Scan barcode
nightmarekitty13's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
belladonna230622's review
4.0
This wasn’t a book that I originally planned on reading. After a long discussion about hell with a friend, my dad told me to read this.
It’s a really interesting book that explores hell in religion and pop-culture. It explores the religions of antiquity and their versions of hell, the most well known of course being the underworld and Hades (thanks Disney for making Hercules). Then it transitions into the monotheistic religions starting with Zoroastrianism through Judaism and into Christianity. After that we explore popular culture such as Gothic and romantic literature, and finishing with art.
The book is quite a journey, and I’m glad that I didn’t read it all at once. I feel like if I had, I would have been overloaded by information and remember very little of what I read. I only really have one criticism and that’s that I would have liked to explore the other religions a bit more. But, it was interesting to hear about other Christian beliefs as well as other religions beliefs of hell, and see how they evolved and changed with time.
It’s a really interesting book that explores hell in religion and pop-culture. It explores the religions of antiquity and their versions of hell, the most well known of course being the underworld and Hades (thanks Disney for making Hercules). Then it transitions into the monotheistic religions starting with Zoroastrianism through Judaism and into Christianity. After that we explore popular culture such as Gothic and romantic literature, and finishing with art.
The book is quite a journey, and I’m glad that I didn’t read it all at once. I feel like if I had, I would have been overloaded by information and remember very little of what I read. I only really have one criticism and that’s that I would have liked to explore the other religions a bit more. But, it was interesting to hear about other Christian beliefs as well as other religions beliefs of hell, and see how they evolved and changed with time.
scheu's review
3.0
Fairly complete, as long as you weren't interested in Eastern ideas of hell. Dry nonetheless. I still have to laugh at anyone's notion that unbelievers would end up in a believer's hell, but I suppose it makes sense to believers.
ben_smitty's review
4.0
I was at Wells Fargo once to replace a debit card that I lost, and I figured I would bring a book because I didn't know how long I was going to have to wait and my parents told me that I should never waste an opportunity. Well I didn't actually have to wait because Shian told me that she could help me open an account right away. Her computer started lagging because it had to process my long name through, so she decided to ask me what I was reading.
"The Skeletons in God's Closet.... it's about how Christians can reconcile the judgment of hell with the love of God."
"Oh..." she said.
It wasn't until after about five minutes of my theological musings on hell that I realized she wasn't interested... or maybe she was uncomfortable about the subject. I wasn't sure. She was probably taught by her supervisors to be friendly at all costs. Poor lady. Since my parents told me not to waste an opportunity and I figured I would awkwardly leeway into the Gospel like one of those awkward Christians. Sure enough, the conversation died before I could even get close.
Well, anyways this book reminded me of Shian and our conversation. And I decided that I would dedicate this review to her.
Alice Turner, who writes for Playboy magazine(!), did a fantastic job in compiling an enormous amount of information into a readable book on how hell has evolved from ancient Mesopotamian "The Great Below" through the Middle Ages and its bizarre visions of monsters with spears up their butts (I'm not kidding) to hell's eventual "disappearance" in the Freudian age where hell is allegorized as repression. The History of Hell is well-rounded in its approach; combining history, literature, psychology, art, theology, and philosophy. The illustrations were fantastic (it was also a chronicle of how Western art's depictions of hell has evolved). I had to take off a star though because Turner would throw out character names left and right without any context, so I was confused at times, especially the chapter on classical Hades.
Still would recommend it though.
Cheers, Shian.
"The Skeletons in God's Closet.... it's about how Christians can reconcile the judgment of hell with the love of God."
"Oh..." she said.
It wasn't until after about five minutes of my theological musings on hell that I realized she wasn't interested... or maybe she was uncomfortable about the subject. I wasn't sure. She was probably taught by her supervisors to be friendly at all costs. Poor lady. Since my parents told me not to waste an opportunity and I figured I would awkwardly leeway into the Gospel like one of those awkward Christians. Sure enough, the conversation died before I could even get close.
Well, anyways this book reminded me of Shian and our conversation. And I decided that I would dedicate this review to her.
Alice Turner, who writes for Playboy magazine(!), did a fantastic job in compiling an enormous amount of information into a readable book on how hell has evolved from ancient Mesopotamian "The Great Below" through the Middle Ages and its bizarre visions of monsters with spears up their butts (I'm not kidding) to hell's eventual "disappearance" in the Freudian age where hell is allegorized as repression. The History of Hell is well-rounded in its approach; combining history, literature, psychology, art, theology, and philosophy. The illustrations were fantastic (it was also a chronicle of how Western art's depictions of hell has evolved). I had to take off a star though because Turner would throw out character names left and right without any context, so I was confused at times, especially the chapter on classical Hades.
Still would recommend it though.
Cheers, Shian.
kateraed's review
3.0
Can get pretty slow in parts, when she goes heavily into the literature about Hell. Overall, I'm glad I read the first few chapters especially, which showed that the generally accepted ideas of Hell aren't ones that came from Judeo-Christian scripture. I can have more sympathy towards the idea and its followers now that I understand the history behind it, and I can also be reassured that those beliefs don't need to align with mine.
crowyhead's review
4.0
This is a fascinating cultural history of Hell. Since it focuses mainly on Hell in Western popular culture, it draws most heavily on Judeo-Christian (mostly Christian), Greek, and Roman conceptions of punishment in the afterlife. I imagine if you have done a lot of reading about the history of Hell and Satan, this probably wouldn't reveal much that's new, but for the curious layperson it's an excellent overview, related with wit and charm. I've done quite a bit of reading about the history of the Devil, but there was a lot here that was new to me. It's also marvelously illustrated, with both black & white and full color plates.
theremightbecupcakes's review against another edition
4.0
4 1/2 stars—the half removed only because it ended so abruptly. The author started talking about Hell in 20th century film, briefly discussed Aliens as metaphor...I turned the page...and there were the Acknowledgements and the Bibliography. What happened? Where’s The Exorcist? Where’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose, its motifs of Mary as Intercessor and sufferer as example rampant throughout the book? And those are the easy grabs. Very odd. Otherwise a fascinating book that has lined up about ten more books for me to read, and those are the most fun nonfiction books to read, aren’t they?
katelynne's review against another edition
4.0
This book is not a scholarly work - Alice K. Turner openly admits this in her Acknowledgements. It is, however, incredibly well-researched and offers an interesting overview of the perceptions of Hell throughout history. I was very impressed by the scope and depth of her research. (Really, the only thing that would be needed to make this a scholarly work would be footnotes or endnotes.) Turner also makes all this information accessible through engaging writing and well-organized chapters. If you are at all interested in Hell, I would recommend this book. You don't even need to be interested in history to enjoy this - it's written in such a way that it doesn't read like a typical historical book - it just reads like a nonfiction book.
The only criticism I can think to give this book is that I personally would have preferred footnotes citations, simply so I could go look up where she got particular pieces of information (not that I ever doubted her information, but sometimes I wanted more).
I must admit, I was delighted and surprised that Turner is not, actually, a history professor somewhere. Well done, Turner, well done.
The only criticism I can think to give this book is that I personally would have preferred footnotes citations, simply so I could go look up where she got particular pieces of information (not that I ever doubted her information, but sometimes I wanted more).
I must admit, I was delighted and surprised that Turner is not, actually, a history professor somewhere. Well done, Turner, well done.
mephistia's review against another edition
4.0
It's interesting. I was actually a little surprised at how engrossing this book was. I loved the way the author traced Hell from the polytheistic influence on the Christian perception, through the various theological and political influences until we arrived at our most modern interpretation. I particularly enjoyed some of the religious theories she cited and how they altered theology in various ways. Some of the facts she included were a fascinating surprise -- the book as a whole was just a delightful journey of discovery.
I have to admit, I also liked it because I could never pin the author's theological beliefs down. There were points when I thought she was Catholic, other times when I'd decided she must be atheist, and once or twice when I was convinced she was some fringe religion like Mormonism. I really appreciated this ambiguity, because it never felt as though she was coming at the topic from a biased direction.
I have to admit, I also liked it because I could never pin the author's theological beliefs down. There were points when I thought she was Catholic, other times when I'd decided she must be atheist, and once or twice when I was convinced she was some fringe religion like Mormonism. I really appreciated this ambiguity, because it never felt as though she was coming at the topic from a biased direction.
kaylana's review against another edition
3.0
Turner gives a narrative of how the portrayal of Hell has been written about since religion had writing.
It's interesting but I was hoping for a little more depth, maybe more history rather than literary interpretation. But she sticks in some haunting art. She also has some quippy things to say. It's a good coffee table book.
It's interesting but I was hoping for a little more depth, maybe more history rather than literary interpretation. But she sticks in some haunting art. She also has some quippy things to say. It's a good coffee table book.