullest potential within the constraints of the BIOSPHERE must be the ultimate goal - the driving vision of the 21st century. And the NOOSPHERE concept suggests a philosophy for such a necessary balance" (p.x).

With the possible exception of Blessed John Duns Scotus, no one since St John of Damascus has surpassed Teilhard in his reverence for the "stuff" of creation and of our incarnation. He was fascinated at the many forms of matter, culminating thus far in our genes and the brains that stem thereform. In the known {and knowable?) universe, they are unsurpassed in molecular complexity and reflective competence. Potentially linked together globally by a world-wide-web or internet of communications media, our brains constitute that form of reflective or "thinking" matter that Teilhard called "the NOO-SPHERE." It is concentric with the solid, liquid, gaseous and reproductive or "living" forms of matter, which Edward Suess described as Earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.

In this excellent collection of readings, Paul Samson and David Pitt have largely vindicated Teilhard's vision of the NOOSPHERE and will have opened the eyes of many to the depths that are yet to be seen in the mysteries of the universe.

A great contribution.......2000-09-14

This book has come to fill a gap and to present to students and lecturers an excellent tool for the handling of this subject in a serious and responsible way. I strongly recommend the book, particularly for ecology and environment courses in the social sciences.

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