Very informative

Good narration, and a very informative and comprehensive piece of work. I enjoyed listening to it and would recommend it to everyone who likes to learn about religions.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

It's a kind of magic

Archaeology Professor Chris Gosden has written a book about the History of Magic. Much of the first third of this book is focused on the ancient worlds of Mesopotamia, Egypt and China and discusses customs and traditions regarding ceremonies and relationships between the living and the dead. We then hear of the animism of the Russian Steppes and learn how Shamanism influenced other cultures and is still alive today.

According to the author the death of magic started with the Greek philosophers who changed popular opinion from myth to logic. Over the course of the next 2000 years, we hear that although religion and science have replaced people's belief in the power of magic, some elements have remained, most prominently through astrology and superstitions that have deep roots in history. There is undoubtedly a fine distinction between magic and the miracles that form our religious beliefs. The author is a bit sniffy about the existence of ley lines and new age culture and considers that every generation "gets the Stonehenge it deserves" as magic is invented and reinvented.

Whilst much of this book is dry and academic, in the final chapters, which, in my view are the most interesting for a casual reader, we hear how magical traditions have adapted and survived on different continents and how the practices of placebo medication, Feng shui and I Ching are, ultimately rooted in magic.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

Narration is errornous and needs a revisit.

In places this is painful to listen to and given other reviews I don't think I'm being too harsh.

Reading the physical book while listening to the audiobook simultaneously simply to get through this quicker. It is highlighting many errors. A number of times the text has not been followed word for word. The worst examples so far, are on page 63 where the paperback says 'intimate relationship' while the audiobook recording says 'inanimate relationship', while on page 66 the book text says 'contaminants in flour', while the audio says 'contaminants in yeast'.

Reference to figures that are numerous in the text of the book but are not referred to in the audio recording. If there isn't a supporting pdf for the numerous figures in this book, it really needs one as these are a very useful compliment to the text which the author no doubt felt necessary to include for good reason.

Overall, I'm glad I have the paperback to fall back on, and I think it would be worth revisiting the audio in order to address the issues with it in its current form.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Good food for thought

This is my first audiobook, so it has been quite a challenge to get over the weird feeling of someone reading it to me. I liked the performance, although the topic renders itself to monotonous reading. I would have liked a better, more clear transitions from section to section. I had read the book already, so I knew the content was worth the few setbacks of getting used to the audiobook format. This was an excellent way to get some steps while still working. If you are interested in the deep history of magic, this book is good. The only problem with the content is that it does not flow well, and feels more like disconnected paragraphs with a slight repetitive topics. But all in all, good food for thought while walking.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A 'history of magic' which is devoid of any magic

Magic has been stripped of any joy, creativity, relish, interest, or intrigue and turned into a fatiguing, dull list of facts, places and geographical features.

It's like looking at a Picasso and listing where the paints came from.

I'm listening at 1.5 speed and I can't wait for it to end.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Really let down by the narrator

The content is fair enough (I have the paper book) but the narrator of the audiobook does not have a consistent feel for the meaning or indeed the pronunciation of key words at times. Its very workman-like and it feels like he is struggling to wade through the text. This book was worthy of a better audio version.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Interesting content, awful narration

I'm not sure if it's the actual voice-ever or the editing, but this book is fractured: difficult to follow as the punctuation isn't reflected by the timing of pauses... it sounds like multiple voice sessions have been poorly stitched together, exacerbating the effect of broken narration.
This is pretty grim, overall.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!