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The Golden Bough

James George Frazer

Paperback | Pages: 880 pages

Rating: 4.03 | 7604 Users | 302 Reviews

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Original Title:	The Golden Bough
ISBN:	0684826305 (ISBN13: 9780684826301)
Edition Language:	English
Setting:	Persia Egypt India …more Arabia Asia Major Siam …less

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A world classic. "The Golden Bough" describes our ancestors' primitive methods of worship, sex practices, strange rituals and festivals. Disproving the popular thought that primitive life was simple, this monumental survey shows that savage man was enmeshed in a tangle of magic, taboos, and superstitions. Revealed here is the evolution of man from savagery to civilization, from the modification of his weird and often bloodthirsty customs to the entry of lasting moral, ethical, and spiritual values.

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Title	:	The Golden Bough
Author	:	James George Frazer
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Abridged
Pages	:	Pages: 880 pages
Published	:	December 1st 1995 by Touchstone Books (first published 1890)
Categories	:	Nonfiction. Fantasy. Mythology. Religion. History. Anthropology. Classics. Philosophy

Rating Of Books The Golden Bough

Ratings: 4.03 From 7604 Users | 302 Reviews

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AcknowledgementsIntroductionNote on the TextSelect BibliographyA Chronology of Sir James George Frazer--The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion [Abridged]Explanatory NotesIndex

This is an abridgment of a much larger work by Frazer that compiles, categorizes and interprets the belief systems of very old cultures. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the extensive listing of examples that Frazer provides unless these are viewed as attempts by these cultures to understand and control nature through magical practices. These practices for Frazer appear to manifest deeper structures surrounding human need and fear. In short, Frazer writes, they reflect "the essential

It's a really profound and interesting study of the origins of mythology and religion.Since it's extensively referenced as being a great influence on the early 20th century literature, I just had to read it. I strongly recommend it to everybody who is interested in the origins of modern literature and poetry, since it explains a lot of themes and motives that were developed by the major modernist writers.

It's important to bear in mind that this book is almost 100 years old, and therefore some of the author's attitudes are . . . narrow-minded, to say the least. However, Frazer is more open than usual for his time, I think, and his look at folkloric and religious customs is exhaustive. (I read the abridged version, which was over 800 pages long and meandered widely through numerous cultures, so I can only imagine what the unabridged Golden Bough is like.) He ties a great many disparate ideas

The classic book of comparative mythology. Between this and Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces," I came to realize the universality of belief in the dead and reborn demigod at the heart of nearly all the world's religions. (edit) Like this review? yes 0 comments .

I read this years ago when I was in my twenties and I remember this book making quite an impression. I am even more impressed with the ideas covered in it. The religious beliefs about sacrifice, ritual and dying and rising gods, and vegetation symbolism for this death and rebirth and ritualistic eating of the god and the cycle of seasons and stars. I hope I am hinting at a common pattern in mythology that would later be picked up by maybe at least one of the world's major religions. This book is