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Rag and Bone
by
Peter Manseau (Goodreads Author)
“Peter Manseau’s Rag and Bone reads like a novel, entertains like a television docudrama, and educates like the best college professor you ever had.” —Michael Shermer
By examining relics—the bits and pieces of long-dead saints at the heart of nearly all religious traditions—Peter Manseau delivers a book about life, and about faith and how it is sustained.
The result of
...morePaperback, 256 pages
Published
March 2nd 2010
by Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated
(first published 2009)
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A book about traveling to visit holy relics: what could be better than that? It could have been bigger, for one thing. It could have had illustrations, whether photographs, ephemera from Manseau's trips, or merely sketches. And it could have been arranged not the in order of Manseau's adventures, since one didn't necessarily build from and comment on the previous, but in chronological order of the relics. I found it hard to keep the history clear.
Manseau seeks out at least one fle...more
Manseau seeks out at least one fle...more
This book is one of my top 2009 reads; moreover before I sent it away I had to reread it :)
It is also probably most surprising reading experience I’ve had for a very long time. It’s a great travelog, it’s incredibly funny, equally educational, shocking (how surprising!), ticklingly blasphemous, and absolutely bizarre!
You really would not even imagine (if you’re unfamiliar with the world of relics like myself) what people are able to do with something (human origin) that conside...more
It is also probably most surprising reading experience I’ve had for a very long time. It’s a great travelog, it’s incredibly funny, equally educational, shocking (how surprising!), ticklingly blasphemous, and absolutely bizarre!
You really would not even imagine (if you’re unfamiliar with the world of relics like myself) what people are able to do with something (human origin) that conside...more
Manseau treats the subject of people's veneration of relics with kindness and respect. There was a lot to learn here, about the relics of others and our own religious, political and personal relics.
From page 11:
From page 11:
"While questions of relics' origins and provenance fascinate me, to see a finger believed to be that of John the Baptist is to see an object that people have come to kneel before and pray to for centuries. I am as interested in the stories it has inspired as in the story of th...more
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One of the most unique non-fiction books I've ever read. It really made me think, and was at times silly, repulsive and odd.
A few years ago I had the occasion to travel to eastern Orthodox lands.
In Istanbul, our student group visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and in their church building are the relics of St John Chrysostum. It was a sacred moment for me, one who's never considered relics worth considering.
On another occasion day of that trip, our group was hon...more
A few years ago I had the occasion to travel to eastern Orthodox lands.
In Istanbul, our student group visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and in their church building are the relics of St John Chrysostum. It was a sacred moment for me, one who's never considered relics worth considering.
On another occasion day of that trip, our group was hon...more
Though the subject matter of this book is profoundly interesting, this book is clearly a collection of individual essays rather than a book about this subject. The fascination with the remains of saints--such a subject would seem to be something that could write itself with a vast level of interest, and I started off this book rather peaked, but slowly my interest waned, as each chapter went through pretty much the same form of introduction-background-quirky character-letdown. This sequence mi...more
In this short but wonderfully entertaining book, Peter Manseau examines the cultural and theological significance of bits of dead people, and across a wide spectrum of faiths—Catholicism, Russian Orthodox, Buddhism, Islam—he finds surprising commonality in the status and meaning of relics. For religious (and sometimes secular) communities, relics are supremely important because they make elements of faith graspable and real.
Manseau describes his encounters with numerous far-flung rel...more
Manseau describes his encounters with numerous far-flung rel...more
Sen dúbida o libro que máis rápido papei nos últimos meses, pero non che me acabou de convencer. Eu ía todo hooligan do ateísmo e seareiro da sordidez, coa pirola de fóra, agardando un festival da ironía bruta sobre un dos aspectos máis delirantes das relixións, e levei nos fuciños. Porque isto é un libro de viaxes entretido e cheo de información, escrito por un xornalista e teólogo moi estadounidense, un tipo deses aos que a FE, a espiritualidade e as monxiñas lles parecen boa cousa - aínda que...more
Very entertaining read, especially if you,like me, like travel commentary. Nice series of travelogues collected as he spanned the globe visiting religious relics and the living people in charge of said relics. I particulary enjoyed the story about his visit to Jerusalem and his time with Saint Elizabeth and her Orthodox Nun keepers. Mostly because he paid such respect to the Sister with which he toured the holy site.
I was, however put off by the religious snark factor. I enjoy sar...more
I was, however put off by the religious snark factor. I enjoy sar...more
The author is a magazine editor, and it shows in his latest book. A travelogue and introduction to various relics of the world, it is pleasant to read and occasionally made me laugh out loud. Each chapter wraps up neatly, but sometimes tritely, like an article in a glossy magazine. Despite the rich topic, in his effort to make his writing accessible to every last person, he fails to make very many interesting conclusions or to delve very far into any topic or idea. He also manages to complet...more
Manseau writes about what seems to be the need and fascination among many peoples and religions for religious relics. Even those religions which deny relics officially have some item or other that is venerated.
From the first chapter about the Catholic St. Francis Xavier's uncorrupted body in Goa, India to the Muslim hair from the beard of the Prophet in Kashmir to the tooth of the Buddha in Sr Lanka, we are told some of the stories, the background, and attitudes toward these relic.
T...more
From the first chapter about the Catholic St. Francis Xavier's uncorrupted body in Goa, India to the Muslim hair from the beard of the Prophet in Kashmir to the tooth of the Buddha in Sr Lanka, we are told some of the stories, the background, and attitudes toward these relic.
T...more
This was an interesting nonfiction book. Manseau travels the world, visiting religious relics. Whether he's in a mosque in Aleppo, Syria, or a monastery in Goa, India, his travels and recounting of the history of relics are always interesting. Sometimes the book felt a little too breezy, and I would've liked a more traditional narrative structure. In the end, I was left wanting more, more information, more stories, more relics. Overall, a quick and enjoyable travelogue worth a read, especially f...more
Something of a romp through the world of relic adoration. We get chapters on Buddha's tooth, strands of hair from Mohammed' s beard, and my favorite, Jesus's foreskin - which some people think ended up as one of the rings around Saturn. This is a book to kick off a fatwah from any one of the world's major religions, but if you can check your righteousness at the door it's amusing and educational. I mean, prior to this book I've never given even half a thought to Jesus's foreskin, now it's din...more
Peter Manseau visits the remains of the world's holy dead people--St. Francis Xavier in India, the fund-raising Buddhist traveling relic exhibit (coming to a yoga studio near you!), the forensic examination of what might be Joan of Arc (it wasn't), the fired caretakers of Muhammad's beard hair in Kashmir, the feuding over the body of Ella Romanov by nuns representing the Russian Orthodox in America and Russian Orthodox Churches and the political use of a Buddha tooth by Myanmar monks to protest ...more
An irreverent romp through 3 continents and 20 centuries of relics.
""Those who believe in relics will rarely be presuaded they are anything other than what their faith says they are; those who suppose all relics are frauds will likewise rarely be persuaded that there is any value in the belief they inspire. p. 132
Muslim and Buddhist relics are also included in this world wide travalogue and of those who make pilgrimages to be in their presence.
""Those who believe in relics will rarely be presuaded they are anything other than what their faith says they are; those who suppose all relics are frauds will likewise rarely be persuaded that there is any value in the belief they inspire. p. 132
Muslim and Buddhist relics are also included in this world wide travalogue and of those who make pilgrimages to be in their presence.
I am loving this book. Manseau is a model for how to present complicated information in an easy-to-read style. The anecdotes are priceless! Today I could not stop laughing when I discovered that a 17th century custodian of the Vatican library proposed that Jesus's foreskin had become Saturn's newly-discovered ring. For the whole story on Jesus's foreskin, read this book!
A good book as far as it goes, but it tends to come off more as a series of essays or impressions and less like a cohesive book. Manseau also tries a little too hard to be quirky at times. However, he handled the subject with respect and obvious interest, and I thought it was largely well done. I'm just disappointed that there wasn't more depth.
A little hard to get through because each chapter seems to follow the same setup. However it was interesting, funny but respectful and thought-provoking. When I finished it I wondered though why we place so much importance on parts of dead "saints" but regret to see our modern day "saints" right in front of us.
Not exactly an exhaustive examination of religious relics, nor does it try to be. Instead, this book explores the concept of religious relics as they have existed in the past and how they get by today, and includes extensive information on a few selected relics that seem pretty representative of the whole concept. It's not a reverent account, which made it more appealing for me, but it is respectful. Really, what it was lacking was a clear chronology (there simply isn't one, nor any overarching ...more
This was a fun read, with a generous sprinkling of the absurd. I do not know how much I learned about religion, but I had a fun time reading this. I felt smart reading the chapter on Buddhism since I had read its main source, "Jewel in the Ashes," in school.
Surprisingly light considering it's all about the theft of revered human body parts. I appreciated the author's inclusion of major faiths other than Catholicism with regard to relics, and knowing he is a theology phD candidate at Georgetown lends credibility to some of the facts that would be otherwise hard to research and verify. Quirky little read!
I am getting into social aspect books. I saw this one at Borders a while back, and finally checked it out. It didn't keep me as interested as I had hoped, in terms of really looking forward to sitting down with it each day, but it was definitely interesting to see how different cultures and religions take care of what they consider the holy dead. What are considered relics, how people go about getting them, etc. The extent people go (for example, a woman went to "kiss" a spiritual ...more
Interesting but...I kind of wanted the author to have a little more intellectual curiosity about the true nature of the relics. Rather than confront the fact that most of them are fakes, he kind of says at the end that it doesn't really matter. But if it doesn't matter, why is he so cagey about identifying them either way? and if, as he says, it's almost more interesting if they are NOT real, I need a bit more from him about the WHY of these particular relics. It felt like there was an eleph...more
The author does make you feel that you're with him on his adventures throughout the world as he seeks relics and those who also search them out. It's something of a 'light' book in that it's not very long and the reading is easy, not scholarly or intimidating. I really liked reading his observations on the different cultures he encountered along the trips he took. Nicely done.
Had high hopes for this. Ended up feeling like I was reading a kid's termpaper. Worked well on my insomnia.
A quick read. Very interesting take on the worship and philopsophy of relics from around the world.
A fascinating and non-secular look at holy relics from several religions.
This book had it's moments. So I would have to say it was uneven.
About relics and the people who love them!
The book would have gained to be more structured and longer. It was however very pleasant to read, even if religion isn't one of my favorite interests.
A thought-provoking examination of the disconnect between most religious traditions' emphasis on spirituality and their veneration of physical relics. Manseau traces not only the Christian history of treasuring relics, but the parallel practices in Hindiusm, Buddism, and Islam. The book is composed of a series of essays, each focusing on one particular relic. The writing can grow a bit dry at moments, but overall, it's quite interesting.
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“No other foreskin could have caused such trouble.”
—
3 people liked it
“THAT NO ONE knows what happened to Jesus’s foreskin is particularly interesting because there used to be upwards of a dozen in circulation.”
—
1 person liked it
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