Interesting but should have been more interesting and better written.. ( )

This is a book that was a product of its times - it has some interesting facts, but the author is of a different age - for example, he kept referring to "primitive people". Also, a few things were completely wrong- early in the book, he mentions how Mayan people were before the Aztecs - except the Mayan Culture is still around. There are references to the "Orient", which for the author, seemed to mean anything Middle East to Asia. And last, there are no references to this book. Its hard to take a book on origins seriously if the author doesn't say where he got his information from. ( )

Interesting but so many things are lost to history that much of the book is just recitation of competing theory or conjecture. ( )

A good collection of different beliefs, customs, and superstitions, with good explanations of origin and significance through the ages. I read this partly for bits of information that might make good details in some story, since I am--have been, for some time, if erratically--pursuing the goal of writing a novel, or even a short story, or at the very least accumulating a hefty store of details and ideas that will become useful whenever I actually do write something. To that purpose, I found a number of tidbits which caught my fancy. Like, that apparently people used to kiss the mouth of a dying person to catch and preserve the spirit as it left the body. Which is both creepy and absolutely delightful, since that is just the sort of thing I could fit wonderfully into a story--or even build a story from.

On the other hand, if you've ever wondered about how a certain belief or superstition began, or are just interested in this sort of thing in general, this is a book worth reading.

If I could, I'd probably give this a 3.5; I didn't round up because I don't quite think it deserves a 4, though it's a near thing. ( )

A good collection of different beliefs, customs, and superstitions, with good explanations of origin and significance through the ages. I read this partly for bits of information that might make good details in some story, since I am--have been, for some time, if erratically--pursuing the goal of writing a novel, or even a short story, or at the very least accumulating a hefty store of details and ideas that will become useful whenever I actually do write something. To that purpose, I found a number of tidbits which caught my fancy. Like, that apparently people used to kiss the mouth of a dying person to catch and preserve the spirit as it left the body. Which is both creepy and absolutely delightful, since that is just the sort of thing I could fit wonderfully into a story--or even build a story from.

On the other hand, if you've ever wondered about how a certain belief or superstition began, or are just interested in this sort of thing in general, this is a book worth reading.

If I could, I'd probably give this a 3.5; I didn't round up because I don't quite think it deserves a 4, though it's a near thing. ( )