Charles Darwin: Voyaging (vol1) and the Power of Place (vol2)
by Janet Browne
it's one of the best books i have ever enjoyed, certainly the best biography i've read.
while revisiting the notes i took on the Origin of Species - with the intention to expand them into something more substantial and interesting - it occurred to me that i should learn a little bit more about his life, beyond the ubiquitous iconic figure everyone seems to recognize.
but which biography to choose? i went Amazon.com, clicked the first Darwin book on top and dived right into the readers' reviews. almost immediately, someone was saying this book was pretty good; but Browne's far better. others concurred. with reasons i would heartily agree, like the avoidance of too much psychoanalysis... i got my book - such is wisdom of the mass.
and what a wonderful book. often biographies are as interesting as the lives depicted. i do not doubt biographical writing must be demanding and tricky. besides diligent research, one has to find ways to bring real-life heroes and sheroes alive, above and beyond merely "real". but i've rarely expected good writing and never actually noticed writers behind.
Browne's Darwin is different. Darwin is one of those few human beings endowed with high intelligence and luck, born in the right time and right place and lived a long life of amazing achievements. He is by nature complex, with controversies and contradictions abound, both as a person and as the "co-discoverer" of the "evolution by natural selection" theory. and what "controversies" his theory has been stirring, 150 years and counting! it seems any biography would do well.
not content with such rich a life, Browne attempted, and succeeded in placing Darwin in the much larger social and historic context of the Victorian era, which she painted with critical comments on the political and economical surroundings, with frequent references to the familiar (and less familiar) literary figures and books of the time, and with meticulous description of many trivial (but entertaining) details of a countryman's life back then. This realistic and beautiful setting is real and fictional at the same time, making the reading exceedingly satisfying.
with seemingly an effort to be thorough and objective, Browne also casts a very harsh eye on any, large or small, questionable behaviors and actions of her hero, unknowingly creating a digressive but amusing tension in her narrative, which tickled me to no end: "she is like Caroline, the loving but judging elder sister of Darwins'!" This kind of soft criticism eventually helps deflect any suspicion of Darwin's character and achievements that readers might have held based on other information and opinions, like those sympathetic to Wallace: "well, this indeed shows a little selfishness on Darwin's side, but taken as a whole, he had more than made up by his other good deeds!" thought this reader here and there.
talking about Wallace, the only criticism, more like a wish, i could come up is that this expansive book provides very little scientific analysis on their respective contributions to the evolution theory and the critical difference in their thoughts. but this might take a different kind of expert.
talking about Wallace, the only criticism, more like a wish, i could come up is that this expansive book provides very little scientific analysis on their respective contributions to the evolution theory and the critical difference in their thoughts. but this might take a different kind of expert.
ultimately, i am much gratified by finally learning a life as fully fulfilled as it could be. for once, free of the anguish i felt for my other favorites like Melville, like Van Gogh, like Orwell.
