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reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This is my second incredible experience with DK publishing in their big ideas collection. As comprehensive as a university survey class resource it is also incredibly accessible to the average reader. With no clear bias or preferential treatment to any singular religion signifying that one was more significant, I was actually shocked to see that some sections were not as hefty as I anticipated.
While it does not ignore the significance of what are seen as the more 'major' ones, and does an excellent job at providing both historical context and evolution, the writers do a remarkable job at not glazing over others in favor of the bigger 'names in the game'.
I was impressed by the attention given to several minority religions of the past and present. While it cannot of course include every faith, I rarely hear the Sami people mentioned in works that aren't very recent. The recognition also of the indigenous people of the pacific was lovely. Being published in 2013, I know it was long after that I had in my euro-centrist education even heard of the concept of the Dreaming from the Australian indigenous aboriginal peoples. There were also nods to the Maori peoples as well of those in parts of more northern Asia that don't get touched on. The inclusion of Baha'i was also a surprise. As a weaker area of mine, I was also very satisfied in how the various sects of the Hindi faith were laid out and the attention to the history and traditions of Sikhism.
One thing I've loved about this series is the chapter summaries. While some may see them as repetitive, I find their model of repeating the main theme "in context" key figures/works, before/after to fit the pieces we've seen before or in that section together would have been a study tool I would have loved in many of my survey classes as a student and would be a great tool to jog someone's memory if they wanted to revisit certain sections at a later date.
While it does not ignore the significance of what are seen as the more 'major' ones, and does an excellent job at providing both historical context and evolution, the writers do a remarkable job at not glazing over others in favor of the bigger 'names in the game'.
I was impressed by the attention given to several minority religions of the past and present. While it cannot of course include every faith, I rarely hear the Sami people mentioned in works that aren't very recent. The recognition also of the indigenous people of the pacific was lovely. Being published in 2013, I know it was long after that I had in my euro-centrist education even heard of the concept of the Dreaming from the Australian indigenous aboriginal peoples. There were also nods to the Maori peoples as well of those in parts of more northern Asia that don't get touched on. The inclusion of Baha'i was also a surprise. As a weaker area of mine, I was also very satisfied in how the various sects of the Hindi faith were laid out and the attention to the history and traditions of Sikhism.
One thing I've loved about this series is the chapter summaries. While some may see them as repetitive, I find their model of repeating the main theme "in context" key figures/works, before/after to fit the pieces we've seen before or in that section together would have been a study tool I would have loved in many of my survey classes as a student and would be a great tool to jog someone's memory if they wanted to revisit certain sections at a later date.
ameera_jr's review against another edition
5.0
A very informative yet simple encyclopedia about religions. Well organized and illustrated. Covers all the basic aspects of most of the religions.
Most importantly, it shows respects to all the different religious cultures.
Most importantly, it shows respects to all the different religious cultures.
misspalah's review against another edition
5.0
This is well written book. Every religion is sorted according to time of their emergence. Every page is so colorful and comprises with side notes, pictures and illustrations. I do think everybody should read it. This is an excellent book to understand every religion in every angle and aspect of it.
Correction on the page 265 :
*every Muslim baby will be recited prayer call (Azan for male, Iqamat for female) not shahadah as stated in the book . (Please correct me if the practices is vary in other country).
Correction on the page 265 :
*every Muslim baby will be recited prayer call (Azan for male, Iqamat for female) not shahadah as stated in the book . (Please correct me if the practices is vary in other country).
awesomelybadbooks's review against another edition
1.0
I want to start off this review by saying that I did not finish this book!
There are a lot of subjects that I don't know about that I want to know more about. Top among those subjects is religion. I've never been a religious person. Spiritual, perhaps, but never overly religious. My parents never forced me to go to church, they never really forced their religion upon me, and I've always been free to explore that area if I wanted to so I could ensure that my beliefs are what I want or envision them to be. I never really wanted to go exploring in that direction until recently, but I didn't want to go take a class at the local college because that's a chunk of change to spend with a chance that I'll still walk away potentially confused. Instead, I scoured the internet for books that may be of assistance to me. When I came upon this book, I thought it seemed like it would be a good fit.
It's not!
The book is beautifully laid out but, to my brain, it just adds to my confusion as I was trying to learn and absorb the material. The charts and pictures really don't add anything for me, they weren't helpful. The actual text itself? It was very, very repetitive and that's not how I learn. You can tell me something over and over again and I might never get it even after the fifteenth time! I was expecting a far more in depth look at each religion, prepared to be exposed to the beauty of each of them, and get sucked into the material in some sort of cohesive way. This was just repetitive and felt, to me, like it was all over the place. I'm not saying that this book would be bad for all individuals! No, it's just not how I learn.
I would recommend this if a wall of text is far too much (and it can be, absolutely!) for you and you need to have the visuals and the repetitiveness to absorb the material. My brain just wasn't equipped for this particular style.
There are a lot of subjects that I don't know about that I want to know more about. Top among those subjects is religion. I've never been a religious person. Spiritual, perhaps, but never overly religious. My parents never forced me to go to church, they never really forced their religion upon me, and I've always been free to explore that area if I wanted to so I could ensure that my beliefs are what I want or envision them to be. I never really wanted to go exploring in that direction until recently, but I didn't want to go take a class at the local college because that's a chunk of change to spend with a chance that I'll still walk away potentially confused. Instead, I scoured the internet for books that may be of assistance to me. When I came upon this book, I thought it seemed like it would be a good fit.
It's not!
The book is beautifully laid out but, to my brain, it just adds to my confusion as I was trying to learn and absorb the material. The charts and pictures really don't add anything for me, they weren't helpful. The actual text itself? It was very, very repetitive and that's not how I learn. You can tell me something over and over again and I might never get it even after the fifteenth time! I was expecting a far more in depth look at each religion, prepared to be exposed to the beauty of each of them, and get sucked into the material in some sort of cohesive way. This was just repetitive and felt, to me, like it was all over the place. I'm not saying that this book would be bad for all individuals! No, it's just not how I learn.
I would recommend this if a wall of text is far too much (and it can be, absolutely!) for you and you need to have the visuals and the repetitiveness to absorb the material. My brain just wasn't equipped for this particular style.