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Merlin Sheldrake: Verwobenes Leben (Paperback, German language, 2021, Ullstein Verlag) 4 stars

"Eines jener seltenen Bücher, die uns verzaubern und den Blick auf unsere Welt verändern." Helen …

Review of 'Verwobenes Leben' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Fungi are so fascinating - their biological properties are beyond weird ("different"), they can be found virtually anywhere, and have influenced humans and their civilizations in so many ways.
The author and I share this fascination, but unfortunately this book wasn't a hit for me.

Ironically, I didn't find enough information about fungi in it. There is a lot of stuff being described, but I found myself much less interested in the million stories around them -- and even less in the clearly hallucinogen-induced madness of some other passages.

What bugged me: Many of the properties of fungi that the author describes are incredible - but not unique. Other (micro-) organisms are able to do the same or very similar things, but are not mentioned. I think this is a misrepresentation of facts, and should have no place in a science non-fiction book like this one.

Admittedly, as a microbiologist, my expectations may have been more scientific than for other non-fiction books. Yet, despite the beautiful illustrations and interesting photos, this book didn't quite convince me. I may have to get my fungal information fix elsewhere.