The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World

With the skill of a poet and the precision of a philosopher, Abram takes us into the story of language itself. He was able to enter the world of indigenous "magicians" and to closely observe their intimate relations with nature. Then, as a philosopher trained in the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty, he weaves into his writing an illuminating account of the genesis of language in...more

With the skill of a poet and the precision of a philosopher, Abram takes us into the story of language itself. He was able to enter the world of indigenous "magicians" and to closely observe their intimate relations with nature. Then, as a philosopher trained in the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty, he weaves into his writing an illuminating account of the genesis of language in preverbal communication between humans and nature. We are all born with this ancestral heritage; with the ability to “read” and respond to the sensuous Earth. In essence, he believes that with the discovery of written words, literate cultures lost something special — something sacred — with the written word we have lost touch with the rest of nature. A wonderful read -- I incorporated ideas from this book into my teaching about dementia care (those with dementia lose language) and everyday in my interactions with my animals.   hide

This book is amazing. It made me realize the importance of place and the land for human culture. Abram makes the argument that the whole landscape was animate (dirt, rocks, birds) and we were a part of it. Human language and speech was based on the land and specific places. With the advent of writing, we no longer became animate with the land but instead became animate with written text...more

This book is amazing. It made me realize the importance of place and the land for human culture. Abram makes the argument that the whole landscape was animate (dirt, rocks, birds) and we were a part of it. Human language and speech was based on the land and specific places. With the advent of writing, we no longer became animate with the land but instead became animate with written text and the ideas in our head. You see this today more ever. I now realize that people, instead of being part of and animate with the landscape, are now animate with our own human inventions; laptops, cell phones, blackberrys, computers, video games, etc. This is great book to explain how that came to be with Abram explaining historical changes and word origins.   hide

This book is in my top five of all time. Abram is a remarkable writer who changed my ecological orientation from a cosmic, "small planet" orientation to a local, embodied, place-specific, sensuous one. Beautiful writing.

Great book for anyone looking for a way to reconnect with the Earth. The end is a little weird and doesn't follow real well with the rest of the book.