Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The death of an unorthodox, original thinker..., 20 Dec 1999
By A Customer
Professor Ioan Culianu, Romanian historian of religion and magic was killed by a single shot to the head whilst sitting on a toilet at the University of Chicago's Divinity school in May 1991. His killer was never found. Anton's book begins with the peculiar circumstances of the murder and of its aftermath, before outlining Culianu's fascinating life and work. Born into a once-influential "boyar" family whose standing had been greatly diminished under Communist rule, Culianu came to be obsessed with all things occult and mystical, firing an exceptional academic rise, one that took him to Italy, where he sought asylum, to Holland, and ltimately to the United States. En route he learned half-a-dozen languages, garnered three PhDs and earned a reputation as an unorthodox and daringly original thinker. Anton demonstrates how, in part, Culianu was driven to emulate the inspirational success of Mircea Eliade, a pre-eminent scholar in the fields of myth and religion, and, moreover, a fellow Romanian emigre... albeit one with unsavoury fascistic connections in his past. Though the murder remains unsolved, Anton argues convincingly that it was motivated by Culianu's cutting criticism of those who gained most from the Romanian 'revolution' of 1989. There are a few points in the book where material is unnecessarily reiterated, smacking of a slack editorial hand; and Anton's discussion of Culianu's ideas is sometimes superficial, but these quibbles aside, what emerges is an enthralling narrative skilfully assembled and painstakingly researched.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful work, combining scholastics and journalism, 5 April 1997
By A Customer
Normally, when I see a title such as this, I'm a little nervious. It's easy to associate the very worst in yellow journalism with so-called "true crime" novels. So, it was with a bit of apprehension that I picked up _Eros, Magic, & the Murder of Professor Culianu.
The adage, "never judge a book by its cover," can be legitimately applied to this book. From the beginning, I was fascinated by Culianu and his relationships to Mircea Eliade and Romania. Comparative religion is one of my fields of interest, and here is the tragic story of a man who made an incredible impact on that field.
But it's not just the story of one man. Anton skillfully weaves Culianu's ideas throughout, leaving the reader with a feel for Culianu's ideas as well as his life. This is no mean feat. Anton's prose is clean and spare, granting us a clearer view of an incredible thinker.
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