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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Heart of Charles Darwin's "Insufferable Grief",
By
This review is from: Annie's Box; Charles Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution (Hardcover)
If you're curious about Charles Darwin, the man, look no further than Randal Keynes' touching biography of his great-great-uncle. It's all here: from the Darwin's marriage and first home in London to the details of life at Downe House, Emma's widowhood, and Annie's Box. The account spans from the time Darwin decided to "Marry - Marry - Marry. Q.E.D." in 1938, dipping into some history at Cambridge and aboard the Beagle, until Emma's death in 1896, and includes a deeply personal look at life along the way.
Keynes pays particular attention to Darwin as husband and father. Darwin, who adored his family, exhibited "a fine degree of paternal fervour" with his ten children, playing on his hands and knees with them, never silencing their "howls and screams," and even allowing them into his study while he worked. Of all the children, Darwin doted most on Annie, his cherished, eldest daughter, who was the apple of her devoted father's eye. On April 22, 1851, just two days after Easter, Annie died, possibly from tuberculosis. Paradoxically, Darwin's religiosity suffered its final blow at this holiest time of year for Christians. Separated from his wife during Annie's demise, Darwin could not draw on Emma's religious fortitude to comfort him or to interpret Annie's death, and he could not find the consolation he needed from the Church. Although Darwin's theory of evolution was already well developed by the time Annie died, Keynes juxtaposes Darwin's darkening sense of nature (and his efforts to understand suffering and death) with his continued work on the Origin of Species. Keynes' ultimate thesis is that Darwin's private "life and his science were all of a piece," which he aptly portrays. The narrative left me with a greater appreciation of an iconic, and often misunderstood, man, someone who was both a brilliant scientist and a loving human being who made time in life for the things that matter most: family and friends. Roxanne Enman
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and informative,
By MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Annie's Box; Charles Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution (Hardcover)
This being the anniversary year of Charles Darwin's birth in 1859 I cannot recommend this book enough. Annie was one of his ten children and one of three that died. But she died much later than her siblings, and Darwin admitted she was his favorite child.
The book also helps explain the agony Darwin experienced from the church and greater English society which was in a very staid religious era. Think Queen Victoria. His saving grace appears to be his wife Emma who being Unitarian minded, at least gave him a trusted intimate.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LG,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Annie's Box: Charles Darwin, His Daughter and Human Evolution (Hardcover)
After my husband and I saw the BBC "Creation", which is taken from the book Annie's Box, I wanted to read the book. I have read 13 chapters so far and I am fascinating by Darwin's story. He was a sensitive man who loved his children very much, especially Annie. I highly recommend seeing the movie and then reading the book.
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