Scan barcode
careinthelibrary's review
2.0
I had to read this for a history class, and definitely wouldn't have finished it except that I needed to for school. The first two chapters were really dense and dry, but the book improved as I kept reading. Great in regard to being a vast wealth of info on all aspects of the Aztec world, not for light reading.
buang83's review against another edition
3.0
Soustelle's book in Aztec life is very detailed. It tries to cover a variety of things through 7 chapters in dealing with things like war, social status, birth, death, marriage ceremony, etc. In it, the author takes the reader through activities of the different social classes in some detail.
What this book does not do, however, is directly cite many primary or secondary sources that are listed in the bibliography. Instead, we must assume that the author is correctly summarizing them. This can make reading the book a bit tiresome for some readers. The only time this trend is broken is near the end of the book in which Mr. Soustelle uses a few translated poems by classical Nahuatl speakers from the time period leading up to the Spanish conquest.
"Daily Life" also shows some serious dating in evaluating Nahuatl philosophy & thought. He continuously treats Aztec religion as polytheistic in the mode of the Greeks & Romans. He also almost never mentions teotl or ometeotl - central to the dualistic pantheistic thought that was the underlying core of this society as well as many other mesoamerican societites. That & the continuous use of Western European terms that can confuse a reader.
Overall, the reader will learn some new things from this book. But newer books will shed more light on this subject.
What this book does not do, however, is directly cite many primary or secondary sources that are listed in the bibliography. Instead, we must assume that the author is correctly summarizing them. This can make reading the book a bit tiresome for some readers. The only time this trend is broken is near the end of the book in which Mr. Soustelle uses a few translated poems by classical Nahuatl speakers from the time period leading up to the Spanish conquest.
"Daily Life" also shows some serious dating in evaluating Nahuatl philosophy & thought. He continuously treats Aztec religion as polytheistic in the mode of the Greeks & Romans. He also almost never mentions teotl or ometeotl - central to the dualistic pantheistic thought that was the underlying core of this society as well as many other mesoamerican societites. That & the continuous use of Western European terms that can confuse a reader.
Overall, the reader will learn some new things from this book. But newer books will shed more light on this subject.
stinekristin's review against another edition
4.0
A very good, in-depth, and orderly account of the Aztec civilisation and culture.
The first two chapters were slighly tame at times, but considering it centers around the main cities of the Aztec Empire; the architecture, the population, it's origin story, weath and poverty, and the general appearance of the cities, it can become tedious if you're not particularily interested in architecture and standards of living.
However, the chapters after the first two are highly engaging and well-written. This is exactly the kind of book I love to read about ancient cultures; not so much the politics and general history, but rather a thorough review and account of the people there - what they ate, how they dressed, what their houses looked like, their education, literature, family and social life, rituals and religion, the construction of society, the philosophy of their time and their world.
I hate to sound like the People's Front of Judea, but I'm getting really bored of the Romans now when every book I pick up about the Roman Empire is all about the politics and general view of the time. I want the ordinary, common life of the people.
And I find it especially interesting when reading about the people of ancient Mexico because their ways of life, the culture, and philosophy is so vastly different from the European civilisations of the time, and even now.
A very well-written, informative, and engaging book on the people of all classes of the Aztec Empire.
The first two chapters were slighly tame at times, but considering it centers around the main cities of the Aztec Empire; the architecture, the population, it's origin story, weath and poverty, and the general appearance of the cities, it can become tedious if you're not particularily interested in architecture and standards of living.
However, the chapters after the first two are highly engaging and well-written. This is exactly the kind of book I love to read about ancient cultures; not so much the politics and general history, but rather a thorough review and account of the people there - what they ate, how they dressed, what their houses looked like, their education, literature, family and social life, rituals and religion, the construction of society, the philosophy of their time and their world.
I hate to sound like the People's Front of Judea, but I'm getting really bored of the Romans now when every book I pick up about the Roman Empire is all about the politics and general view of the time. I want the ordinary, common life of the people.
And I find it especially interesting when reading about the people of ancient Mexico because their ways of life, the culture, and philosophy is so vastly different from the European civilisations of the time, and even now.
A very well-written, informative, and engaging book on the people of all classes of the Aztec Empire.
antij's review against another edition
5.0
A really interesting and informative book. It does an excellent job of making the Aztecs feel like a three-dimensional people instead of the one-dimension most sources show them as.
More...