Book Review-How to read faces

How To Read Faces by Mary Olsted Stanton, pages-840, Black Rose Publications, Delhi, Price-Rs 195/-

A bible in its own respect, the book delves in great depth as to how to analyse the mind through physiognomy. If that word sounds too much of a technical jargon, well physiogomy as defined by the great Johanna Casper Lavater who was the pioneer in this field, is the "art of discerning the character of the mind from the features of the face, or the art of discovering the predominant temper or other characteristic qualities of the mind by the form of the body, especially by the external signs of the countenance, or the combination of features"

The mind is invisible to those who understand not the body physiognomy and this book has done every justice to cover the minutiae of the face right from the dimples to the gums. First it gives the theoretical aspects of the features of the face and then comes the most exciting part of the package, the practical aspects of reading one's face and thence the mind.

It includes analyses of amativeness, jealousy, revenge, secretiveness, suspicion, self conceit, obstinancy, laziness and the whole gamut of feelings. It has a wonderful section on executiveness which one may find it very informative to read.It is beyond the scope of this review to quote examples but I shall quote just a trivial but amusing one...

Amativeness:defn: Love of the opposite sex, physical passion, conjugality sexual perfection.
Facial and bodily signs: Fullness, redness and moisture of the centre of the upper lip, large convex eyes, round limbs. The full lip by its colour and moisture indicate the vigor and development of the reproductive system. he eyes by their disclose the degree of sentiment of love of the opposite sex, while their shape and position show the kind of love present. Rounding out of the lower part of the back of the head discloses amativeness by virtue of being one of the signs of the dominance of the muscular system which rounds and curves every part of the body.

The author has even included a section on how to identify common conditions of the body by reading a countenance which might be of immense use in the household.The author has accomplished the purpose with which she set out, though I have a few misgivings. There is a section on the mathematical divisions of the face and being a medical man i do not conform to it. Secondly a lot of jargons have been used but a well supported appendix can draw you away from the phobia of jargons( is there a term called jargonophobia?)

The print is very much readable and has about 380 illustrations and somehow i felt the the book has a good feel to it and though it is 840 pages doesnt seem so and reading each chapter eggs you on to the other. I do not have the authority to question any part of the book simply because I am not qualified enough and secondly i did not find any incendiary material to provoke very strong feelings of resent.

I would recommend this book to people in administerial positions but after all, all of us come across multitudes of people in our daily lives, at the office, bus station, supermarket and dont you think we like to know what they feel and how they react to yours or others interaction. The face is the index of the mind and this book teaches you how to decipher it-that was in a nutshell ;)