****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I am sorry but, although I had high hopes for this book, I cannot suggest it to someone, like me, seeking to really learn of this type of folklore. In particular, you will not find many actual examples of stories, but rather arguments regarding the historical development and background of the tale type.I am certainly not educated deeply in the field as the author is, but I get a sense that he uses a few loose connections over the course of advancing his positions, and I am not equipped to know what I should accept as truth and what is merely speculation and hinting, but I am confident that Quetzalcoatl is not a goddess.I actually took Dr. Sax's class this summer and we used his book in addition to others. One thing in his favor was that his book was priced similar to most other textbooks. Some professors have you buy their books that are too expensive.As for the book, it goes nicely into different animal-human relationships in literature. He deals with a variety of creatures such as selkies, serpents, cats, etc. He also references a number of stories and goes into depth explaining the animal-human relationship, such as "The Little Mermaid." A very good book and written well to keep the reader's attention. The best sectin was the very beginning where he describes his interation with some swans. It covers both fantasy and reality in a very humerous manner.From the title you might expect something esoteric, but actually it fits right into the mainstream of human history. Author Boria Sax asks at the outset a series of direct and disarming questions: What is nature? What is animal? What is human? What is gender? What is marriage? He devotes a brief discussion to each. The picture that emerges is that mankind in the course of its development separated itself conceptually from nature, but ever after felt the need to return. Yet the concept of "nature" is not fixed; it changes with society and remains largely a mystery, as do the animals within it. One way of re-establishing the connection is through imagination, storytelling, mythmaking. Add the reminder that humans and animals can form a bond as close as a marriage, that a man may call his sweetheart his pet, and you have the psychological preconditions for the story of the animal marriage.There are animal brides and animal grooms, and they figure not only in remote legends and tales, but in literature central to the birth of our civilization. Such are Gilgamesh and Enkidu; Adam, Eve and the Serpent; and the accounts of animal worship or reverence that punctuate the narratives of the Old and New Testaments. Such outbreaks of zoolatry, which continue on through the Middle Ages and up to the weird cults of our time, Sax interprets as revolts against the anthropomorphic gods that replaced the original animal ones. He shows how many peoples traced their origins back to animals, how noble families liked to claim a romantic link to mythical beasts. He touches on the fears animals awaken in humans, such as lawlessness, sensuality, incest, and also on their magical powers, released in ceremonies such as snake-handling.Coming to his chief subject, Sax explores the protean power of the the serpent and the swan, the one shedding its skin and achieving rebirth, the other moulting, swimming and taking wing, both sinuous and mysterious. The crucial story here is Melusine, which I should not retell in a review, save to say that in it the two creatures become as one. It's a tale that runs through many cultures and can even be seen in our recurrent films about mermaids. Sax believes that it can reinspire us and lead us back to a sacrimental observance of animal rights. The book has wonderful line illustrations, taken from sources ancient and rare, and retellings of the chief legends. For anyone who responds to Joseph Campbell, and for those yet to explore the meaning of myth, this book will be a delight.The subject of the animal bride in Folklore and Literature is excellently researched. Of special interest is the idea that the animal bride tale is an attempt to overcome humankind's alienation from nature. The study emphasizes the intricate links between all forms of life and stresses the need of liberating mankind from isolation and reintegrating into the natural world.
