Since gender supposedly transcends biology, the relationship with sex and sex differences is a thorny issue. But even books that emphasize the cultural side, like Margaret Mead’s “Male and Female,” can’t ignore some universal human gender differences. Perhaps the best modern reading is a combination of Deborah Blum’s “Sex on the Brain” and Cordelia Fine’s “Testosterone Rex”, with the former more supportive of biology and the latter more skeptical.
How do you organize your books?
Since I rely on my personal library for writing, the books are categorized by subject, the three main ones being studies of monkeys, studies of monkeys (primatologists never confuse the two), and animal science. Furthermore, there are sections on neuroscience, philosophy, evolution, non-primary animals, anthropology, and human psychology. I also have quite a few art and photography books. Oh, and the entire “Brehms Tierleben,” Alfred Brehm’s 19th-century German animal encyclopedia, printed in an almost illegible Gothic font. I keep fiction books in other parts of the house.
What kind of reader were you as a child? Which children’s books and writers stay with you the most?
My godmother always brought me a big book for my birthday, which I read eagerly. She may not have known how happy she made me until I told her much later. They were adventure books, like Jules Verne’s or Walter Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’. I also borrowed my brothers’ books: With five brothers there was plenty of choice. I devoured bandes designs — comic books in the Franco-Belgian tradition, such as “Tintin,” “Willy & Wanda” and “Asterix.”
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently from a book?
In 1827, Alexander von Humboldt, the German naturalist, defied convention by admitting women to his academic lectures. With men mocking their presence, women made up half the audience of his popular classes. Von Humboldt was a pioneer in so many ways. I knew his name well before opening Andrea Wulf’s ‘The Invention of Nature’, but not his full story. I read with amazement about his travels around the world to discover how all nature is connected. Now, if we’re talking about the Earth as one huge ecosystem, which humans can’t treat (and ruin) the way they want, we owe it to Von Humboldt.
Which genres do you like to read most? And which one do you avoid?
I’ve read Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun” to see if his speculative fiction is as good as Murakami’s. It was pretty good, but not that good. When I read novels, I find some history in them so that I also learn something about a particular place or time. For the same reason, I read history books, whether real or imaginary, like recently Irvin Yalom’s “The Spinoza Problem.” However, the books I enjoy most are straight forward non-fiction books, like hopefully the next one on my list, which is Jonathan Meiburg’s “A Most Remarkable Creature,” about the caracara, a bird of prey.
What book might surprise people when they hit your shelves?
One of my treasures is a book that my fellow students gave me a long time ago as a gift for my Ph.D. It is a beautifully illustrated collection about Hieronymus Bosch, the medieval painter. Many people find his art disturbing, but I was born in the city where he lived and worked, and grew up with his imaginative visions of heaven and hell. I love his attention to facial expressions as he portrays the sins and follies of mankind. There are also tons of animals in his paintings mixed with trees, fruits and figures that are half human, half animal. Bosch was the world’s first surrealist.
