The double flame is a lucid reflection on love, sexuality, and eroticism.

One learns a great deal about the history of the idea of love in different civilizations and artistic manifestations. It is an erudite journey only within the reach of a vast culture and sensibility like that of Octavio Paz.

The preciosism in the use of language seems to be drawn from the best novelists, rare and delicious in an essayist.

That interweaving of universal knowledge with a personal and intimate interrogation about love is a great achievement of the book.

Love as that flight or suspension of time, composed of contradictory feelings, tender and violent, painful and pleasurable, seems to me a suggestive approach.

It makes the reader think deeply about the complex nature of love and its various manifestations throughout history and in different cultures.

The author's exploration of these themes is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging, inviting the reader to embark on their own journey of self-discovery and reflection on the meaning of love.

Overall, "The Double Flame" is a remarkable work that offers valuable insights into one of the most fundamental and mysterious aspects of human existence.

A book that presents love and erotism as concepts, their history, and their current situation (the current situation in 1993).

Love, no matter how overused it may be, is one of my favorite themes, and I always look for it in the works I read. In this sense, Paz's essay largely satisfies that desire because what he does for much of the writing is to take a journey through its manifestations in literature and philosophy (mainly Western). In addition to providing an interesting analysis, it also expanded my list of pending readings, haha.

The only reason I don't give it five stars is because of the section where it deals with scientific issues. I understand that it is a dialogue that emerged at the time when he wrote it. However, almost 30 years have passed since then, so its relevance would need to be reviewed.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of love and erotism, delving into their historical and contemporary aspects. It not only provides valuable insights into the literary and philosophical interpretations of these concepts but also prompts readers to reflect on their own understanding. While the scientific section may have become somewhat outdated, it still adds to the overall richness of the work. Overall, it is a thought-provoking and engaging read that is sure to appeal to those interested in the complex and multifaceted nature of love and erotism.

And I, the selfish one, with whom is the world-renowned Octavio Paz, to whom I didn't take a liking. Let's break down my opinion.

First, the joy of understanding the concept (although in reality the title should have been the triple flame: love, eroticism, and sex), a concept that in fact Paz could have explained in two pages (the book has many more). Little by little, understanding, already without a doubt, that humor is a concept absolutely foreign to Paz. And with this, a related idea, perhaps explaining the lack of humor: a pedantry wrapped in a degree of erudition that becomes absurd. The essay involves some philosophy, history, poetry (Paz made me laugh, although clearly that was not his intention when he implies, about a sonnet of Quevedo, that no one - except him - Paz, of course - has understood it in its full dimension). Exactly: in hundreds of years, only one man, Paz, has been able to give the sonnet its proper dimension. Adding a bit of insult, Paz uses quotes in French (I detest that custom, which is not, of course, unique to Paz, of quotes in another language - I detest the custom in particular when the quote is in a language that I don't speak, a circumstance for which there is a great possibility). And finally, Paz extends the scope of this essay to topics such as artificial intelligence (with a lucidity that amazes, that's for sure, considering that this essay was written decades ago). In summary, I detested, above all, the pomposity of Paz.

A propósito de los tiempos que estamos viviendo:

Octavio, in his essay "La Plaza y La Alcoba", argues about the changes of love through time. He states that "love is wounded at its core: the notion of the person" and that the idea of love is threatened to dissolve due to promiscuity which turns it into a pastime and money which transforms it into servitude. "If our world is to regain its health, the cure must be dual: political regeneration includes the resurrection of love, as the poet asked, we must reinvent man."

Paz approaches the theme of love and erotism in an accessible, easy and romantic way, nothing to do with Bataille's extensive analysis on the topic. It surprises me that Paz never cited him at any point.

It has very interesting points about love through time although in some points I disagree, such as the one where he claims that since the second there have been no new and original artistic movements.

It is a book of essays with many phrases worth highlighting.

Overall, it provides an interesting perspective on the complex topic of love in different times and contexts.

The essay, in itself, is a difficult genre. It lacks the climax of a story, the connection with its characters, and the eagerness to know what the outcome will be.

Octavio Paz's pen has its own merit. In "The Double Flame", the different conceptions that humanity has had of love are depicted, and how eroticism is unique to men. By opening the way to the imagination, we manage to make sex a cosmic experience.

As expected, the author makes countless mentions of works that perhaps most of us have not even heard of; it is the price that has to be paid for delving into the work of an erudite.

The chapter where he plans the connections between the evolution of love and the development of species and technology seemed to me unnecessary and disconcerting, whims to which a Nobel laureate is entitled.

I would recommend the work to those who are thirsty to know the author's style; Paz shows between chapters accurate reflections and phrases that reach the soul. However, the whole is not a reading that will passionately engage.

Overall, while the work has its interesting aspects, it also has its drawbacks. The lack of a more engaging narrative and the excessive use of references to lesser-known works may make it a bit of a challenge for some readers. Nevertheless, for those who are interested in exploring the thoughts and ideas of Octavio Paz, it is still a worthwhile read.

It is important to note that everyone's reading experience may vary, and what one person finds uninteresting, another may find fascinating. So, it is always worth giving a work a chance and forming your own opinion.

Perhaps with a second reading or a more in-depth study, one may discover new layers and meanings in "The Double Flame" that were not initially apparent.

In conclusion, Octavio Paz's work offers a unique perspective on love and eroticism, but it may not be for everyone. It requires an open mind and a willingness to engage with complex ideas and references.

Whether you choose to read it or not, it is undeniable that Paz's writing has made a significant contribution to the literary world.

This is a book that is worth reading if what you are looking for is to know about love and erotism from the founding times to modern society.

It takes a journey through philosophy that reveals how the interaction of the erotic subject has transformed.

It also makes a clear distinction between love, erotism, and sex.

The book delves deep into the various aspects of these concepts, exploring their historical, cultural, and psychological dimensions.

It provides valuable insights into how our understanding of love and erotism has evolved over time and how it continues to shape our relationships and experiences in the modern world.

Whether you are a student of philosophy, a psychologist, or simply someone interested in exploring the mysteries of love and erotism, this book is sure to offer you a fascinating and thought-provoking read.

Cultísimo is an extraordinary collection of essays.

These essays vividly demonstrate the diverse ways in which love can be perceived.

Love is a complex and multi-faceted emotion, and through these writings, we are exposed to a wide range of perspectives.

Some essays might explore the passionate and intense nature of love, while others might focus on the more gentle and nurturing aspects.

Still others could delve into the spiritual or philosophical dimensions of love.

The collection offers a rich tapestry of ideas and emotions, allowing readers to gain a deeper understanding of this universal human experience.

Whether you are a hopeless romantic or simply curious about the nature of love, Cultísimo is sure to captivate and inspire you.

It is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the many faces of love.

Una carrera diplomática, artística y creadora (e incluso una vida) rodeada siempre por la polémica: Octavio Paz fue el pensador más influyente y con más detractores de la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Y me atrevo a afirmar que no habrá otro escritor tan coyuntural como él.

Muchos denuestan su obra poética y ensayística, pero es indudable su conocimiento y su capacidad analítica. Cuando elucubra ciertos misterios que rodean a la humana existencia, muestra una profundidad asombrosa. Y una pieza clave de tales elementos es “La llama doble”. En este ensayo, Paz reflexiona sobre la historia, el devenir y la vigencia de tres pilares de nuestra realidad: el sexo, el erotismo y el amor.

Resultaría obvio hablar de los ejemplos literarios a los que recurre nuestro autor. Sin embargo, lo verdaderamente interesante es que no se circunscribe en exclusiva a ello. También remite su crítica al mercantilismo contemporáneo, el cual crea una esfera de compraventa que vuelve al cuerpo mera mercancía. Además, hace una revisión de las teorías sobre la creación del universo, flujo del que abreva todo elemento de nuestra existencia, incluido el sentimiento amoroso, desde el origen primigenio.

En una nueva edición de este libro, celebradora del centenario del poeta, Enrique Krauze escribe que “Paz revela el sentido de cada verso en el poema de Quevedo ‘Amor constante más allá de la muerte’ (‘polvo seré, mas polvo enamorado’). La fuerza de sus palabras radica en la altura vital de quien las escribe: Paz vislumbra el horizonte de la muerte y encuentra en el amor la única respuesta para mirarla de frente”. Esta es una pertinente reflexión para aquellos que buscan la respuesta a las preguntas definitivas (“¿quiénes somos?, ¿por y para qué estamos aquí?”) en los ojos de la persona amada.

La verdad me interesé en este libro debido a que recientemente fui a una exposición sobre Octavio Paz en Bellas Artes. Allí, me entró una curiosidad enorme por acercarme más a sus libros. En esa exposición, me sorprendió la gran cantidad de temas que abarcó en su vida. Y me di cuenta de que realmente conozco muy poco de él.

Así, descubrí este maravilloso libro donde se aborda el tema del erotismo en contraste con la sexualidad. Paz dice: "La sexualidad es animal; el erotismo, es humano". Y así, te lleva en un viaje por cómo ha ido transformándose la manera de vivir el amor en la poesía, la literatura, la filosofía. Contrasta el platonismo con las prácticas tántricas de los budistas, la presencia del alma frente a la modernidad y la tecnología que convierte a las personas en mercancías. Y pregunta: ¿Dónde queda el erotismo, ese encuentro de las almas, en el mundo moderno?

Habla de cómo el amor, o más bien, la interpretación del amor, en la literatura, la poesía, la filosofía y el arte ha ido cambiando a lo largo de las distintas épocas. Siempre refleja a su tiempo y a la sociedad de cada época. Abarca desde la presencia en la literatura y la poesía hasta la filosofía, la política y la neurobiología. Y hace una gran pregunta: ¿En qué lugar queda el amor o el alma ante la modernidad?

Se ha sacrificado el erotismo ante el uso público y el salir del "closet" en el mundo moderno. Yo me pregunto qué diría Paz ahora, cuando menciona la lucha entre la humanidad y la tecnología, la importancia del diálogo. Somos seres detrás de las computadoras y las redes sociales son nuestra mayor comunicación. Pero me pregunto: ¿Qué somos ante tanta información? ¿Dónde queda el contacto, el mirarnos a los ojos y tener un diálogo?

Paz resalta la importancia del alma y el regreso a ella como salvación de la humanidad. Yo me doy cuenta de que he subrayado mucho en este libro y que volveré a leerlo muchas veces. Lo mantendré siempre cerca de mí.

"Toca a la imaginación creadora de nuestros filósofos, artistas y científicos redescubrir no lo más lejano sino lo más íntimo y diario: el misterio que es cada uno de nosotros. Para reinventar el amor, como pedía el poeta, tenemos que inventar otra vez al hombre."

This writer is a religious man of language and thought, as if he possesses wisdom from a long life.

- Virility and hair, or communication and inheritance between two arcs

Reading passages from the double book of the Mexican writer Octavio Paz

The relationship between virility and hair is at a level where one can say without any regret that language. It is a sound that broadcasts knowledge, and a material line that sleeps on immaterial thoughts. Capable of naming the first as physical hair and the second as verbal eroticism. Both are composed of complementary contradictions. The abundance of things is inflation and dissipation: I mean sensation and virility.

And virility, in the same way, is a metaphor for the animal genus. What does that metaphor say? It refers, like all metaphors, to something that lies beyond the reality it refers to. Something new and different from the words that form it. If Gongora had said "pink snow that melts," he would have invented or discovered a new reality that is neither blood nor snow, even if it is composed of both. The same thing happens with virility: it says, or it is itself in another way, something different from mere sexual act.

Despite the many ways of entanglement, the sexual act always says the same thing: it says inheritance. As for virility, it is sex in the moment of action, but as long as it delays or cancels it, it postpones the end of the sexual act. In sex, pleasure serves procreation; in erotic rituals, pleasure is considered an end in itself or has ends other than inheritance. Sterility is not only a recurring sign in virility but also a condition of it. And in general, the sexual metaphor, through its endless variations, always says inheritance, while the lambent erotic metaphor, with the continuity of life, places inheritance between two arcs.

The relationship of poetry to language is a relationship similar to that between virility and sex. Also in poetry, we find language deviating from its natural goal: communication.

Metaphors freeze or dissipate; in other words, they are annulled. Words do not say the same thing as in prose; poetry no longer aims to say but to be, placing the function of communication between two arcs as virility does with inheritance.

- Sex, virility, love, or in the separation between them

First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between love, in its specific metaphor, and virility and sex. There is an intimate relationship between these three fields that constantly leads to confusion between them. For example, we sometimes talk about the sexual life of so-and-so or such-and-such a person when in reality we mean their erotic life.

The erotic act is distinct from the sexual act: it is sex and something else.

The confusion here is not surprising: sex, virility, and love are manifestations of the same phenomenon, expressions of what we call life. And sex is the oldest, widest, and most essential of these three manifestations. It is the original source. As for virility and love, they are two derivatives of the sexual impulse: ascents, deviations, and intensifications that transform and change sex. Sex, like in the case of concentric circles, is the center and pole of this emotional engineering.

The emotion of love represents an exception within that greater exception that is virility in relation to sex. But it is a prominent exception in all societies and eras. There is no people or civilization without songs, stories, fables, and legends whose main subject - that is, their mythology, in the original sense of the word - is the encounter between two people, the mutual attraction, and then the deeds and hardships they must face to achieve their union. The idea of the encounter, in turn, requires two contradictory conditions: the attraction that lovers feel is an involuntary act, emphasizing the secret magnetism capable of everything.

In love, subjective and personal possibilities intersect. The area of love is a space magnetized by the encounter between two people.

Beauty, apart from being a personal knowledge, plays only a secondary role in the attraction of love, which is much deeper and has not yet been fully understood. That is a mysterious secret in which a hidden chemistry intervenes, passing from the heat of the skin to the softness of the gaze, from the firmness of the thighs to the taste of the lips. Regarding food, there is nothing written, as the Chinese saying goes, and regarding love, there are no rules either. Attraction is a compound of a delicate nature that varies with each case and is composed of animal mixtures and psychological patterns, of childhood experiences and the shadows that inhabit our dreams. Love is not a desire for beauty: it is a search for fulfillment.

- Behind the idea of chastity

Firstly, the ideal model of absolute chastity or absolute debauchery does not exist in reality. The complete realization of either of them can only occur in rare cases or not at all. The chastity of the monk and the nun remains constantly threatened by the circular images that are seen in dreams and by nocturnal desires.

Previously, it was commonly believed that the soul would return to heaven one day, and the body would return to the dust. In contempt for the perishable and decaying body, and in elevation of the value of the ascending soul to heaven.

The contempt for the body is not evident in Judaism, which magnified the power of procreation: "Be fruitful and multiply" is the first commandment in the Bible.

Christianity, in drawing the Platonic duality, introduced the dogma of the incarnation of the flesh and the "glorious bodies." At the same time, it refused to consider the body as a means to immortality, as other religions did. As in the East, where the worship of chastity was originally a method of prolonging life: the preservation of semen was the preservation of life. Every voluntary ejaculation and every orgasm was considered a waste of vital energy. In a later stage of the development of these beliefs, chastity became a method that, through the mastery of the senses, sought to possess supernatural powers and even immortality in Taoism. Chastity, despite the differences in its function whether in the East or the West, is a test, an exercise that protects us spiritually and allows us to make the great leap from human nature to the supernatural. So, if chastity is just one way among others to achieve this leap towards the otherworldly,

The condemnation of the physical self and the call to chastity as a path to virtue and happiness are the natural result of the Platonic separation between the body and the soul, which seems exaggerated in its absoluteness. One of the most prominent characteristics that distinguish the modern era is the reduction of the boundaries between the soul and the body. Many no longer believe in the soul, which has become a term of knowledge hardly used in the fields of modern human science and biology. At the same time, the starting point of the word "body" today is much more complex than it was in Plato's time. Our body now has many of the attributes that were previously attributed to the soul.

Most of our scientists and contemporaries believe that the soul no longer exists as an entity independent of the body, and they consider it unnecessary knowledge. But at the same time that they decree its disappearance, it returns to appear not outside the body but precisely inside it. The distinctive characteristics of the old soul, such as thinking and its abilities, have become the exclusive property of the body. It is enough to browse through an article from modern psychology and new perception systems to notice that the brain and other organs are now endowed with almost all the powers of the soul. The body has become a soul without losing its identity as a body.

We now return to the subject of the captive Platonic and what it imposes on us: in Arab eroticism, the highest type of love is chaste love; everyone emphasizes chastity and the delicate love. This is related to an idea of Platonic origin that was transformed by Islamic theology. The influence of Greek philosophy on Arab thought is a known matter. Arab philosophers were quickly able to appropriate the works of Aristotle and some of the Platonic and Neo-Platonic works that some of them were filled with. It is useful to distinguish between those who saw love as a path to divinity and those who confined it within the human circle, while leaving the door open to the higher heavens. Islamic Orthodoxy considered the path that seeks union with God as a form of heresy: the distance between the Creator and the creature cannot be crossed. However, Sufism, which speaks of union with God, represents one of the rich experiences in Islam. Among poets and Sufis, we find martyrs who died because of their ideas. Muhammad bin Dawud, a jurist and poet of Baghdad, belonged to the Orthodox trend, and he represents a strange case. He wrote his book "The Rose" about love, which clearly touches on the influence of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Love for him - it is born from looking at a beautiful body, and its degrees range from the physical to the spiritual, and there is the beauty of the beloved person as a path to the contemplation of eternal forms.

A century after that, in Cordoba, the capital of the Umayyads, the philosopher and poet Ibn Hazm will write one of the most charming faces of Andalusia, his book "The Ring of the Dove," which is now translated into almost all European languages. According to Ibn Hazm, love is born from looking at physical beauty, just like Plato. And he speaks, albeit in a less derivative way, of the peace of love that starts from the physical and reaches the spiritual. And he quotes a passage from Ibn Dawud, which in turn quotes from Dostoevsky: "And what I have come to (about the nature of love) is that it is a connection between the parts of the divided souls in this creation in the origin of its noble element."

- From the society of pleasure according to de Sade to the trade that will replace libertine philosophy

Since the eighteenth century, Europeans have been constantly engaged in testing and judging themselves. Their excessive concern with themselves is not mere narcissism: it is a fear of death. In the face of their civilization, the Greeks invented tragedy, they invented it, Nietzsche says, for excess or abundance in health; only the body with its waking forces is capable of challenging face to face in the harsh sun of fate. The historical consciousness was born with the West, and whoever says history says death. As for modernity, it is the one that invented criticism, considering it the heir of Christianity, which invented the examination of consciousness. Criticism is one of the characteristics that distinguish us from other eras. Neither the ancient nor the medieval eras practiced criticism with the passion that modernity has: criticism of others and criticism of ourselves, our past and our present. The examination of consciousness is a unified internal test, but in it, the shadows of others appear, and also the shadow that we ourselves wore - most of us were multiple shadows - this descent into the cave and our eyes that we do in the light of the idea of death: we descend into the past to know that we will die one day. And before that, we want to live in peace with ourselves.

Modernity has removed the sacred from the body, and advertising has used it as a means of promotion. Every day, television presents us with beautiful, half-naked bodies to advertise a type of beer, or furniture, a new type of car, or women's jewelry. Capitalism has turned eroticism into a tool used by MOMOUN, and to the side of the removal of the image of man, sexual idolatry has been added. Advertising has become today a wide international network that trades in all genders and all ages, without exception, as we all know, even children. The Marquis de Sade dreamed of a society that had laws and strong emotions. A society where the only right was the right to pleasure, but no one imagined that trade would replace libertine philosophy, and that pleasure would turn into just a cog in a huge industry. And eroticism into a branch of advertising and a twig of trade. In the past, metaphor (or allusion) and advertising were traditional activities; today, they have become an essential part of the consumer economy. Their existence does not frighten me; what frightens me is the proportions on which they are distributed and the nature they have acquired in a mechanical and institutional era.

To understand our situation, there is nothing better than comparing two seemingly opposing policies that produce similar results. One of them is the blatant policy of prohibiting drugs. Instead of leading to the cessation of their use, it has caused their spread to double, making their trade one of the major trades of this century; a trade that has become so huge and influential that it challenges all security agencies and threatens the political stability of many countries. The second policy is sexual libertinism, which is the libertine morality that has taken on the character of eroticism, corrupted the human imagination, sharpened sensitivities, and made sexual freedom a pretext for the worship of bodies.

The power of money and the values of profit have made the freedom of love a form of slavery. And in this field, as in other fields, modern societies face contradictions and risks that past societies did not know. The removal of eroticism is in line with other vices that were and still are, forming one of the bullets that were fired from the arsenal of modernity. It is enough to mention a few examples: there are political parties that have turned into nurseries for bureaucracy and into widespread mafias! Then there are the means of communication that distort reports and sow waste, despise ideas and apply a medical surveillance, so that we are drowned in useless news, distorting the true information. So, how can one be surprised that erotic freedom is now in line with slavery? And I repeat that I do not return to abolishing freedoms! But I demand, and I am not alone in demanding, the end of the confiscation of our freedoms by the powers of money and profit in a strange way.

- The political society and love

If modern political history is presented in my lecture on love, it must arouse surprise, except that this surprise dissipates as soon as one notices that love and politics are two aspects of human relationships: the private and the public, the space and the cell, the group and the couple. Love and politics are two poles that are encompassed by one arc: the person. The fate of the person in the political society affects the relationship in love and vice versa. It is impossible to understand the story of Romeo and Juliet if the political disputes in the Italian cities during the Renaissance are removed, and the same thing with Larisa and Zifago if they are taken out of the context of the revolution. The relationship between love and politics has been present throughout the history of the West. In the Middle Ages, love, through the troubadours, was a decisive factor in change, social change or customs, or the emergence of new practices, ideas, and institutions - think especially of two great moments: Romanticism and World War I. The human person was the driving force and the axis. And when I speak of the human person, I do not refer to the mere: I mean both tangible, I have repeatedly mentioned the word soul, and I must admit my guilt in omitting this name that expresses the human soul. For it is not just intellect and understanding and enough: it is also sensitivity. The soul is a body: a feeling that turns into tenderness, emotion, love. The emotional element is born from the body but is greater than a physical attraction by far. Sensation and desire are the poles, the heart of the loving soul. Love was like a revolution in the Middle Ages, considering it an emotion, not just an idea. Romanticism did not teach us to think: it taught us to feel. The crime of the modern revolutionaries was to tear the emotional element from the revolutionary soul. As the great moral and spiritual despair of liberal democracies lies in their emotional sensitivities.

The erotic money did not emerge except because the souls and hearts had dried up.

And although love remains the main subject of poets and novelists in the twentieth century in which we live, it is stamped at its center with the self, with the knowledge of the person. The idea of love is emphasized, all things related to it are closely connected with the decline of the soul. The idea of love has been like the moral and spiritual yeast of our societies for a thousand years. It was born in a specific corner of Europe and then became a global idea like science and European thought. And here it is today threatened with disappearance, its enemies are no longer the same as the old enemies, namely the Church and the values of asceticism. Its enemies are libertinism, which has turned love into a means of killing time, and money, which has turned it into slavery.

In order for us to be able to renew love, as the poets demand, man must invent himself anew.

In 1990, Octavio Paz received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for an impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensorial intelligence and humanistic integrity."

"The Double Flame" is an essay where Paz discusses love, erotism, and sex. Conducting an extensive study on how these two aspects functioned throughout history in both the West and the East through universal literature, religion, and different cultures. He makes the study of love and erotism starting from works that date back many centuries until more recent works, from the first half of the past century and earlier. Although I think the essay could be summarized in fewer pages and it is sometimes repetitive, the book touches on other important topics and makes a great critique of the literature in his time, which can equally be applied, and with even more reason, to modern literature. I quote a fragment from his work here:

"I am neither pessimistic nor nostalgic. The period we are now living in has not been sterile, although artistic production has been severely damaged by the plagues of mercantilism, profit, and publicity. Painting and the novel, for example, have been turned into products subject to fashion, the former through the fetishism of the unique object and the latter by the mechanism of mass production."

If you read the subtitle - Love and Eroticism - you expect essential things of life, a little action and in-depth discussions on the subject. Only that Octavio Paz's volume is pure theory, philosophy and the history of ideas, not attracting at all the average reader to the subject in question, but only those inclined towards the study of philosophy. So, beyond some examples about works of art that had love and eroticism at their center, as well as authors or personalities who have引发 discussions on these subjects, the rest left me rather cold, being beyond my understanding and outside my preferred fields.

It seems that this work is really only for the geniuses. It requires a high level of intellectual ability and a deep interest in philosophy to fully appreciate and understand. The average person may find it difficult to engage with the complex theories and ideas presented. While the examples given may be interesting, they are not enough to make the rest of the content accessible.

Perhaps if the author had presented the material in a more engaging and accessible way, it would have had a wider appeal. But as it stands, it seems to be aimed at a very specific audience.