Madonnas That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy Since the 15th Century
1 rating since posting on Sunday, February 8, 2009
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This book is getting a three star review from me even though I consider it to be a very worthwhile book to read. I can think of several people whom I would love to let borrow this book just so that they could be exposed to some of this information and the ideas that the author (Michael P. Caroll) puts forth. I was fascinated throughout the book but ultimately I found the ending very weak. While the author gave me some new avenues to explore through his bibliography I feel that the scholarship was very questionable in certain areas which leads me to wonder about the rest of his scholarship. The impression that I recieved was that Caroll was very knowledgeable on the subject of modern Catholicism and its evolution but was less so on occult studies and psychology. I could easily be wrong about the psychology but Caroll relied very heavily on straight Freudian psychology and for a book published in 1992 to not have any advancements in that field is a bit questionable. So while I enjoyed the portions on the history of Catholicism and the many facts and comparative charts included in the book I was much less impressed by the conclusions the author came to based on his obviously limited exposure to occult history and theory. All that aside, the portions of the book dedicated to Catholic scholarship were absolutely superb. There are very few works on the subject in English so this is a valuable read. I just have tp advise that readers be wary in those areas that I mentioned above. I definitely recommend the book to persons who have an interest in Catholic history. This book is so much more informative than many of the books in my collection. Caroll does an excellent job and gives a bit more insight on some of the works of Carlo Ginzburg (Author of Night Battles, The Cheese and the Worms, and Ecstasies) as well as the works of Ernesto Di Martino (Author of La Terra Del Rimorrso). If you do happen to pick it up on my recommendation please message me and let me know your initial thoughts because this is a book that I would enjoy expounding on. - Unsubscribed , posted 02/08/09 |
Madonnas That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy Since the 15th Century was recommended for:
- Tribe: Ecstasia: The Art of Trance
- Tribe: The Durga Tour
- Tribe: Pagan and Occult Studies
- Tribe: Magikal Dancer
