Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Book of Genesis

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 1,687 ratings · 306 reviews

Nominated for three 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: From Creation to the death of Joseph, here are all 50 chapters of the Book of Genesis, revealingly illustrated as never before.

Envisioning the first book of the bible like no one before him, R. Crumb, the legendary illustrator, reveals here the story of Genesis in a profoundly honest and deeply moving way. Origina...more Nominated for three 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: From Creation to the death of Joseph, here are all 50 chapters of the Book of Genesis, revealingly illustrated as never before.

Envisioning the first book of the bible like no one before him, R. Crumb, the legendary illustrator, reveals here the story of Genesis in a profoundly honest and deeply moving way. Originally thinking that he would do a take off of Adam and Eve, Crumb became so fascinated by the Bible’s language, “a text so great and so strange that it lends itself readily to graphic depictions,” that he decided instead to do a literal interpretation using the text word for word in a version primarily assembled from the translations of Robert Alter and the King James bible.

Now, readers of every persuasion—Crumb fans, comic book lovers, and believers—can gain astonishing new insights from these harrowing, tragic, and even juicy stories. Crumb’s Book of Genesis reintroduces us to the bountiful tree lined garden of Adam and Eve, the massive ark of Noah with beasts of every kind, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by brimstone and fire that rained from the heavens, and the Egypt of the Pharaoh, where Joseph’s embalmed body is carried in a coffin, in a scene as elegiac as any in Genesis. Using clues from the text and peeling away the theological and scholarly interpretation that have often obscured the Bible’s most dramatic stories, Crumb fleshes out a parade of Biblical originals: from the serpent in Eden, the humanoid reptile appearing like an alien out of a science fiction movie, to Jacob, a “kind’ve depressed guy who doesn’t strike you as physically courageous,” and his bother, Esau, “a rough and kick ass guy,” to Abraham’s wife Sarah, more fetching than most woman at 90, to God himself, “a standard Charlton Heston-like figure with long white hair and a flowing beard.”

As Crumb writes in his introduction, “the stories of these people, the Hebrews, were something more than just stories. They were the foundation, the source, in writing of religious and political power, handed down by God himself.” Crumb’s Book of Genesis, the culmination of 5 years of painstaking work, is a tapestry of masterly detail and storytelling which celebrates the astonishing diversity of the one of our greatest artistic geniuses.

Nominated for three 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: Best Adaptation from Another Work, Best Graphic Album, Best Writer/Artist.(less)

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published October 19th 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Graphic Novels

217th out of 1,500 books — 3,022 voters

Required Reading Graphic Novels

170th out of 575 books — 922 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 11, 2010 Eddie Watkins rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the R. Crumb I like – maximal attention to sensuous line in each frame and each page a striking composition, robustly earthy and nerdy, sober (even dry), and “scholarly” (in his adherence to the text and his insistence on illustrating every chapter), clear-headed and clear-eyed and even wise in his way. This is not Crumb trying to shock or Judeo-Christian bash. This is Crumb directly confronting one of the most powerful texts on the planet and bringing it down to earth; no mysticism, no...more

18 likes · like · see review

Sep 16, 2010 Malbadeen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics-graphic-novels

What I'm gonna give R. Crumb less than 5 stars? and God, I'm gonna give R. Crumb and God less than 5 stars? I had a shitty enough day I don't want to add lightening or the wrath of comic nerds to the list of what happened.

I especially liked that the begate verses. I think it's technically called something different but it's the one that goes ________begate_________ who begate___________ who begate______etc. The page that depicts these verses is full of these little tiny boxes of profile drawing...more

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 10, 2010 Esteban del Mal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, jesus-take-the-wheel

God. There's no talking to that guy.

Now, if only Sergio Aragones could be persuaded to illustrate one of the Gospels.

***

An interview with R. Crumb from the Paris Review (thank you to Eddie).

7 likes · like · see review

Aug 03, 2010 Jason Coleman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Crumb does illustrate the Bible's racier aspects--from Sodom and Gomorrah to all the endless "begetting"--but (this time at least) he's not out to titillate. He's just trying to bring this bizarrely influential desert tribe to life for us, and that means stripping away all the Cecil B. DeMille jazz and giving us insecure, atavistic people and warm bodies lying in tents--with a god just as unpredictable as anything in the Greek myths playing with their fate.

In his notes, Crumb seems to be just a...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 19, 2013 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars

How to rate such a book?

Five stars for the artistry, the detailed work, the cleverness, the attention to detail, heck, just the effort that must have gone into it?

Or zero stars for the mind-numbing stories contained in the book of Genesis? One of the best things I've heard about the Bible is that if you came across it in a bookstore, opened and skimmed a few pages, you'd immediately put it down and continue browsing. There is no doubt that this is true (and if anyone knows who said this, please...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Spencer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, favorites, wishlist

Illustrations of basically every verse of Genesis including so and so laid with so and so. Not for kids.
Things i liked:
Eve has a gap tooth
Everyone wears tattered rags and looks "pre-hygenic"
God smelling a burnt sacrifice with a delicious satisfied look on his face
The look on noahs face of being completely overwhelmed
Human corpses floating in the water around the ark
The look on the faces of Abrahams men waiting in line to be circumcised
Illustrations of every person who was begat, often with a pic...more

1 like · like · see review

May 08, 2013 Matthew Tree rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I was a pre-teen, I tried to read the Bible, thinking that a daily reading would keep the evil spirits I sensed all around me at bay (hey, I was twelve). I only got as far as Deuteronomy before deciding the spirits were easier to handle than all those endless descriptions of laws and lineages. It took Mr Crumb to bring me back to the beginning, with his fabulously addictive illustrations of Genesis (the text of which is provided in its entirety). I'd forgotten that all those extraordinarily...more

like · see review

Aug 07, 2012 David A. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My Year of Overdue Books continues with The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, a legend in underground/indie comics from the late 1960s and 1970s, who has long been fascinated by Jewish history and heritage, and who thus took on this 2009 book as something of a passion project. I was a bit dubious, frankly. I don't remember the circumstance, but someone in the media contacted me about it before its release--likely because of my 2004 book Comic Book Character, which made me an expert in the...more My Year of Overdue Books continues with The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, a legend in underground/indie comics from the late 1960s and 1970s, who has long been fascinated by Jewish history and heritage, and who thus took on this 2009 book as something of a passion project. I was a bit dubious, frankly. I don't remember the circumstance, but someone in the media contacted me about it before its release--likely because of my 2004 book Comic Book Character, which made me an expert in the eyes of some (though surely not in the eyes of God or R. Crumb). I looked through some of the frames that had been pre-released to the public, including the opening frame, in which an impossibly white old man with a timelessly flowing beard held the gestating universe in his hands. I thought--and tried to communicate to the media as respectfully and professionally as possible--Give me a break.

Then I got the book for Christmas from my mother-in-law, who is very generous and attentive to the kinds of things that I might like. I received it with a thank-you, then took it to my office, where I work as an editor for a religious publisher. I thought my coworkers would get a kick out of it; they did--the entire academic editorial staff (a systematic theologian, a philosopher, a historical theologian and a biblical scholar) flipped through it for what seemed like hours while I tried to get work done. Then a visiting author saw it on my shelf and borrowed it, returning it about a month later with nothing but praise for it. Two years later I decided, Maybe I should finally read this thing.

First off, it's not for everyone. My comic book book offers a brief orientation guide for new readers of the genre; you can get an excerpt here. But if you've not read a lot of comic books, the progression from frame to frame, from text box to text box, might seem a bit intimidating at first. With the advent of reading online, of course, such reading is less alien now, but even so you might be further thrown by Crumb's graphic style and text treatment--thick, heavy lines that feel positively antique, which would seem appropriate given the text if the text weren't peppered so generously with exclamation points, the punctuation of late modernity. As much as this is the sacred text of Scripture (NOTHING LEFT OUT!), it is also unabashedly a work of R. Crumb.

So I entered this book dubious, but I came out of it a true believer. Crumb is as reverent as someone who takes his content to be mythology could be, and his reverence carries over even into the earthiest parts of the book of Genesis--which is, as it happens, quite earthy. There's lots of sex, graphically depicted; a fair bit of murder, graphically depicted; and a variety of other images you may never have allowed yourself to imagine, graphically depicted. (The world outside of Noah's ark is a stark case in point.) Crumb drives home a point that pastors sometimes make with a wink: the Bible is a grown-up book. The jacket for The Book of Genesis Illustrated says it straightforwardly: "ADULT SUPERVISION RECOMMENDED FOR MINORS.

So yeah, it's graphic. It's also reverent and insightful. Genesis has a lot of sex and violence, but it also has a lot of genealogies--begetting and begetting and begetting. Crumb's approach to that is remarkably human; sections of Scripture I often skip over in this case I read with pleasure, as Crumb presented distinct human beings with their loved ones in their element. The various altars of remembrance built throughout Genesis are made more real, more meaningful, by seeing not only what they may have looked like but how they may have been built (Jacob's pillar in Genesis 31 is an image that has stuck with me.) The tensions between people who are blood related but sworn enemies (Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Rachel and Leah, Joseph and his brothers) are palpable, and consequently whatever resolution takes place between them is greatly satisfying.

Crumb has done his research; his text notes are worth reading, although I give Genesis more authority than he does. For me Genesis is a sacred text, the first account of God interacting with human beings, establishing his posture toward the world he created, which involves love and frustration and self-sacrifice and redemptive action. For Crumb it is the earliest artifact of the Jewish people, an identity marker that explains much and little at the same time. For Crumb, Genesis is what it is; I suppose it is for me as well. Whatever that is, The Book of Genesis Illustrated was a delight to read and worth the wait.(less)

like · see review

Jan 25, 2012 Emilia P rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comic-books

Wow! This was shockingly literal!
The Book of Genesis is one weird and wonderful bunch of tales -- Abraham passes Sarah off as his sister twice and then his son does the same with Rebekah?, Joseph interprets all kinds of obvious dreams and gets to be like the boss of Egypt for them? That whole killing all the men in a city while they're recovering from circumcision? Yeah ... hm. Though these stories are difficult and sometimes confusing, it's nice to have them in totality rather than the conveni...more

like · see review

Sep 11, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book of Genesis, in comic form: "everything graphically depicted, nothing left out!"

Reading this comic version of Genesis made me think about how... bizarre some things in Genesis are. Lot's daughters, the "she's my sister" act, the concubines, etc. Crumb, the author/illustrator, makes a few notes in the back about how remnants of a matriarchal culture are still intact, which makes me really curious about matriarchies for one, and also opened my eyes to how little I understand Genesis. Jose...more

like · see review

Aug 02, 2011 Bradley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well, now I can officially say that I read the Book of Genesis! However, it wouldn't have been as nearly entertaining had it not been illustrated by R. Crumb. Couple thoughts...the story of Noah, Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel as well as Sodom and Gommorah are extremely short - less than a page or two. It seems like this Rebekah character controlled all of the early men's decisions in the Bible. It's funny to see that people lived to be 400 or 500 years old in the olden days but - today - have a...more

like · see review

Jul 31, 2011 Christopher F. added it · review of another edition

Couldn't ask for anything more. Lovely lovely book. It was a fine decision to include absolutely every word, and apparently a lot of research went into finding the right look of clothing, artifacts, etc. All of the people look like Ashkenazic Jews, and/or vaguely Mediterranean people, of the 20th century, but I have no quarrel with that; after all, that is the female physical type that Crumb seems to be attracted to throughout all his work, so it's fine to have Sarah, Eve, Rebecca, etc. looking...more Couldn't ask for anything more. Lovely lovely book. It was a fine decision to include absolutely every word, and apparently a lot of research went into finding the right look of clothing, artifacts, etc. All of the people look like Ashkenazic Jews, and/or vaguely Mediterranean people, of the 20th century, but I have no quarrel with that; after all, that is the female physical type that Crumb seems to be attracted to throughout all his work, so it's fine to have Sarah, Eve, Rebecca, etc. looking all, essentially, like the familiar aggressive, big-boned, strong-featured, steatopygous R. Crumb women. I also applaud the decision to render Jehovah the Creator as a stereotypical old white man with a long beard: any representation runs the risk of cliché, so might as well throw oneself right into it. However, Crumb veers from this, very subtly, in accordance with his understanding of the original figures that are translated as "God" in the King James Version are actually different ancient pantheistic deities—and when "the Lord" kills Er and Onan in chapter 38 Crumb shows him as an ordinary man, face partially hidden, dressed almost like a caveman, killing Er with a dagger in an alleyway at night and bludgeoning Onan with a rock in a field. There's really no dressing up the Old Testament sense of justice, is there?

Crumb's afterword and commentary are particularly interesting because he is attracted to some of the non-mainstream theories of prehistoric "matriarchy" championed by, e.g. Marija Gambutas. The source he cites is "Sarah the Priestess," a 1984 monograph by Savina Teubal, which as far as I can tell is quite, quite obscure. Crumb's commentary features the usual muddling of matrilineality and matriarchy and the usual leap of assuming that excavated female idols are evidence of "matriarchy." However—and writing here as someone whose professional activity includes close reading of mythological texts for clues to prehistoric kinship systems but who has never studied the Old Testament in this light—I must say that Teubal/Crumb make a compelling case for the story of Abraham and Sarah indicating matrilineality: they were, according to Talmudic tradition (though Crumb sticks only to the text and to Teubal's commentary), patrilateral half-siblings (same father, different mothers) who thus, in a matrilineal exogamous system but not in a patrilineal one, would be permitted to marry; and the repeated story of them representing themselves as siblings (a half-truth, though Crumb represents it as an out and out deception) in order to trick first Pharaoh and then Abimelech, resulting in Sarah being married to them, is so incoherent (i.e.: why would representing a woman as a sister rather than a wife make her seem *less* available??) that it can in my opinion be made sense of only as a polyandrous marriage strategy in a matrilineal system—redacted over the generations to conform to a shift toward patrilineality.

As for Lot and his daughters, that argument is weaker: yes, in a matrilineal system father-daughter sexual relations are not, strictly speaking, consanguineous incest, but nonetheless all matrilineal system at least discourage it and nearly all proscribe it as strongly as any other form of incest. This is a case of incest being resorted to in order to preserve a lineage, which is a globally common mythological trope, and in fact tends to be used to *highlight* a taboo through its violation. An example of this is Cain's mating with Eve, which is explicit in analogous versions of the myth but politely glossed over both in the Genesis that has come down to us and also—slightly surprisingly—in Crumb's illustrations.

I wonder now if Crumb will go on to do Exodus. I hope so. Leviticus would drag a bit, unless he actually *shows* all those laws being violated. Perhaps after Exodus he should skip right to Jonah, Job, and Revelation. Job, in particulary, is a spectacularly Crumb-ready text.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 06, 2011 Tyler Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010, read-in-2011

What better way to start the new year than with the Book of Genesis?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I think its probably worth mentioning the fact that I haven't read the Book of Genesis before; but from what I can tell Crumb includes the text here in its near entirety. Also, instead of lampooning or spoofing the text, as one might presume he would, Crumb instead depicts things clearly and thoughtfully. Yes, its in his trademark style, and yes all of his visual on display (for example, judging...more

like · see review

Mar 15, 2010 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

I heard about this book via an NPR interview with the illustrator. In the interview, Crumb talked about how he followed the original Hebrew text as closely as possible. I was intrigued to read an illustrated version of Genesis that was a respectful treatment, but well done.

One of the things I liked most about this version of Genesis was that Crumb left in many of the ambiguities of the original Hebrew. There are many places where it's unclear exactly who the pronoun "He" refers to - in most vers...more I heard about this book via an NPR interview with the illustrator. In the interview, Crumb talked about how he followed the original Hebrew text as closely as possible. I was intrigued to read an illustrated version of Genesis that was a respectful treatment, but well done.

One of the things I liked most about this version of Genesis was that Crumb left in many of the ambiguities of the original Hebrew. There are many places where it's unclear exactly who the pronoun "He" refers to - in most versions of the Bible that I am familiar with, the translators try to clarify the ambiguities. While that's great for some readers, I actually like knowing that the original text was ambiguous instead of reading one person's interpretation of what the author meant.

Crumb's introduction and commentary were fascinating. He makes a great point that the five books of Torah (the first books of the Old Testament) "are the oldest texts in continuous use in Western civilization." Unlike many ancient texts, these writings have never been lost and recovered. While Crumb says in the introduction that he does not believe the Bible to be the word of God, his treatment throughout was respectful and comments like this one reflect his acknowledgment of the power of the text.

In the commentary Crumb addresses some of the most disturbing - and confusing - parts of Genesis, such as when Abraham (not once, but twice) claims that Sarah is his sister, not his wife. Crumb's investigation into and explanation of the practices of Sumer, Babylon and Assyria and how they relate to the narratives in Genesis make sense to me and address the heavy emphasis on patriarchy in the Old Testament. I liked hearing what a non-Christian had to say about these passages. While we all bring our own biases to anything we write or read, Crumb pretty clearly laid out his own position, while some Christian writers claim to have no bias when they are actually trying to lead you to agree with their own interpretation.

So... who should read this book? That's a bit of a tough question for me. I hesitate to recommend this to many evangelical Christians, for fear that they will be offended by Crumb's treatment, even though I wasn't. If, like me, you want to see another view of Genesis, then read this. If you like the idea of having a visual representation to go along with some of the most famous stories in the Bible, this book is a good option. Just like The Red Tent gave me a mental image of what life was like living in tents in the desert, this illustrated version of Genesis gave me clear images of many of the characters who populate Genesis. It also highlighted for me the non-linear narrative format and made more starkly clear the disturbing components of these stories that I've yet to fully reconcile with my own beliefs.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 03, 2010 Doug Welch rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Matt Rickets, Tristy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Feb 03, 2010 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, graphic-novel, historical-fiction

For some reason, I found it so much easier to read this version of Genesis (or any book of the Old Testament) than when it's just text alone. Crumb's illustrations really bring the text to life in a way that makes the stories clear (even, or especially, the contradictory elements within the stories).

Crumb doesn't monkey with the text, using one of the best modern translations, but stays true to the source material and did a good job of including everything. There's a reverence for the stories he...more

like · see review

Jan 23, 2010 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

Yes, really, the Book of Genesis, illustrated by R. Crumb. No, it isn't a joke. Yes, it has the real text (a blend of a couple of different translations). Yes, he illustrates it seriously.

It's a little hard to sink into this at first, if you have any previous experience with R. Crumb. You keep looking for the jokes, the sex, the oddity. And then it starts to become just the Book of Genesis, illustrated. And then, after all of that, you start to notice how much sex, potential humor, and oddity th...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 04, 2010 Ramona rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading the Introduction to this illustrated version of The Book of Genesis, I almost didn't read it, but am glad I did. Crumb states he does not believe the Bible is the Word of God--that it is the words of men. In one sense of the word, he is correct. For those of us who are firm believers that the Bible is the Word of God, I must say I agree with his concept that the Bible is more than likely "inspired by God" since men wrote these words down. I found his illustrations to be fairly true...more

like · see review

Nov 29, 2009 Geordie Korper rated it 4 of 5 stars

If Borat interviewed Yahweh it would look like this. Crumb illustrates the word god as faithfully as he can, and well god comes off as kind of an ass. On the flip-side I have never been able to make it through Genesis in one go before. Crumb really humanizes the text. When every line is accompanied by an image of the people involved I was more able to see them as imperfect humans struggling to do what they think is right (or doing what they know not to be right). My moral compass would have poin...more

like · see review

Nov 03, 2009 Rtriptow rated it 1 of 5 stars

Crumb's illustrated Genesis is quite an amazing illustration accomplishment, but I'm afraid it's NOT quite a success. The artistry certainly is eyeball-boggling, but Crumb is so overly respectful of the source material that he doesn't add anything to it. There's no breath of life to it at all. My honest opinion is that it lacks in personality, just as the Bible itself does (for me). Now why is that...?

I think it's because the book of Genesis is itself an adaptation of oral tradition and suffers...more Crumb's illustrated Genesis is quite an amazing illustration accomplishment, but I'm afraid it's NOT quite a success. The artistry certainly is eyeball-boggling, but Crumb is so overly respectful of the source material that he doesn't add anything to it. There's no breath of life to it at all. My honest opinion is that it lacks in personality, just as the Bible itself does (for me). Now why is that...?

I think it's because the book of Genesis is itself an adaptation of oral tradition and suffers from ancient storytelling conventions. A large part of it is the language, which in antiquity would have been in repetition and verse: "And the Lord said..." "And so-and-so answered..." And this... And that... And then... This narrative would work around a campfire for unlettered people, but has no spontaneity on the printed page, no matter how well illustrated. I couldn't help thinking how much better the stories would work if Crumb had dropped most of the "ands" and many of the descriptions and just showed people talking to one another. It becomes oppressive. (I have similar issues with other ancient texts taken from oral tradition, like Beowulf and The Iliad. Always with Dawn's rosy-colored fingers, The Iliad -- where has Dawn been dipping her fingers?)

The "begats" are still a mind-number, for instance. For ancient people, I think those lists of names must have had resonance, they were all the names of leaders who became patriarchs of various tribes that surrounded them; and the "begats" establish heirarchy. Perhaps in the days before mass media and popular entertainment, folks had more interest in tracking genealogies and histories of this sort. It is amazing how much work Crumb puts into livening up the proceedings, with very human portraits of all the begotten individuals, but it's still quite anonymous to the modern reader, and he leaves intact all the tedious campfire cadences and recitations. Of course, the reader has to keep in mind that the "begats" and half the stories of biblical patriarchs swindling for birthrights or paying (in infinite detail) for fields or caves or wells are all ancient arguments to establish the legitimacy of the Israeli claim to the lands they took from the Canaanites. Still, it becomes somewhat of a blur.

This is true, also, in my opinion, of the big-name patriarchs and matriarchs of the stories. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob's personalities are pretty much interchangeable, as are Sarah, Rebeckah, Rachel -- tough authority figures playing the same power games with each other. I didn't really get a feel for any personality outside of maybe God, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and then Joseph at the very end. The rest was all a litany of "he (Abraham or Isaac of Noah or Jacob) sojourned here, found that wife, passed her off as his sister, knocked up her handmaid, committed some pretty big moral lapses and was still the chosen of God." These characters all look quite a lot alike, too -- especially the females. Crumb just doesn't do anything much to bring it life outside of the Bible text because he doesn't stray at all from Bible text.

So what is it, in the end? A guilt-ridden Catholic boy trying to atone for the excesses that made him famous in the first place? (less)

3 likes · like · see review

May 09, 2010 Levi rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wish I could post separate ratings for the art and the text of this book. R. Crumb, the illustrator, did a fantastic job filling this volume with gorgeously rendered, evocative black and white drawings that more than lived up to the task of portraying the events of this bizarre and confusing book. At times his drawings even served to help clarify some of these events, but more often than not the poor quality of the source text served to drag down the whole enterprise, despite Crumb's heroic ef...more I wish I could post separate ratings for the art and the text of this book. R. Crumb, the illustrator, did a fantastic job filling this volume with gorgeously rendered, evocative black and white drawings that more than lived up to the task of portraying the events of this bizarre and confusing book. At times his drawings even served to help clarify some of these events, but more often than not the poor quality of the source text served to drag down the whole enterprise, despite Crumb's heroic efforts.

The text, which doesn't seem to be attributed to any author (if I had written it, I certainly wouldn't have wanted my name associated with it) starts off with a hodgepodge of creation myths, and very quickly becomes an exercise in genealogy intermixed with repetitious story lines (at least three different characters, upon entering a new town, pretend their wives are their sisters, only for the wives to be flirted with and the head honchos in town to get all upset when they find out what's really going on - hilarious!) and the occasional adventure story, with constant meddling by a vindictive, conniving, petulant, seemingly all-knowing, all-powerful character variously referred to as "The Lord" and "El Shaddai," among other names. The two characters that start the whole thing off, Adam and Eve, are shown being created in three completely different ways, which is never explained. Impossible events are a commonplace, but more in a "hmmm, what kind of crazy crap could I make up next?" way than a Marquezian magical realism kind of way. Whole pages are taken up listing sons and sons of sons and their sons (no one seemed to have daughters back then, though there are always plenty of wives for those sons), with Crumb painstakingly drawing individual little faces for these dozens of characters, most of whom are never mentioned again. Hardly any of the characters are really developed in meaningful ways; they act out in one way or another for no apparent reason, and often with no consequences.

I could go on, but I think you probably get the picture. I certainly never would have read this work without Crumb's illustrations, but I'm not sure whether it's a good thing that I now have. Honestly, I think Mr. Crumb should vet his source material in the future, or team up with an editor who won't just throw him any old anonymous piece of crap in the slush pile.

5 stars for the drawing; I'll say 2 stars for the text.(less)

like · see review

Nov 05, 2009 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Done in graphic novel form, this unblinking depiction of every word of Genesis is a revelation. The begats, while tiresome in print and commonly skipped over for the odd looking names, are riveting when each is depicted as a very distinct individual. Many of the stories of moral ambiguity or outright brutality that are brushed over in print or preach form are laid out in full force by this format. The book clearly warns against unleashing the young on the text without parental supervision for th...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2010 Brendan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, comics, classics, philosophy-religion, fiction

It's interesting when someone famous for scandal does something not scandalous. The Book of Genesis is just such a work. There's some talk here and there about the book being scandalous, but I found this bishop's blog that said it best:

So, who are the people likely to take offense at this book? I guess it will be the people who (a) haven’t read it or (b) take offense at anything that involves bodies, sex, God or cultural intelligence. (link)

But America's filled with people who haven't actually...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 07, 2012 Pascale Plänk Steig rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

R. Crumb’s worked on this large-format volume for several years and beautifully retells the stories contained in the first book of the Bible: Adam and Eve, Jacob, Joseph being sold to Egypt, etc. This book in graphic novel format is a gem to look at and a pleasure to hold and to read.
As for the things I liked about this book that make it the best book I read in 2009, they are difficult to define; perhaps it was a combination of the pleasure of seeing these time-old stories one read as a child d...more

like · see review

May 26, 2012 Orion rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have tried unsuccessfully to read the bible cover-to-cover many times, often starting with a hotel room's Gideon bible. Genesis is very difficult for me to read and I have never before gotten through it. So it was with some hesitation I spent almost $30 on this edition.

Robert Crumb illustrations are excellent throughout. His approach is straightforward with "no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes." He uses the King James Version and a recent Robert Alter translation as his sources, did...more

like · see review

Feb 27, 2012 Owlbite rated it 5 of 5 stars

The cover says NOTHING LEFT OUT! True enough! I first saw this in museum exhibit form, the original panels framed and hung on the wall, and it was completely overwhelming and exhausting - in a good way. I did a lot of skipping over the begats and looked for the sex and violence, of which there is plenty. *hangs head in mock shame* Now having actually read through the book (which I've read before in a different format lol) as well as seeing the images, I suppose what I like best about this versio...more

like · see review

Oct 14, 2010 Mark Desrosiers rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, god-box

It's the Book of Genesis, with all the incest, polygamy, deviousness, drunkenness, murder, and lust you remember from when you were a kid -- but with R. Crumb's magnificent visual narrative accenting therepetitive, almost Mamet-like prose of the original stories. Really, this ranks with the Codex Seraphinianus as one of the strangest and most beautiful and monumental illustrated works in recent decades.

PLUS: the eight-page commentary at the end, where Crumb unveils the matriarchal sex-priestess...more

like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 Brad rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, madness, sick-and-twisted, religion, shite

Mos Eisley Space Port. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

Actually, Obi-Wan, I found a more wretched hive of scum and villainy some time ago, and it's called the Book of Genesis.

Before I detail the scum and villainy that abounds in Western Religion's founding document, let me just add that Genesis isn't even a good story. It contradicts itself repeatedly, its characterization is unappealing, and if it weren't for its historical importance it could...more

8 likes · like · see review

Nov 22, 2009 Lars Guthrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

A serious and scholarly work. It's ironic that 'religious' comic books, as Crumb points out in his introduction, elide passages that may be too much for comic book readers, although the publishers are presumably more inclined than some to view scripture as literally true. Lot's daughters ensuring that their line will be carried forward, for example. And while Crumb is as frank as ever and does not hesitate to interpret such incidents as sensually as possible, he can't be accused of leaving anyth...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 03, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed R. Crumb's illustrations of Genesis. As someone who was not raised with religion, and does not identify as either Jewish or Christian, the text itself doesn't do much for me. However, I did find it interesting to get to know this seminal story better. After all, it's the foundation of much of our Judeo-Christian Western culture! Crumb's illustrations are terrific and made it easier to understand some of the most redundant and confusing parts of the narrative. What I enjoyed most of all...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Not a manual for believers	2	16	Sep 21, 2012 07:15am

combine
Other Editions (9)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

Comics Artist R. Crumb on Illustrating the Bible

Add a comment

Flipping Through The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

Add a comment

Genres

Sequential Art > Comics

109 users

Sequential Art > Graphic Novels

105 users

Religion

59 users

Art

18 users

Sequential Art > Comix

12 users

Philosophy

11 users

Classics

9 users

Graphic Novels Comics

8 users

Fantasy > Mythology

7 users

Historical Fiction

7 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About R. Crumb

Robert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943)— is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.

Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has...more

More about R. Crumb...

Books by R. Crumb

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Het boek Genesis

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: The Book of Genesis
avg rating	preview: The Book of Genesis Goodreads rating: 3.99 (1687 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6371553-the-book-of-genesis?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327880600l/6371553.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6371553-the-book-of-genesis?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Book of Genesis by R. Crumb[/url]

The Book of Genesis

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website