The Religion of Java Paperback – February 15, 1976

Good book,good seller,five stars.

this is a legendary book for those who take south east asian studies. highly recommend it for those who study sociology of Islam in Indonesia. i give 4 stars because the book appearance, not because the content. the content is 6 stars for me.

Geertz's title, "The Religion of Java" is a bit overreaching. His book does explore the religious and social dynamics of a Central Java area in the 1950's. Surprisingly, much of what he had to say is relevant today. Twelve of my twenty years of living in Indonesia were in Java. No one volume can adequately explore the religious dynamics of the island of Java. The differences between Central and East Java are great and these are both basically Javanese. West Java, being populated primarily by Sudanese is very different from the other two sections.Geertz, like other anthropologists, always discovers attitudes and practices that confirm the theory he is trying to reinforce. Some of his conclusions seem rather forced but that's common in the `science' of anthropology.The book is a good read. I am already well read regarding Indonesia and particularly Java and was delighted to discover many things that I was unaware of. Geertz gave meaning to some practices that I had observed many times but without comprehension.