BOOKS:Insectopedia

Attacked by the Bugs

When I was a boy of 12, I frightened my parents by telling them I wanted to become a “gentleman entomologist.” “Ya know mom, insects.” However, she couldn’t understand how any gentleman could even be remotely associated with bugs. But I assured her that many well-dressed English gentleman prance about in meadows catching bugs and sticking pins in them for display in well paying museums. I knew this for a fact. I had seen it in a movie, which I can’t recall the name, and in it an English gentleman dressed in a tweed suit, swung his a net to a fro, all for jolly good fun. Looked delightful to me. But somewhere along the career path I made a wrong turn and wound up a librarian. But that’s another story. So it was with great excitement that I laid my hands on Hugh Raffles’ new book, “Insectopedia.” Now before you become revolted by the thought of reading a book about creepy crawlers, you might want to give Raffles book a read. “Please can a book about pests be interesting?” Yes and really interesting. No one believes me on this one. I recommended this book to a friend and he told me he rather buy a can of Raid and a flyswatter. Ignorant man! But seriously this is one good book. Raffles does a fine job telling a riveting story about creatures that are reviled and ignored by most. The publisher describes the book like this: “A stunningly original exploration of the ties that bind us to the beautiful, ancient, astoundingly accomplished, largely unknown, and unfathomably different species with whom we share the world. Hmm, yes really the book lives up to the billing. Insectopedia is an alphabetical collection of memoirs, meditations and essays, an exploration of not only insects, but of economics, anthropology and philosophy with a few biographies thrown in. But somehow I think Raffles main mission here is to dispense with speciesism. Come on you bug haters lighten up. We’re outnumbered 200 million to one. Even so this book is filled with interesting stuff. Did you ever hear of Chinese cricket fighting? Did you know what Chernobyl did to flies? Mutation__ a la sci-fi. There’s even an artist who is dedicated to painting these mutant flies, whose legs grow out of their eyes! But Raffles’ book is more than interesting tidbits, it’s a meditation from a man whose talent lies in the ability to draw the reader into a fascinating world and help him see it with child like wonder. After this read you will never looked at a bug the same again. Oh by the way, Raffles is not an entomologist, but an anthropologist. I do wonder if he is a gentleman though.