---
product_id: 1608626
title: "The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World"
price: "€ 30.25"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.nl/products/1608626-the-spell-of-the-sensuous-perception-and-language-in-more
store_origin: NL
region: Netherlands
---

# The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World

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## Description

The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World [Abram, David] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World

Review: For anyone interested in ecology, philosophy, or seeking a deeper connection to nature - This is a book which will create a shift in how you see the world and stays with you once you finish reading it. David Abram beautifully weaves together philosophy, anthropology, & his personal observation to explore the deep connections between human beings, language, and the natural world in a poetic and accessible manner. He invites us to slow down and immerse themselves in the intricate relationships between their senses and their surroundings. Although this book isn’t light reading, read it in short bursts; its many ideas require reflection and help reawaken our sensory engagement with the earth and our understanding of our place in the world.
Review: mind the gap - It starts with the cover, open the door of this superb book, step through the beatific painting of a crane preening it's lavender feathers and you will enter into a world of discourse with all animate life. David Abram has cast a spell across the pages of my existence. His words are tattooed into the dermis of my spirit-skin, inked to a metamorphosis of my soul; his medium is the lettered-word. The animal-familiars he has birthed in this book have informed my flights of fancy, my hikes over the mountains and hillsides every day and dreamtime since. I am in love with his ability to transfer to the page with the tiny symbols we refer to as the alphabet a communication that reveals the true nature of our earthly evolution with all animate life. He is a writer, writing about writing, writing about the dawn of the written expression of words. Part travel memoir, the journey of a magician, his sleight -of-hand abilities to make a dove appear with ink on paper, will have you thinking and feeling about the manifestation of all reality. Lakota, Hopi, Hebrews circle the "winds of the four directions," as crows and fire-flies light the sky. Mr. Abram has created something sacred about the oral traditions of language and the development of the written word as it informs us and simultaneously separates us from all that is.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #28,590 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #19 in Ecology (Books) #22 in Social Philosophy #27 in Nature Writing & Essays |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (762) |
| Dimensions  | 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches |
| Edition  | First Edition |
| ISBN-10  | 0679776397 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0679776390 |
| Item Weight  | 8.8 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 368 pages |
| Publication date  | February 25, 1997 |
| Publisher  | Vintage |

## Images

![The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91tGZS8o2ZL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ For anyone interested in ecology, philosophy, or seeking a deeper connection to nature
*by B***N on December 15, 2024*

This is a book which will create a shift in how you see the world and stays with you once you finish reading it. David Abram beautifully weaves together philosophy, anthropology, & his personal observation to explore the deep connections between human beings, language, and the natural world in a poetic and accessible manner. He invites us to slow down and immerse themselves in the intricate relationships between their senses and their surroundings. Although this book isn’t light reading, read it in short bursts; its many ideas require reflection and help reawaken our sensory engagement with the earth and our understanding of our place in the world.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ mind the gap
*by D***H on January 22, 2011*

It starts with the cover, open the door of this superb book, step through the beatific painting of a crane preening it's lavender feathers and you will enter into a world of discourse with all animate life. David Abram has cast a spell across the pages of my existence. His words are tattooed into the dermis of my spirit-skin, inked to a metamorphosis of my soul; his medium is the lettered-word. The animal-familiars he has birthed in this book have informed my flights of fancy, my hikes over the mountains and hillsides every day and dreamtime since. I am in love with his ability to transfer to the page with the tiny symbols we refer to as the alphabet a communication that reveals the true nature of our earthly evolution with all animate life. He is a writer, writing about writing, writing about the dawn of the written expression of words. Part travel memoir, the journey of a magician, his sleight -of-hand abilities to make a dove appear with ink on paper, will have you thinking and feeling about the manifestation of all reality. Lakota, Hopi, Hebrews circle the "winds of the four directions," as crows and fire-flies light the sky. Mr. Abram has created something sacred about the oral traditions of language and the development of the written word as it informs us and simultaneously separates us from all that is.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One Key Idea: We are only human as we engage with the "Other-Than-Human". I
*by M***L on November 25, 2018*

I have long loved this book. I had occasion to recommend it again, and also have a moment to write a note about it... a rare synchronicity! So this: The few other reviews do a great job of describing the framework of relationship of the human to 'other-than-human' as exemplified in the evolution of increasingly complex abstractions of our communication systems, from pictograph to alphabet. From representation to communication by agreement that a symbol, and its related sounds mean a thing. What is passed over is the weaving of the story between the technical and the experienced. So I introduced the book thusly: It is an interesting book that weaves two stories together.. One of the experienced, "Other-Than-Human" world - of all types, from animal to insect, and charting the path of the human communication from the pictorial representation of the world as experienced, to the abstractions that make up the alphabet and the dictionary of words. Most of which have little direct association w the thing they are describing. In that movement of what might be called sophistication, he posits that our human experience has become increasingly split off from the rest of the world as our filter of engagement & experiences with the Other World(s) is increasingly via the cognitive & descriptive and less of the wordless, amazed, truly "awe-some" experience. I know I feel this lack. It is split that creates so many of the large and complex problems we are dealing with today. We tend to think we understand the systems we are sometimes rather slapdashedly mucking around with... We do not. What we do not typically reckon with is how integrated life is. And that it is more than a hallmark card, or a sappy new age chant to say that everything is connected to everything...Not knowing this is central to what we call "unintended consequences", but really are more accurately "unconscious consequences". While we have also gained some learning and benefit from our reductionist science, there is no doubt of that... if we do not heed the opening introduction of this book, and its basic prescription for our consideration : That to be human... a vital, life living , life supporting person/life force we Must have some meaningful relationship with the Other-Than-Human. For other books that work out that thesis in fact if not directly I'd suggest The Elephant Whisperer, and related books. And almost anything by Carl Safina. Especially "Song of the Blue Ocean".

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
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*Last updated: 2026-02-20*