Customer Reviews

Funeral Customs (Forgotten Books)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First published in 1926,"Funeral Customs" by Bertram S.Puckle(was this REALLY his true name?)contains a wealth of information that is otherwise not readily available.Puckle's material,centered upon then prevailing customs in the british empire also includes practices from other lands as well as a treasure-trove of historical data concerning the origins of common funeral-related customs such as the wake,the bier,the procession,the repast,ect..As a repository of this otherwise obscure information,Puckle's book is invaluable..The problem is that Puckle is a biased reporter,and not an objective historian..Apparently Puckle found elaborate funerals,and funeral cutoms in general to be foolish wastes of money,and throw-backs to earlier"pagan" times,and as such his text is peppered with his own viewpoints.."disgusting excess""vulgar practice""mindless display" and other similiar opinions dis-color Puckle's otherwise interesting findings,making the book a tad difficult to read..Indeed,while Puckle's observations concerning the"dismal trade"(i.e.Funeral directors,morticians,ect)might be spot on,his resentment towards them ,his intense subjectivity,and his terse,often acidic statements about them mars his text beyond measure..

When I purchased this paperback and started reading it, I didn't realize that it has been used as a cited reference in several other books I own (I could tell by some of the sentences used). Even though the original was published about 1926, the writing in it isn't overly flowery or stilted: it's very easy to understand. This was a good spur of the moment purchase and an excellent addition to my collection of cemetery books. Forgotten Books also has some free PDF books and some pay e-editions, just not anything that work on my Kindle.