Karen Bellenir

Minor spelling errors throughout. Reading straight through introduces Highway Hypnosis/ white line fever and everything blurs together. All of the huge variety in celebrations, feasts, fasts, and other rituals becomes a droning litany with generally generic descriptions that strip out anything of distinction. A reader with less experience may arrive at the conclusion that all of these religions share many of the same ways of honoring their god. But of course, when you strip everything that makes them unique and distinct, they all look the same. Holi and Rio’s Carnivale can both be called “street celebrations” and festivals, but putting nearly nude samba dancers in Indian streets will probably lead to a horrific outcome.

While a reader’s goal may be to compare/ contrast, it’s easy to become a passive reader. Recommend for the early discussions on calendars and the rest for as-needed reference.… (mehr)