Jared Diamond'ın yine önce bilim insanlarınca ortaya atılmış fikirleri ele alıp, sonrasında bunlardan yola çıkarak kendi sonuçlarını okurla paylaştığı bir başka eseri. Ne var ki bu defaki konu biraz daha muallak, çünkü insan cinselliğinin evrimi henüz hakkıyla keşfedilmiş bir alan değil. Dolayısıyla okuduğumuz şeyler (mantığa uygun düşse de bazı noktalarda soru işaretleri cevapsız kalıyor.

Kitaba dair hayal kırıklığım alanın kendi içindeki muallaklığı yönünde oldu. Burada Diamond'ın yapabileceği hiçbir şey yok elbette, ancak benim bu kitaba başlarkenki bulmayı hedeflediğim kimi şeylerin halen keşif aşamasında olması biraz keyfimi kaçırdı diyelim.

Ancak bunların bir kenara bırakıp genele baktığımızda, gerek bilmediğimiz, gerekse yaygın olarak bilip üzerine düşünürken Jared Diamond'ın penceresinden bakmadığımız ya da bilip, üzerine düşünüp zaten bildiğimiz şeyleri okuduğumuz şeklinde 3 kategoriye ayırabiliriz.

Diamond'ın özellikle kendi yaşamından ya da Yeni Gine'deki tecrübelerinden yola çıkarak verdiği örnekler, bölüm başlıklarına yerleştirdiği muzip alt başlıklar eseri keyifli kılan yanları. Kendisinin dilini de seviyordum açıkçası, bu eserde de aynı dili sürdürüyor. Sadece konu evrimsel olunca kimi konularda çeşitli hayvanlara fazlaca eğinildiğini hissettim, bu da ben de "ya insanlar?" diyerek bölümleri kimi zaman ufak bir sıkılmayla okumama neden oldu. Elbette her bölüm hayvanlardan yola çıkıp insanlardaki yansımaları ya da zıtlıklarıyla tamamlandığı için bazen sıkılsam da hedefe ulaştım.

Güzel bir eser. Diliyorum bu alandaki keşifler daha çok artar da kalan soru işaretlerine gelen cevaplarla Jared Diamond'dan bu konuda bir başka kitap daha okuruz.

Çeviriye değinmeden geçmeyelim: Çeviri ve editörlük de bence gayet başarılıydı.

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

While sort of dating somebody that was very, very ill suited for me...so much that I was absolutely certain that we had no future, he would never be introduced to my family, et cetera et cetera, I really started being interested in the subject of sex. Attraction. The difference between women and men's approaches to it, the difference between pure physical attraction and what people call "chemistry." Pure, simple sexual attraction and then the kind of attraction that develops. While ultimately I didn't place much stock in the relationship, the undercurrent of sexual tension that buzzed between us was undeniable. I would find myself gazing at him in total awe, body abuzz. And then I'd wonder... why? Sure, I'd found him gorgeous at first sight but it was being in each others company that had done it, now my feelings/opinions had multiplied and it seemed like there had never been anybody MORE gorgeous. the first time he reached for my hand I was buzzin. And I couldn't make sense of it, it was totally out of my hands. Whether or not I wished to be attracted to him this way, I was. Of course I am a human being and with my evolved brain am able to grasp the weight of my choices and their consequences so I am not a slave to my body, but it was my body's reaction that piqued my interest. Like why this person? I'd been around beautiful men plenty, men technically more beautiful than he, why so enamored with this one? And so I've picked up a few books on sex, this one being the 2nd I've read, Bonk by Mary Roach the 1st. So, the fact that I had been looking to learn about something that was kind of specific, this book was a little bit of a let down. But only in the sense that there wasn't enough info on what I wanted to know. Sure, there was a brief mentioning of pheromones and how they are potentially responsible for the "chemistry" thing. I guess I wanted them to be a little more specific, like explain what's happening.. draw me a diagram of the route these pheromones take thru me, the synapses and nerves, the brain waves and activity. Maybe I'm just crazy for wanting an explanation for my attractions! There was a lot of random educational info, stuff I am less inclined to care about like the sex lives of animals and the anomalies and rarities that exist in them. An entire one out of the 6 chapters in the book is devoted to animal sex actually, including gems like listing other animals that enjoy sex, others that partake in same sex sex, others that have sex in private like humans instead of out in the open. There was a chapter on menopause (which according to this book is something that happens only to human females.) A chapter on breast feeding and the supposed non-evolution of male lactation, A chapter on gender roles in sex, yadda yadda. It's all interesting enough to read about, but that's because SEX in general is interesting to read about. I still prefer this book to Mary Roach's Bonk because it reported facts in an interesting and witty way without laying on the lame jokes so heavily and "breaking the fourth wall" constantly the way Roach does. Also Mary Roach isn't a Dr. or professor on the subject, or any subject, which causes me to mistrust a little more. Jared Diamond (who also wrote Guns, Germs, and Steel) is both a Dr. and Professor of human sexuality. That lends him a little more credibility in my eyes, and it shows in his writing which isn't amateurish the way Roach's is.

SO. For anyone looking for a quick and interesting read, sort of random facts about sex/human sexuality this shouldn't disappoint. It's short, and mostly interesting... and written in a manner that an average person can enjoy it. You don't have to be a dr or a scientist to understand it, is what I mean. Tho, it won't explain to you why you just can't seem to get enough of your new gf/bf, or why the sex with your plain jane neighbor is soo much more amazing than with your smoking hot ex. Or why you aren't attracted to Mr. Perfect with the body like a greek god, and yet you are borderline obsessive about the cute cater waiter from last night's dinner. I have two more books on the subject but something tells me that searching for an explanation of my attraction to a man is like searching for the meaning in life...destined to be fruitless forever... but at least reading about sex is never dull ;)

Kitabın çoğunu Amsterdam'da okudum. Yani tam da olmasi gereken yerde :) Benzer kitaplar okuduğum için beklentim biraz yüksekti. Hele ki yazari Jared Diamond olunca. Beklentilerimi tam karşılayamadı. Ama alabla ilgili ilginç ve eğlenceli bilgiler öğrenmek isteyenler için ideal.