Lorenz, Konrad Z.:  King Solomon’s Ring

I believe I found the missing link between animal and civilized man. It is us. -Konrad Lorenz, ethologist, Nobel laureate (1903-1989)

I loved this book-and I think my husband Jim will, too.  He’s reading it now.

Lorenz was an ethologist, one who studies animal behavior especially in its natural habitat.  The variety of animal species with which he had experience was incredible and his obvious fascination with them and even love for them radiated through the entire book.

The following review from Amazon by Carrie Laben of Brooklyn, NY (sorry–I couldn’t make a link) expresses my feelings exactly:

In readable, friendly style, Konrad Lorenz uses illustrations from his everyday life among animals of all kinds to illustrate a variety of fascinating points. The balance between anecdotes and theory is well handled and the book stands out both as education and as entertainment. I find the sections dealing with keeping animals in captivity especially worthwhile - Lorenz explains clearly and concisely why most people feel sorry for captive animals for all the wrong reasons, this section should be required reading for most people who think that they are promoting ‘animal rights’. Highly recommended.

The chapter on buying pets should also be required reading.  He gives meticulous detail about how to care for pets and why exotic pets are only for those knowledgeable enough and who have enough time to care for them properly.

Lorenz does not idealize animals nor try to make them seem more like humans and he pulls no punches in showing how ferocious and dangerous animals can be to each other as well as to man.  But he has great respect and affection for all animals, recognizing their attributes as part of God’s creation (he actually says it in those terms at one point).  After reading this book I will definitely get more out of my animal watching in our backyards at home and in Vallejo.

Bass, Dr. Bill & Jon Jefferson:  Beyond the Body Farm

This is a follow-up to the memoir Death’s Acre I read in 2006.  (see review below) In this second book Bass discusses different cases he has been involved in since he started the “body farm.”  They are all interesting-even the ones that aren’t completely “solved.”  I was especially interested in the woman, Joanna Hughes, who convinced UT to let her design her own major as a forensic artist.  She now uses a sculpture technique with skulls to put faces on unidentified corpses.  She has a remarkable success rate in her so far brief career.  Her case was fascinating as is her procedure.  I also learned a lot about the Buddy Holly plane crash in the story of Bass’s exhumation of the Big Bopper.  Because I am interested in forensic anthropology I found this book enjoyable-and a quick read.

(The following review was written in March 2006. It was the second review I wrote for my new adventure in journaling my reading.  The first review was of the book that encouraged readers to get more from their reading and suggested journaling as one technique to use. I will revisit that book sometime soon since I think it will give me ideas how to improve my blog–although that is not a topic he covered.  Both of these books were bought while I was in Monterrey where Jim had a conference for a week.)

Bass, Dr. Bill & Jon Jefferson:  Death’s Acre

A review in USA Today at the hotel in Monterey put me on to a mystery Carved in Bone: a Body Farm Mystery by Jefferson Bass that sounded like it might be one I would enjoy.  But when I went to the book store it was a $30 hardback that I wasn’t sure I wanted to pay that much for-I’ll try the library first.  However, in the bio blurb I learned that Jefferson Bass is a Pseudonym for these two writers and this was their first book together-a memoir of Bill Bass’s career as a forensic anthropologist who founded the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee to study the decomposition of human corpses in order to be able to more accurately pinpoint the time of death.  The book is fascinating with several case studies in addition to explanations of how a forensic anthropologist does his job. The introduction is written by Patricia Cornwall, author of The Body Farm which I read several years ago (in Savannah) - she based her novel on Dr. Bass’s work and he appears in the book (under a fictitious name, of course).   I started it on our trip and finished the night we got home-2 books in one week-and both non-fiction!  Maybe I will get back into the habit of reading regularly.  (When I got home I did get the mystery from the library.  I was okay but I was glad I hadn’t spent $30!)

(My library finally tracked down a copy of the Jefferson Bass mystery in June of 2006–new books are hard for them to get– and the following is the review I wrote for it.)

Bass, Jefferson:  Carved in Bone

I had a good time reading this book but I don’t think it was quite as good as the review in USA Today which I read in March when we were in Monterrey) indicated it would be.  The forensic detail was fascinating-probably what I enjoyed most about the book.  I also enjoyed the “local color” of the Tennessee area around Knoxville-I wonder if Cooke County exists.  I’m sure there is some county that it very similar to the area they describe but maybe under another name.  The plotting is a little weak; I had most of the mystery solved about half way through. Also for two intelligent men-a forensic anthropologist who has a PhD, is the head of a University department and also devised the Body Farm and his buddy, an upper echelon police detective-the protagonists surely put themselves in too many dangerous situations without having any plans for either escape or back-up.  I found that a little unbelievable-at least tell somebody where you are going!  The two “hillbillies” who always seemed to be there to bail them out were a lot smarter than the “educated” men.  But this is “escapist” literature so I shouldn’t be too critical-it certainly was a lot better story than The Da Vinci Code!  I’m sure there will be another effort from this writing team and I will read it.