The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

The famous and sometimes controversial illustrator Robert Crumb, known as R. Crumb, edited and drew this distinctive version of The Book of Genesis. The graphic illustrations are brilliant black-and-white drawings; some of the original drawings for the book were once displayed by the Seattle Art Museum in an exhibit on graphic art by Dürer, Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, and Picasso, which should give you a sense of how highly regarded the artwork is. Not to be overlooked at the end of the book is the illustrator’s insightful Commentary, which explains some of the editorial and interpretative decisions Crumb makes, including his use of Savina Teubal’s book “Sarah the Priestess” (which posits a countering matriarchal tradition to the Bible’s patriarchal orientation).The prospective reader would be wise to heed Crumb’s own admonition, which he includes on the cover: “Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors.” Genesis depicts violent and sexual situations, to include incest (Lot and his daughters). Crumb does not gloss over those aspects, including frankly (but not pornographically) depicting sexual intercourse in his illustrations. By doing so, he brilliantly reveals to the reader aspects of familiar Bible stories that we might otherwise overlook, so well-worn (and often G-rated we’ve made) these stories in the imagination. Most readers of faith will also find that Crumb’s treatment of Genesis is both faithful to the text and sensitive to religious sensibilities.

First, I admit I am not a fan of Crumb's work. It's not that it is bad - on the contrary, his drawings are beautifully executed and technically wonderful. It's just that I do not prefer the "earthy" look of his characters, nor the complexity of detail, which I find busy - compare it to the stark beauty of Terry Moore's  Strangers In Paradise Book 15: Tomorrow Now  and Wendy Pini's black and whites. So I will admit my opinion is just a matter of preference.So, why did I buy it? For my youngish son. (He might love Crumb's style - who knows?) So far, he has only looked at it a little, and just the sight of kissing would make him turn the page, so I am not worried about any sex in here. We are not talking  Sapphire (Sapphire (N B M))  or  Empowered Volume 1  sex, ya' know.He came home one day saying a friend told him Jesus said we should hate our parents, and wasn't that crazy? So, out came the bible, and I read him the verses in question and pointed out that the word translated to "hate" really *does* mean hate. That was a revelation for him! Mind you, all I did was read him just what the bible said.As a young catholic, I was never encouraged to read much of the bible. I asked the priest why we did not have a bible study and got a blank look. Face it, Issac Asimov said, "Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." If my son grows up to be any kind of religious, I will still love and support him. However, I do not wanting him to make a choice based on what an authority figure tells him to believe, or choose something without having thoroughly read the pertinent holy literature and some rebuttals. This copy of Genesis is an easy start.Crumb's Genesis is just the facts...no spin, nothing taken out to make the bible look better or less confusing. If a person has faith, they should be able to read the whole bible without losing it. If one fears reading it, then there is a problem. One issue is that christians feed their youngsters all happy-happy joy-joy bible bits, saying they are too young to understand the evil and nonsense parts yet.Look at this dross:  The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories (Beginner's Bible, The)  Notice how they skip god drowning all those helpless animals, all the humans and the innocent babies and kids. Would you let your child watch someone drown puppies in a lake? How would you feel about watching that? Seriously, Noah and his family are smiling about all this? I guess watching god drown thousands of beings has no effect. If you're not going to tell the story right, don't put it in a kids' book. People grow up so deluded about just this story, never giving it any more thought past the "sweet" images in their childrens' book, that they will *even decorate their own infants rooms with these cute pictures of mass murder.*I call B.S. because most of them are never introduced to those stories later "when they're old enough." I do run into people on line who studied some of this in church as teens, but there are not many. The catholic church, the largest and most influential christian church in the world, surely doesn't encourage one to read more than the approved weekly readings. I am an atheist, and NONE of my christian friends know the bible like I do. If I mention an illogical bit or a dodgy story, I get a chorus of, "THAT'S in there?" and "How did you learn that?!"So here it is - an unvarnished, basic telling of Genesis in well-done comics form. Buy it for your older kid or yourself. Buy it if you dare.

On the cover of the newest edition of the book of Genesis, there is a warning: "Adult supervision recommended for minors." It is an appropriate warning, but it is also as close to a joke as R. Crumb comes in the whole work. _The Book of Genesis Illustrated_ (Norton) is not Zap Comix, it is not Fritz the Cat, it is not "Keep On Truckin'". What it is is a retelling of all the chapters in Genesis, with enormous seriousness. It is not facetious to compare Crumb's illustrations with the work of Bible illustrators like William Blake or Gustave Doré. These drawings are beautiful. Fans of Crumb's work will immediately recognize his style of hatching and stippling, and the meaty, heavy-legged look of his figures. The black-and-white pictures, laid out in comic-book form on 200 large pages, are simply gorgeous, as expressive as paper and ink can ever be.Crumb has taken around four years to bring out the book. That he might illustrate such faith-laden material struck many as outrageous. In his introduction, he writes, "If my visual, literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis offends or outrages some readers, which seems inevitable considering that the text is revered by many people, all I can say in my defense is that I approached this as a straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes." He has been astonishingly successful. There are objections that Crumb as unbeliever should not touch this text, but perhaps what the faithful ought to be objecting to is that Crumb has not exscinded any parts of the book; if a couple "know" each other, that picture is going to get its panel just as surely as will Jacob seeing the ramp of angels going up and down. Those who like their Bibles unillustrated might have a point; it is one thing to verbally describe something distasteful or distressing, but such a thing may be even more so if it is depicted. It is especially upsetting to see men, women, children, and animals trying to save themselves from the Noachian deluge, which, if it happened, was far more severe than any of the extinctions scientists tell us really did happen in past eras. Every illustrated Bible has a picture of the ark, and animals two by two; Crumb's does, too, but his is the only one that also shows a little of the multi-species lethality of the flood. Crumb's drawings can only emphasize the peculiar, vengeful, and primitive tribal behavior of these people, whose environment and social culture might have analogies with our own, but only by the greatest of stretches. Crumb has always been competent at drawing outsiders and cranks, and here does so just because the text demands it; the drawings show the differences from our world more strikingly than mere words do.Crumb has taken the labor of illustration seriously. He has attempted to show realistic geographic and urban settings of the time, and he has had consultant friends to help him, including one who told him that in his original drawings the clothing looked like bathrobes and the tents looked like something you'd get at your local outdoor camping store. He redrew. The pictures, while obviously in his own style, are realistic and (what is most important in any illustrated text) they emphasize and help us understand the words of the story. It isn't Crumb's fault the story includes sex and violence and brutishly primitive or superstitious behavior. His book is an ambitious and surprising artistic endeavor, and anyone interested in the famous original ought to enjoy this new way to look at it. Including minors.

Great quality, great book. But the seller affixed a price tag sticker directly on the dust cover. Can't remove without damage :(

It took Crumb over four years to complete the 201 pages of Genesis. It begs curiosity why the publisher Norton chose to give Crumb the assignment of adapting his talents to retelling and illustrating Genesis, the first book of the Jewish Talmud (and the Christian Old Testament). This is an artist who for half a century has become renowned for his visual satiric portrayal of the contemporary life of weirdos, potheads, misfits, wastrels and humanized animals—obsessive sexual proclivities included. Fans enjoyed his outrageous exaggerations poking fun at every human foible and self-indulgence. His fans could count on getting rewarded with the unexpected.Bluntness and crassness has been de rigueur for Crumb. Sentimentality and nuance were not easily detectable in the storylines. Artistically his males were recognized for their lankiness, large kneecaps, sharp elbows, owlish eyes and slouching postures. His females were rendered with formidable calves, posteriors and jowls; their erect poking nipples became Crumb trademarks. Was the publisher counting on Crumb’s somewhat disreputable notoriety to kick-start demand for the book? It should be noted that Complete Crumb Works, published by Fantagraphics Books, now number seventeen volumes; there are also several other compilations in print, like The Crumb Compendium, Mr Natural and Sweeter Side of R Crumb. These have proven to be popular and many have been reprinted two or three times. Norton likely chose Crumb for a number of reasons which all added up to a profitable proposition.Being a fan and collector of R Crumb (and his wife Aline Kominsky Crumb) I bought this book primarily to add it to my collection. Having also read various translations of Genesis numerous times I was very curious how Crumb would present this work of significant cultural and religious value. I was not disappointed. The man proves that he is a genius with the pen, a capable scripter (he used three sources to collaborate the text) and serious researcher of historical relevance. The detail is remarkable. His human figures are Crumb-like but much better proportioned than in his cartooning. His ability to draw distinguishable differences between characters (especially in the “begats”) shows patience and skill but I would have liked to see some happy faces—it is like these men were posing for passport photos, being prohibited from smiling. As far as the text goes, it is qualitatively a mixed bag, but close enough to be respectful to the original Hebrew for most Jews and Christians. I was glad he did not use a contemporary, colloquial, translation which would have ill suited the historical raiment and settings.The work has received mixed reviews. Fact is if a hundred people start to read and look at the book they already have opinions and prejudices about Genesis that will flavour their judgement of Crumb’s output. Are they theologians? Then they will nit pick about how it was scripted and how creation, the flood and sinful acts are depicted. Are they atheists? Then they may complain about the work being dragged out, boring and repetitive. Are they historians? Then they may find fault with costumes, architecture and mythology. Are they comic book aficionados? Then they will present how Crumb failed to create dramatic effect and visual excitement. The book is Genesis as interpreted by Crumb. It is not intended to be neutral, unbiased or inoffensive. For many it will be too literal but if Crumb had introduced major improvisations he would have been berated by those who regard Genesis as the true Word of God. This book will probably not please—and may shock—many church-going Christians but for others I think it may help to provoke some serious thinking about how Genesis and the Old Testament have contributed to mold Western culture and civilization for three thousand years. The stories in Genesis deserve to be considered both in their religious and non-religious contexts and also in their literal and figurative interpretations.For an interview with Crumb and numerous reviews, refer to  The Comics Journal #301The Comics Journal #301

Ich bin Atheist...und Mythologe:Satan ist eine falsche Schlange, dh ein Reptoid: Er sieht eigentlich aus wie ein normaler Mensch, ist aber intrigant und manipulativ, und versucht erfolgreich, die Menschen gegen 'Gott' aufzuwiegeln.'Ratte' ist in der modernen Umgangssprache ein Schimpfwort für einen als verräterisch empfundenen Mitmenschen. Ein 'Schafhirte' ist im religiösen Kontext ein Gemeindevorsteher. Eine Schlange ist ein Demagoge: eigentlich gab es gute und böse Schlangen, die aus den Hirtenstäben im Buch Exodus geschaffen wurden.Das nächste Buch sollte 'Matthäus' sein: Da ist ein Typ, Staatsfeind Nr 1, wird von V-Leuten attackiert, etc.Ich habe leider kein künstlerisches Talent: Crumb kann nicht den Rest der Bibel komplett selber cartoonisieren. Aber, naja, andere Zeichner, anderer Stil, und hinterher kann man eines der meistverkauften Bücher dann in modernisierter Form reassemblieren.

Crumb einmal anders, das Buch Genesis als Bildergeschichte, Werkgetreu umgesetzt, so etwas muß man sich erst einmal antun, als Zeichner... Anscheinend war es ihm ein großes Bedürfnis. Auch nichtreligiöse Menschen können an dieser Kunst gefallen finden, Liebhaber Crumbs allemal....

We all think we know Genesis. It has plenty of well-known stories, but several less-repeated ones.This book is “just Genesis” — nothing added, and nothing taken away. But there is something about the illustration of the events it speaks about that show it as a work of twisted horror and cruelty.This is “God’s manifesto”. Here he sets out what matters, and his take on justice, good and evil; life and death.And the themes come through loud and clear.It’s always the woman’s fault.Justice is arbitrary: it’s fine to wreak vengance not on the bad guy, but on his children (and their etc, etc ...)And if you have virgin daughters that you feel inclined to send out to be gang-raped, that’s absolutely fine.—Point is, it was all there in the King James, so how did we miss it?It was Lot who screwed up; Lot’s wife who was obliterated (actually not quite, as I’ve seen what’s left of her on the west coast of the Dead Sea. She doesn’t look good.)We missed it because Good Christians cherry-pick.But again, this is “God’s manifesto”. So read it ALL, and then decide if you like the sound of him.You won’t. And I have challenged so many Christians to read this book, and they never quite manage to stomach it; for stomach-turning it is.—I think it’s a towering achievement.