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The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions (Oxford World's Classics)
A classic study of the beliefs and institutions of mankind, and the progress through magic and religion to scientific thought, The Golden Bough has a unique status in modern anthropology and literature.
First published in 1890, The Golden Bough was eventually issued in a twelve-volume edition (1906-15) which was abridged in 1922 by the author and his wife. That abridgement...more
First published in 1890, The Golden Bough was eventually issued in a twelve-volume edition (1906-15) which was abridged in 1922 by the author and his wife. That abridgement...more
Paperback, 912 pages
Published
February 12th 2009
by Oxford University Press
(first published 1890)
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Influential without bound and ere-breaking of ground, this is undeniably a major modern classic that reshaped its entire field. Of course, most of Frazier's theses have been broadly discredited, but it's not like you're studying comparative mythology to build bridges with it (although it's been proposed that unsold copies of Joseph Campbell, shredded to a fine mist, would provide high-quality industrial weathering and cheap insulation suitable for the Third World).
That having been sa...more
That having been sa...more
Discovering The Golden Bough, and then Graves' The White Goddess (which owes a critically huge debt to the Golden Bough), was a life-changing time for me that recast the stories I had vacuumed up at that age, from Greek myths to Kipling, as about something more than their contents or even the authors intent. It was first published over 100 years ago; still, nothing can get a boy into that modernist, meta- meta- meta- perspective on society like The Golden Bough. Of course it's only fair that w...more
This is a brilliant and disturbing distillation of Frazer's much longer and doggedly scholarly original work. I've come across it late (the edition I've got is dated 1978). I bought it second hand four years ago at Ventnor Rare Books on the Isle of Wight and have only just got around to reading it. If anything, the illustrations make the text all the more shocking. Reading about belief systems where human sacrifice was commonplace is one thing - seeing those sacrifices depicted in contemporary a...more
Book Description
A classic study of the beliefs and institutions of mankind, and the progress through magic and religion to scientific thought, The Golden Bough has a unique status in modern anthropology and literature. First published in 1890, The Golden Bough was eventually issued in a twelve-volume edition (1906-15) which was abridged in 1922 by the author and his wife. That abridgement has never been reconsidered for a modern audience. In it some of the more controversial passages were ...more
A classic study of the beliefs and institutions of mankind, and the progress through magic and religion to scientific thought, The Golden Bough has a unique status in modern anthropology and literature. First published in 1890, The Golden Bough was eventually issued in a twelve-volume edition (1906-15) which was abridged in 1922 by the author and his wife. That abridgement has never been reconsidered for a modern audience. In it some of the more controversial passages were ...more
A classic, groundbreaking piece of comparative mythology and anthropology. It's influenced Jung, Campbell, T.S. Eliot and even Apocalypse Now.
It's a bit dated, particularly in its sticking to the "primitive savage" evolves into "sophisticated civilization" model, but alot of the basic principals are still very sound.
Frazer starts a single incident, a Latin ritual of a King of the Forest, who is ritually killed and replaced by his successor.
...more
It's a bit dated, particularly in its sticking to the "primitive savage" evolves into "sophisticated civilization" model, but alot of the basic principals are still very sound.
Frazer starts a single incident, a Latin ritual of a King of the Forest, who is ritually killed and replaced by his successor.
...more
i didn't actually finish this. i valiantly read on to page 368 until the repetition, racism, imperialism and sexism wore me down. every time, after several pages of examples, JGF said something like, 'a few more examples will suffice to prove...', i wanted to stab myself in the neck.
the content is actually very interesting (although i bummed to hear that a lot of it has been discredited) and just thinking about how he organised all this information blows my mind, but, see paragraph o...more
the content is actually very interesting (although i bummed to hear that a lot of it has been discredited) and just thinking about how he organised all this information blows my mind, but, see paragraph o...more
I listened to this book in my car over 42 hours driving to and from Riverside. Sheesh. I guess this is an interesting and important work, but I have some issues with it. Of course I do, judging it from my own perspective rather than from the time it was written. First, I think that comparing people in time and space is spurious--"savages" in Africa and Asia are not the same as "savages" from ancient times. To postulate that all peoples move along a common timeline is pro...more
Crissy
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
folks that find religion and culture interesting
This is an amazing read, although it is an aquired taste. This is a study on the rituals, birthrites and practices in belief systems in so many of our worlds cultures. From kings and queens to human sacrifice and magical lore, this book is the apex of info. At times can be a tough read, but in the end so worth it. Also good as a reference book to keep handy.
The classic book of comparative mythology. Between this and Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces," I came to realize the universality of belief in the dead and reborn demigod at the heart of nearly all the world's religions.
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This book is swarming with folklore, mythology and animistic ritual examples. Pretty much the entire book is dedicated to short explanations of ritual practices from all over the globe. What it lacks is much in the way of a linear, coherent argument or point.
technically I stopped at page 202 (chapter 17, The Burden of Royalty). But since I don't see myself picking it up again in the foreseeable future, I'm taking it off my "currently reading"
How I could possibly have highlighted so much of this book and yet not actually read it is a pure freakin' mystery.
This is such an important work. If you take it from the perspective of what it is, an anthology of rituals and belief systems found in religious and non religious cultures across the globe. As some other readers have pointed out it is not linear, it is also not well coordinated in way of connecting points and making/laying out statements about those points. But what it is absolutely superb and unbeatable in, is its exhaustive amount of information. I did read the full version, and the sheer amou...more
Frazer stunningly presents a progression of human thought with magic as the thesis, religion as its antithesis, and science as its synthesis. With the magical world, everything happened according to fixed patterns and the knowing man was able to intercede, manipulate these elements, and alter the future and his surroundings according to his will. With religion, everything became fixed to the whims of the gods; anything at random could happen if the gods so desired it, and man's only role in co...more
Frasier seems to depict religion as an evolutionary process, from primitive superstition and magic on to a more refined monotheism, finally culminating in enlightened scientific thought. We find Darwin in absolutely everything these days. The problem with such a depiction, however, is that the enlightened scientitificism and rationalism of modern times has created just as much (if not far more) terror than the primitive magicians and priests of old (giving us communism, Nazism, eugenics, etc.); ...more
Reading the unabridged version was probably a mistake. The subject interests me, but I found this one hard to get through. It doesn't help that I had already read more modern ( less racist, more fact-bound etc) books on the same subject and already knew most of it is widely discredited. In the end, I couldn't get through this. I suppose I will start over at some point in time, with the abridged version.
It was a great favour done to mankind when Frazer and his wife chose to condense the original twelve volumes into one volume; even the single volume appears so repetitive one can only imagine the ordeal that s/he that tries to read all the twelve has to undergo.
That said, I believe that Frazer's work (twelve volumes or one) is an immense contribution to the realm of anthropology - though one may not agree with all its contentions, it undoubtedly provides one structured framework for ...more
That said, I believe that Frazer's work (twelve volumes or one) is an immense contribution to the realm of anthropology - though one may not agree with all its contentions, it undoubtedly provides one structured framework for ...more
I'll be honest, I was relieved to finish this book. It's an exhausting study of why the high priest of Nemi is replaced in the way he is, covering magical and religious practices the world over, and while it's very informative, it is also, to reiterate, exhausting. It's a great anthropology text, and while I certainly came out of it the wiser/smarter, I certainly felt at times that I was studying for a college course and not just reading for pleasure. That said, I'd recommend it for those more t...more
After reading the first 15 pages one realizes that this is no normal book. It is a mammoth achievement of the 20th century and humanity. Frazer attempts to annalyze and break down the origins of all myths, religions and superstitions from all over the world. At over 800 pages, this is the abridged version, it promises many great suprises. Frazer's almost stream of conciousness writing at times is mind boggling. How did one man fit all this knowledge in his head? And was that head the size of Bra...more
Isidore
added it
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anybody who enjoys being bathed in textual diarrhea
To be hit upon the head over and over again with the same point illustrated by a million slightly different and equally dry examples. That is what it is to read The Golden Bough. Hundreds of pages roll by and the reading is continued out of spite. At times there is a faint hope that the conclusion will be grand, the payoff enormously worth the pain and trudging it took to arrive. Finally the last page comes into view. Having been read and the book closed only anger, betrayal and confusion remain...more
The Golden Bough is a classic survey of the nature of magical and religious belief across many cultures. It's extremely helpful in understanding religion and mythology.
As outdated as it is, this is still a critical text, if only to observe a key moment in the history of the discipline. Highly influential, although some of Frazer's anti-Christian polemic has long since been refuted by secular as well as Christian scholarship.
Welwyn Katz
is currently reading it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
comparative-mythology,
reference
As with so many of my scholarly books on mythology and comparative studies of myths and legends, I read them in an ongoing sort of way. They are great resources for writers who like to mix myth into their ordinary fiction. This one is a bit more "story-like" than e.g. Graves' The White Goddess and so it's a lot easier to read. It's still not easy. I'm not a scholar of mythology, but I love to know about it. Maybe if I live to be 96 and my eyesight and brains hold out...
I read this abridged version. Hard going and at times a wee bit like a broken record (oh, another taboo described in detail...). Having said that it certainly shows that "there's nowt as queer as folk". (Tattooing; food taboos; sacrifices; language use; mutilation; fasting; disposal of nail clippings and bodily waste in general; sex etc). Seriously, people do the oddest things, but in the right cultural setting the acts are sacred and indeed necessary. Now shown to be flawed in bits in...more
Katelyn
added it
While being a bit dated (due to the use of the word "savage" to describe the different cultures being discussed), this is a fascinating look at the evolution of modern day organized religions beginning in superstition, agricultural gods and sympathetic magic. Frazer gives example after example (after example after example) of different cultures that would eat the "flesh" (a loaf made from corn meal) of their local corn god...and an animal or person would be sacrificed to take...more
A must-read classic, but of its time and thus quite a 'chore'.
Thom Dunn
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
british,
a-own-hardcover,
ancient-greece,
classic,
history-of-ideas,
jungian,
manifesto,
mythology
Tell me, what virtual "shelf" should one create for The Golden Bough. I'm tempted to put it on a shelf all its own, but the blurb calls it the first work of "comparative mythology". That trusted home, we might add The Glory of Hera along with, of course, Man and His Symbols (Jung), any number of the Bollingen series and Campbells entire opera beginning with The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Robert Graves ? Perhaps.
long, densely written, absolutely fascinating.
A fascinating study which I have dipped in and out of, have drawn a lot of inspiration from and enjoyed the language of but not one I have read through. I guess books you use for studying you tend not to.
Another interesting thing about this book is James Frazer himself and how he came to write such a colossal work. This is nothing, there is so much more! Interesting that in order to write about one group of people you can find yourself writing a study of the religions and customs of ...more
Another interesting thing about this book is James Frazer himself and how he came to write such a colossal work. This is nothing, there is so much more! Interesting that in order to write about one group of people you can find yourself writing a study of the religions and customs of ...more
This book can be dense at times, and somewhat antiquated (the bigotry inherent in such a study during the Victorian era makes me a little sick), but Sir James was quite a brilliant man. I can't comment on the abridgement, as I haven't looked into the original (which is thousands of pages long), but I have not yet been bothered by the sense that something crucial is missing. Overall, I think it is an incredible work and a very beneficial read if one has the patience.
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Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.
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Jan 22, 2010 05:35am