Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
I would have given 5 stars if it wasn't for my repugnance toward rhetorical questions in writing. Unfortunately, Greenblatt seems to very much enjoy them...
Very well researched but incredibly dense, I found it impossible to be engaged by the writing style. DNF at just over one third
A gloriously intelligent study of the Adam and Eve story's impact on art, literature, and theology.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Swerve" investigates the most famous origin story of human kind. The tale of Adam and Eve, actually, is not "original". there were the models before the Old Testament. First, he introduces the true original works, such as Babylonian myth "Enuma Elish", Akkadian epic "the Atra-Hasis", Epic of Gilgamesh, an allegedly pseudepigrapha "the life of Adam and Eve", and Nag Hamadi Library which contains contradictory contents against the Bible.
In the main part, the author deliberately introduced the lives of Augustine, Durer and Milton. The common point among the three historically public figures is that they were deeply obsessed with the story of Adam and Eve. Without it, there would not have been "The City of God", "Paradise Lost", "Adam and Eve", significantly influential works in antiquity-to-middle-ages theology, literature, and art. His depiction reveals how, not only the three figures but also the whole Western civilization has been obsessed with Adam and Eve and the notion of Original Sin.
This book contains in "A Sampling of Origin Stories" part many variations of Adam and Eve all over the world. The list covers even Africa and Melanesia and North America (Great Plains), the versions that I haven't heard of at all. The similar origin story seems widely prevailed.
Interestingly, there is no Adam-and-Eve like origin story in Japan, and probably in other Asian countries. Japanese origin story of human kind, "Izanagi and Izanami" is quite unlike. They seem in a meaning shameless and the supreme god Amaterasu enjoyed a naked goddess' dance.
I have long felt that the feeling of shame especially about being naked is different from Western one and most Asian people don't have the notion of Original sin, consequently the attitude to God(s) should vary. This enlightening book made me become convinced of it.
In the main part, the author deliberately introduced the lives of Augustine, Durer and Milton. The common point among the three historically public figures is that they were deeply obsessed with the story of Adam and Eve. Without it, there would not have been "The City of God", "Paradise Lost", "Adam and Eve", significantly influential works in antiquity-to-middle-ages theology, literature, and art. His depiction reveals how, not only the three figures but also the whole Western civilization has been obsessed with Adam and Eve and the notion of Original Sin.
This book contains in "A Sampling of Origin Stories" part many variations of Adam and Eve all over the world. The list covers even Africa and Melanesia and North America (Great Plains), the versions that I haven't heard of at all. The similar origin story seems widely prevailed.
Interestingly, there is no Adam-and-Eve like origin story in Japan, and probably in other Asian countries. Japanese origin story of human kind, "Izanagi and Izanami" is quite unlike. They seem in a meaning shameless and the supreme god Amaterasu enjoyed a naked goddess' dance.
I have long felt that the feeling of shame especially about being naked is different from Western one and most Asian people don't have the notion of Original sin, consequently the attitude to God(s) should vary. This enlightening book made me become convinced of it.
Este libro es una auténtica joya a nivel cultural y estético, recomendadísimo
informative
reflective
medium-paced
There's nothing particularly new here -- it's a synthesis of various perspectives on Adam and Eve, and although Greenblatt does a good job of discussing various writers and artists (the Milton section is the best, in my opinion) he doesn't add enough of his own perspective.
Very good book on the mother of origins stories, its impact on ancient and modern religions, and its evolution through time. Greenblatt gives an overview of the most important authors and artists on the topic through history (the Babylonians, Abrahamic religions, early Christian scholars, Augustine, Dürer, Milton, Bayle, Voltaire, Twain and Darwin). I especially enjoyed how he placed their respective additions in their times and the general neutral tone (yet not afraid to mention controversial views).
I can't begin to describe how much I love Greenblatt's books. (I've read this and Swerve, Will in the World is next.)
Tracing an idea from its origins—no matter how distant—to its impact on modern thought is, of course, not new. What is exceptional is the clarity with which Greenblatt writes, and his insatiable curiosity and passion for his subjects, both of which are evident in every word.
Throw in a natural talent for storytelling and it becomes obvious how Greenblatt hooks his readers (at least this reader). He's generous without being patronizing, informs without pretentiousness, digresses without losing his thread.
Rise and Fall is no different. Greenblatt starts in ancient Babylonia with the Jewish exile there, noting how that experience must have impacted the writers of Genesis. He traces the Genesis story from those humble beginnings to Augustine and his insistence on transforming what had largely been considered allegory into a literal interpretation. Eventually we reach Milton and his attempt to shape Adam and Eve into real (almost too real) people of flesh and blood. Finally, we reach the modern day.
Along the way, of course, Greenblatt marvels at how the history of Adam and Eve has paralleled the history of our species. Not one for religious dogma, he does not condemn religion or the religious along the way. Instead, his awe for the story told within those opening pages of the Bible is always evident, always kind, always curious.
The result is a generous, fascinating read.
Tracing an idea from its origins—no matter how distant—to its impact on modern thought is, of course, not new. What is exceptional is the clarity with which Greenblatt writes, and his insatiable curiosity and passion for his subjects, both of which are evident in every word.
Throw in a natural talent for storytelling and it becomes obvious how Greenblatt hooks his readers (at least this reader). He's generous without being patronizing, informs without pretentiousness, digresses without losing his thread.
Rise and Fall is no different. Greenblatt starts in ancient Babylonia with the Jewish exile there, noting how that experience must have impacted the writers of Genesis. He traces the Genesis story from those humble beginnings to Augustine and his insistence on transforming what had largely been considered allegory into a literal interpretation. Eventually we reach Milton and his attempt to shape Adam and Eve into real (almost too real) people of flesh and blood. Finally, we reach the modern day.
Along the way, of course, Greenblatt marvels at how the history of Adam and Eve has paralleled the history of our species. Not one for religious dogma, he does not condemn religion or the religious along the way. Instead, his awe for the story told within those opening pages of the Bible is always evident, always kind, always curious.
The result is a generous, fascinating read.