A cím felvet egy nagyon jó kérdést – amit aztán igen távolról közelít meg, ami persze szíve joga, de aztán teljesen megválaszolatlanul hagy. Úgy kell nekem, bedőlni egy csalinak.
Sokat ír példákat és ellenpéldákat különféle állatfajták szaporodásának és szexualitásának egyes, az emberére is úgy-ahogy releváns vonásairól. Ezzel nagyjából azt a szintet hozza, mint egy állatos tévécsatorna műsora, amin vagy bealszol, vagy nem. Úgy 50 oldal elmegy ilyen elevenszülési és tojáskeltési, utódnevelési stratégiák mustrálásával.
Mikor rátér az emberi faj fejlődésére, kicsit fellélegzek: na, most akkor jöhet a móka és sok aha-élmény. De nem igazán. Bár a könyv második felére már jobb fomában ír, azért ennél jobb Jared Diamond szöveget is láttam már. Ahhoz pedig messze nincs elég jól kijátszott ziccer, kétértelműség és poén, hogy olyan igazán vagány, végigrötyögős kultklasszik legyen.
Az emberi lények újkori kulturális közegbe ágyazottsága felemásan van jelen a könyvben: hol reflektál rá, hol inkább nem, és csöppet sem világos, mikor miért kap vagy sem szerepe a vizsgálat tárgyának ez a nyilvánvaló alapkörülményne. És bár explicite érzékeny a nemi egyenlőtlenségek civilizációs és evolúciós problémaegyüttesére, az valahogy mégis felemésan hat, hogy a női zsírpárnák után a férfi péniszméret után vége a történetnek. Olyan, hogy „csikló” vagy „orgazmus” csak érintőlegesen bukkan fel, valahogy csak a pénisz méretének egyoldalúan részletes, bár eléggé vicces elemzésére futotta.
Az evolúciós kutatások civilizációs-kulturális jelenségekre alkalmazása ebben a könyvben legalábbis több kérdést hagy megválaszolatlanul, mint ahányat eleve fölvet – sőt, itt még az alap felvetést is.

Not very fun book, but enlightening indeed.

Cuốn sách đi theo đề tài tưởng quen mà lạ, tưởng là sách tâm lý/giới tính học ai dè là nhơn chủng học. Đọc xong cuốn này các chị em sẽ biết mình sẽ còn có thể rụng được bao nhiêu trái trứng nữa trong phần đời còn lại? Tại sao mình lại mãn kinh mà 500 anh em không mãn tinh? Đâu là "di sản" tiến hóa tinh hoa nhứt của phụ nữ sau 6 triệu năm? Tại sao ông già 90 tuổi vẫn có thể có con mọn? Hay chơi đố vui tìm thời điểm động dục của loài người hiện đại - aka vì sao homo sapien có thể quan hệ tình dục hàng ngày hàng giờ mà không màng tới thời điểm động dục...

Gấp lại cuốn sách, hóa ra chị em chẳng mấy ai hiểu rõ cơ thể mình cả, thậm chí phải dùng trợ cụ để xác định thời điểm rụng trứng; còn 500 anh em thì chẳng tay nào phát hiện được ghệ mình rụng trứng khi nào, làm sao hửi được xạ hương của ghệ mình khi rụng trứng.

Ông tác giả thì quá nổi tiếng rồi nên khỏi nhắc lại. Dường như người càng giỏi, càng "đắc đạo" thì càng có xu hướng viết đơn giản nhưng hàm súc. Cho 5 sao không thương tiếc. :))

My main issue with this book is how misleading the title is. The title was clearly chosen by the publishers to lure people into picking up and reading this rather science-y and boring book. You will not learn about why sex is fun and why it has become a recreational activity for humans rather than only a means of reproduction. Instead, you’ll learn more about birds’ mating patterns and the roles female and male animals of various species play in raising their young. You’ll also learn the answers to questions like why female humans experience menopause and why males have nipples but cannot lactate (actually you learn that they theoretically can, but that they don’t make use of this potential ability).

This book is probably interesting for biologists and people who want to learn about evolution more deeply. The second half of the title is accurate: this is certainly a book about the evolution of sexuality, not in humans, but in the animal kingdom in general. It’s also not mainly about sex, but rather about marriage, parenting, and gender roles.

As Jared Diamond notes here, sex is more than about gratification. It is, above all, an oddity with considerable repercussions upon who we are -physiologically, and socially.

There's a lot to explain indeed! Why does it exist in the first place (e.g. why don't we clone each other)? Why women, when they are ovulating, are not parading around in heat as is common among many other species? What about paternity? Why are men not breastfeeding their progenies? Why is menopause only affecting women? Why puberty? Why sex for pleasure too, and not for reproduction purpose only? And on. And on. And on... Including, even, penis size!

We can be surprised by the absence of some topics (homosexuality, incest), but, basic, it's because this book just purports to be an introduction. The author presents the big hypotheses without going into details (he merely compares us to other species), which makes for an excellent starting point for the curious. For those wanting to delve further, there is, in fact, a short yet straightforward and relevant bibliography...

It's engrossing, funny, accessible... In a word: fascinating!

ชื่อ หนังสือ why sex is fun คือตัวหลอกเลย

ความจริงthe evolution of sex ล้วนๆ แปลไทย
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คือมันเรื่องวิชาการโคตรๆ55 มันลึกเกินจนบางทีอยากอ่านข้ามๆบางอย่างไป

quién me iba a decir a mí que me acabaría interesando el patrón ovulatorio de los macacos

Shame on Mr. Diamond for luring me in with this clever title. What this book really is is a scholarly tome for the serious anthropology student. It is interesting that, when it comes to sex, humans do a lot of things very differently than even our closest animal cousins. The book looks at why men have nipples, why humans continue to have sex even during pregnancy when there's no chance of additional procreation, and how various species evolved with obvious or hidden signs of ovulation (complete with charts going back to the missing link). The bottom line is, almost all animals have sex solely for passing on their genes. One of the most interesting story is about a species of male bird who sets up one mate in a nest and makes sure the hatchlings are on their way and then goes and sets up another nest with another mate, flying back and forth between both families. Meanwhile, other males may be lying in wait to "spend time" with a female while her mate is away. But other than that, the book can get pretty dry. There's a long discussion of the possible benefits of hidden ovulation. Does it keep the man around because he never knows for sure when the female is fertile? I'm not sure Diamond ever answered this question; I think I may have fallen asleep. Sex is fun; Why Is Sex Fun? is not.

A good introduction to the study of sexuality of the human animal.

DISASTER! Despite the intriguing title, the true title of the book is HOW TO THINK OF SEX AS NOT FUN - EVER. The most pompous and least meaning book in years. Boring, self-concentrated filled with pathetic scientists' humour.

كالعادة يبهرك "دايموند" بالطريقة التي يزور فيها المناطق التي يتردد في دخولها الآخرون... لم تقنعني جميع الإجابات لكن أبهرتني الأسئلة التي يطرحها ويحاول تحليلها.

Pretty cool for a scientific book. Most ideas were discussed thoroughly. However, from time to time the attention of the narrator seemed to drift away and touch other topics that were vaguely in connection to the initial subject. Therefore I think I would have probably liked the book better if it had some sort of system of chapters that corresponded to shorter essays.