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dahud's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
2.0
Beautiful illustrations, but the presented witchcraft is a mix of Wicca and historical inaccuracies.
nytshayde's review
3.0
I have been wanting to read "Witches" ever since I first spied the beautiful poem "Love Magick" which was printed in a 'Pagan Africa' magazine years ago. I finally purchased the kindle version of this book, and found Jong's writing to be evocative and beautiful and most of the artwork featured was delightfully dark and luscious.
There were many things I enjoyed about this book, but there was too much focus on Neo-Paganism, and Wicca for my own tastes. I would have preferred a deeper interrogation into folklore and the witches of fairy tales. If this was one of the first books on witchcraft I read, I would have probably been blown away.
There are many darkly and beautiful references to poison plants, the Sabbat, and familiars. The poetry is delightful, and the entire book is poetic. A minor issue I had was the image of Bittersweet Nightshade which accompanied the poem about Belladonna. It always gets my goat when I see these two plants being confused for each other.
Overall I would recommend this book above many others simply as introduction to ideas regarding witchcraft and the modern permutations of it.
There were many things I enjoyed about this book, but there was too much focus on Neo-Paganism, and Wicca for my own tastes. I would have preferred a deeper interrogation into folklore and the witches of fairy tales. If this was one of the first books on witchcraft I read, I would have probably been blown away.
There are many darkly and beautiful references to poison plants, the Sabbat, and familiars. The poetry is delightful, and the entire book is poetic. A minor issue I had was the image of Bittersweet Nightshade which accompanied the poem about Belladonna. It always gets my goat when I see these two plants being confused for each other.
Overall I would recommend this book above many others simply as introduction to ideas regarding witchcraft and the modern permutations of it.
aemy's review
2.0
Working from the premise that "witches are, above all, the first liberated women" Jong attempts to articulate the "communal mythology" of witches and witchcraft (in the west) through a diverse collection of writing, poetry and illustrations. At times I thought it was self serious about its claims, and at others it seemed to have a great sense of humor (and she never shied away from nudity/expletives) . I thought the position/perspective she was writing from was confusing. She would go from being open to the differences in practices and perspectives to making strange and specific assumptions. Seemed inconsistent and unspecific and I was never quite sure what was the purpose.
My main concern though was her uncomfortably racialized language ("Mohammedanism was used in place of "Islam" for example) combined with her lack of racial or sexual perspective (appropriative and heternormative at times).
I wasn't personally into this, but I imagine it has an appeal the same way many tumblr aesthetic blogs do!
My main concern though was her uncomfortably racialized language ("Mohammedanism was used in place of "Islam" for example) combined with her lack of racial or sexual perspective (appropriative and heternormative at times).
I wasn't personally into this, but I imagine it has an appeal the same way many tumblr aesthetic blogs do!
aasebrandbyge's review
4.0
So, I robbed the library of all Erica Jong, well, her prose and poems at least! Till now, this book has captivated me most. The poems are amazing, and the illustrations are incredible, and I don't think the one could be the same without the other!
saintboleyn's review
4.0
a good introduction with some truly stunning artwork. 3 stars + an extra star for a very thorough bibliography
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