Book review: The Face
Daniel McNeill
1st ed, Penguin Books, 2000,
£7.99
ISBN 0 140 25993 7
Rating: 3/4
The vast majority of our interaction
with the outside world takes place
through a 10 cm square patch of our
total surface area. Hide it away and we
become almost anonymous. Take away all
the sensations perceived through it and life
for most of us would be unimaginable and
unbearable. The importance of the face in
our lives and society is almost incalculable.
McNeill's book covers a vast range of topics, from evolutionary and man made
changes to the structure of the face, to the
sensory functions that are centred on it and
their reason for being there. He dips into the
psychology behind the universality of certain
facial expressions and how they are subtly
changed or suppressed by different societies.
Chapter headings such as "The lie and
the veil," "Emblems of self," and "Constellation of desire" give you a taste of the other
areas McNeill explores. The subject area
covered is vast, but for me it was somewhat
disappointing, as the huge lake of material
was never more than ankle deep. Chapters
cover a given topic in a string of seemingly
endless anecdotes, quotes, and someone
else's theories and examples. The sources of
the quotes are often just as odd as the quotes
themselves, ranging from modern film and
the Koran to ancient Greeks and Amazonian tribes with only three members. There
is little detailed discussion of why a given
individual expounded a given theory, or why
another pooh.poohed it.
There is also, sadly, little evidence of
McNeill's own thoughts or enthusiasm for
the subject, yet he must have developed
some in his (exhaustive) search for sound.
bites relating to all things facial. A bit of
critical discussion of various odd theories
would have added a little more satisfying
weight to this otherwise New Scientist.like
book of "did you know"s about all things
facial. This is a fun, science.light book. It's
not going to let you into the secrets needed
to spot the mass murderer at your bus stop,
but it will give you a huge stock of anecdotes
to expound while you wait for dessert at
your next dinner party. This book is
probably best enjoyed a couple of pages at a
time while you sit and think in the bathroom.
Ben Mills, final year medical student, University of Glasgow
Email: benmills@ecosse.net
studentBMJ 2000;08:217-258 July ISSN 0966-6494
