Customer Reviews

Damned: An Illustrated History of the Devil

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Ah, the Devil. I've always been intrigued by the guy. From a brief foray into the Church of Satan in high school to a more academic interest in college, I've long been interested in the way religion and society attempt to explain the darker side of human existence. So I was rather delighted to receive this book as (irony alert) a Christmas present.

I was not disappointed. This is one gorgeous tome. The illustrations are striking and the commentary insightful and illuminating (if a bit brief). In particular, the section on medieval depictions of Satan is stunning...there is a creatively unsettling streak to those images which has yet to be matched. I do think the book fizzles out towards the end, as it enters modernity, but perhaps this is simply because us modern enlightened people have little use for devils and demons anymore. At any rate, pictures of the devil as a medium for advertising just don't compare to paintings of a triumphant King of Hell torturing the wicked.
Lastly, I had hoped that perhaps this book would take a little time to look at how non-Christian cultures have viewed the Devil or similar beings (like the Talmudic Lilith or the Arabic Shaitan). Even without that hope fulfilled, this is still a worthy and enlightening read. If you've got any sympathy for the devil, you'd do well to check this out.

I FOUND THE PICTURES TO BE QUITE GOOD. SADLY, THE TEXT WAS SPARSE AND IN THE CASE OF THE MOVIES, I WONDER IF THE AUTHOR HAS SEEN THE MOVIES HE TALKS ABOUT. FOR INSTANCE: HE STATES THAT "...DR. PRETORIUS TEACHES FRANKENSTEIN HOW TO PRODUCE A FEMALE VERSION OF HIMSELF IN ORDER TO OVERCOME HIS CRUSHING LONELINESS." FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER ARE TWO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. THE BRIDE WAS CREATED BY DR. FRANKENSTEIN, NOT BY THE MONSTER. HE MAKES IT SOUND LIKE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT FOR THE BRIDE AND THE MONSTER. THIS MAY BE TRUE FROM THE MONSTER'S PERSPECTIVE, BUT THE BRIDE TAKES AN ALMOST IMMEDIATE DISLIKE TO THE MONSTER.

HE ALSO DESCRIBES THE FREDDIE KRUGER'S INCARNATION AS "...DECAYED LIKE A HUMAN CADAVER..." FREDDIE IS SCARRED BY THE BURNS HE RECEIVED IN THE FIRST MOVIE. HE IS NOT DECAYED.

HASN'T THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY SEEN THESE MOVIES? OR IS HE BASING HIS SUMMATIONS ON THE POSTERS AND STILLS HE SEES? HE SHOULD STICK TO THE PAINTINGS AND AREAS OF HIS EXPERTISE. WHEN HE GETS SOME THINGS WRONG, THEN ALL THE REST OF HIS SUMMATIONS BECOME SUSPECT.

MY RATING IS BASED ON THE PICTURES, NOT THE TEXT.

It owns up to its title, An Illustrated History of the Devil. The text is sparce and not that great, but there are oodles of images. Lots of old stand bys in terms of images of the devil, but some different, more rare images, worth having, but a little light on new or unusual works.