The Illustrated Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 6, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684818507
• ISBN-13: 978-0684818504
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #417,406 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History Buffs welcome!, February 25, 2001

A Kid's Review

The Illustrated Golden Bough; A study in magic and religon, was a well written book that I would reccomend to those with a bit of time on their hands. It was thorough in it's information, but lacked a spicy sense of humor that would keep the reader glued to the pages. For those of you that are interested in history, this is a must read. It includes stuff from before Christianity and way into the witch doctors. I loved how it wrote about magic, without judging it. Over all, it was a little dry, but very informative.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Idea, July 12, 2008

By	Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

Frazer's weighty, scholarly, 12 volume work about the beginnings of magic and religion is one of those works that have left a huge, huge, huge, and also really big footprint in our understandings of anthropology, psychology, history, Jungian studies, Freudian studies, film, visual art, and religion. I like to think of the Victorian/Edwardian Frazer as an Ur Joseph Campbell.

But how many lay readers are going to dig into his 12 volumes?

Thus, a brilliant idea. Editor Robert Temple gives us a severely edited, glossy-papered Frazer with a strong focus on the concept of sympathetic magic. And the pictures. They travel in ways that Frazer's prose wants to travel. The images range from archeological artifacts to 19th century oils, to contemporary photographs, to woodcuts. They are rich, multi-faceted, beautiful. They fill me with awe and make my mind jump about.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An influential work on four 20th century seminal works, October 4, 2007

By	Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is a seminal work because it had a crucial influence on four important works of the twentieth century: T. S. Elliott's poem the Waste Land, Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, and Francis Ford Coppolla's movie Apocalypse Now, screenplay by John Milius.

Sir James George Frazer's book written in 1922 was a groundbreaking work on ancient religion, paganism, and roots of early Christianity. Frazer does an in-depth examination of the sacrificial killing of god-kings to ensure bountiful harvests, which Frazer traces through several cultures, including in his elaborations the myths of Adonis, Osiris, and Balder.

Frazer spent his life writing fifteen volumes of history of myth and religion. This book sums up his theory of magic and its connections to paganism, as well as fusing ideas from Jessie L. Weston's book From Ritual To Romance and Gnostic texts that serve as a link to early Christianity's influence from ancient nature cults. His chapter titles say much about where his work goes and why it is so influential on iconic twentieth century works. The King of the Wood explains the original nature of the task imposed upon the hero, it undoubtedly influenced both Campbell's and Coppola's works. The Myths of Adonis, Attis, and Osiris looks to establish a chain of descent connecting early Aryan and Babylonian ritual with classic, Medieval and modern forms of nature worship. Our Debt to the Savage explains the role of the Medicine Man or doctor in fertility ritual. The Killing of the Devine King analyzes how this title is prevalent in so many of humankind's legends, and was a definite influence on Coppola's Colonel Kurtz character. Sacrifice of the King's Son regarded as an object of awe certainly influenced The Da Vinci Code.

Frazer's book is interesting and fun to read. I especially became interested in it from the movie Apocalypse Now. There is a scene in the movie that shows Colonel Kurtz's nightstand in his cave. Weston's book is one of three on the nightstand. The other two are Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which the film is based on. The other book is Jessie L. Weston's book From Ritual To Romance. Anyone wanting to understand the movie Apocalypse Now, especially the character of Colonel Kurtz, and what Milius and Copolla were trying to tell their audience need to read these three books!

As a graduate student reading in philosophy and history I recommend this book for anyone interested in literature, myth, history, philosophy, religion and fans of Apocalypse Now.