Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 108
5 year old and I love it March 8, 2010
Mother Brown
I read this aloud to my 5 year old. Yes, you might think it's unsuitable, and indeed it is. But it was totally gripping, thought-provoking reading, for both of us; she kept begging for more every night. I was surprised that the illustrations are not as off-putting as I'd feared. There are plenty of breasts and buttocks, but not in every frame. And the book itself is, of course, pretty awesome stuff. Highly recommend, for all ages.
A Worthy Effort March 1, 2010
W. Milton Timmons (Van Nuys, CA United States)
R. Crumb states in his introduction that his main literary sources were the "King James Version" of the Bible (presumably the 1895 revision), plus "The Five Books of Moses," translated by Robert Alter in 2004. He says that "in a few places I ventured to do a little interpretation of my own, if I thought the words could be made clearer, but I refrained from indulging too often in such `creativity,' and sometimes let it stand in its convoluted vagueness rather than monkey around with such a venerable text."
Of course, the very act of illustration is a matter of interpretation, but Crumb says that, even though he is not a believer, he did not allow himself to indulge in ridicule. Apparently he hoped to sell this book primarily to believers who would buy it for their children. On the cover, however, there is a blurb that warns "Adult supervision recommended for minors." He says he did extensive research into ancient Hebrew culture, including clothing styles, architecture, and geography of the period - which included viewing scores of movies based on biblical stories - in order to capture the original zeitgeist of the era in which they were written.
It is obvious that Crumb's real motivation was to display just how primitive and brutal these ancient people actually were. In contrast to the Hollywood versions, in which everything is glamorized, Crumb's graphic style inherently makes everyone ugly. The men are all grizzled and oafish, while the women, even those who were supposedly beautiful, come off as lumpish and homely.
Another blurb on the cover says that "Nothing is left out." Indeed he does cover all 50 chapters, and I couldn't find a single sentence that was omitted, although the exact phrasing may have sometimes differed from my King James Version. Even all of the redundant verbiage is there. Occasionally he introduces a footnote to explain the meaning of some reference. But I disagree with one critic's review that it is a "full-throated lampoon of every single chapter and verse." Crumb's approach is more subtle than that. On the contrary, he never adds any snide commentary. He just lets the text and the illustrations speak for themselves without any authorial exaggeration.
I immediately bought the book as soon as it became available because I had attempted to do the same thing a number of years ago and I wanted to see how Crumb approached it. But my intention was to illustrate it in the style of Mad Magazine, with footnotes pointing out all the absurdities, contradictions and bad writing style. I got as far as Chapter Four before I got too bored to continue with it. I greatly admire Crumb's tenacity and ingenuity in creating some image to illustrate every three or four sentences, no matter how inane and repetitious they are.
But I still wish somebody would publish a full-throated lampoon of the whole Bible, illustrated in the style of Mad Magazine. I can't think of any book with more comic potential or more deserving of satirical treatment.
Milt Timmons is an author whose books and other works may be viewed at (...)
A Theologian's Review. February 25, 2010
Michael P. Entner (Sunny Florida)
As a theologian who has studied the Bible at great length (sans the snazzy illustrations), I was really curious to see this book when it came out. In one word -- stunning! Crumb has not watered down or distorted the Scriptures; nor has he left out any of the juicy or violent bits. I will be proud to display this on my bookshelf next to my Bible and other theological works. Thanks Mr. Crumb!
A phenomenal challenge, well executed February 20, 2010
Alena Rudolph (Oakland, CA United States)
This book is an amazing feat of patience, diligence and craft. Not to mention, use of resources.
Crumb has inspired generations of illustrators and artists (i'm one of them) to
prefect the ink and brush technique while keeping an open mind about content and
structure. Truly inspiring!
I received this book as a long awaited gift and devoured it in 3 days!
I refer to it often for it's exemplary and often hilarious illustrative takes on people past. (Esau, for starters)
Despite it's content being biblical in nature and already very well known, if you will, the story is truly compelling, even more so now with
added illustrations that have held us in it's pop-culture fist for over 30 years!
Way to go, Crumb!
I can't wait to pass it on to my daughter! (who also loves to illustrate!)
Odd take on Genesis February 14, 2010
Sharon S. Plate (Rio Rancho, NM USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I don't know what I expected. Yes, it's the Book of Genesis but it is totally weird. Not bad, just odd.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 108
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