Things I Liked:
I loved reading a biography of Charles Darwin that talked about his wife! I thought it was very intriguing to see how much they disagreed on the subject of God and his role in the creation and in their daily lives. I also thought it was very interesting to read about the kinds of difficulties Charles felt while trying to sort out and publish his ideas on natural selection. I am both a religious and a scientific person (I studied physics and astronomy before I became a librarian) and I was particularly interested in Charles' friend Asa Gray's views on reconciling those two seemingly conflicting beliefs. The book offers such a unique look at how people dealt with those kinds of discrepancies back then and probably still applies to many people today. Reading about how both Charles and Emma interacted with their children and dealt with grief was much more interesting to me, however, than reading Darwin's work on natural selection or worms. The relationship between them was very touching, despite their differences.
Things I Didn't Like:
I wish there had been more about Emma. I kept wanting to know if she would discuss religion and God with Charles often or if she just let him take his own path. We didn't get a lot of insight into her, but what we did see was intriguing. I had to laugh a bit at the arrogance in this statement: "In The Origin, Charles wasn't trying to murder Emma's God; he was trying to show how he believed creation really occurred. He knew he was right." (p 182). He wasn't generally arrogant (at least that wasn't the impression I got from the biography), but this statement just made me want to laugh a bit. I also found it highly ironic that he would often use phrases like "Thank God" in his letters - who did he think he was thanking? I'm sure he was just using common phrases of the time, but I wonder if it ever struck him how humorous it was to use such phrases and not really believe in a God.
Read-alikes:
I kept thinking of Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
A bit like The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
It also made me interested in picking up Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a very few
mrg-factor: X
a couple of suggestive parts
v-factor: none
Overall rating: ****
If you are a religious person, do you ever struggle to reconcile your religious beliefs with science?
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Posts
I really enjoyed this book - I loved finding out more about Emma Darwin. I read it just before I read Calpurnia Tate, and I think they make excellent read-togethers!
ReplyDeleteThis does sound interesting! I feel like I've seen a preview recently for a movie about the relationship between Darwin and his wife - wonder if it's related to this book at all.
ReplyDeleteI am really intrigued by this book. I would love to know more about these two. Thanks for bringing it across my radar!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read this one since I first heard of it last year. It sounds fantastic.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I think they would be fun to read closer together; it's been a while since I read Calpurnia.
ReplyDeleteDana, a movie would be so cool! They led such interesting lives.
Amused, I hope you manage to pick it up!
Bookshelf Monstrosity, it is definitely fantastic.
I think there is a film, called Creation, which must be either based on the book or cover similar material.
ReplyDeleteAnd to bravely answer the question you put: I am a (mildly) religious person but I rarely struggle to reconcile my Christian beliefs with science. The biggest struggle, I find, is to deal with the labels others so often want to put on you as soon as they know you have a belief of any kind (more about their prejudices I feel, since it rarely bears any resemblance to anything I actually believe) -- and all those, on both sides, who persist in seeing science and religion as an "either/or" choice.
OK, stepping off soapbox now.
Andie, thanks for answering! I agree completely with the problem of being labeled something according to what you believe. I don't have any problems reconciling my beliefs with science either. Maybe it is more about what other people think...
ReplyDelete