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Troublesome Corpses: Vampires & Revenants, From Antiquity To The Present
Since earliest times man has feared troublesome corpses - the bodies of the dead which do not lie still and decompose, but rise again to revisit the living. European folklore is particularly rich in tales of vampires and reanimated cadavers. The Undead take many forms, as do precautions to avert an attack and methods of destruction should precautions fail. What distinguishes vampires from other revenants? What metaphysical agencies empower the Undead, and how do theological contortions help explain them? And why did popular belief in the existence of the Undead wane during the eighteenth century? These and other vampiric questions are addressed in David Keyworth's encyclopaedic survey of Troublesome Corpses.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 21, 2013
David Keyworth’s Troublesome Corpses has much to recommend it. The book is a strenuously assembled compendium of material from disparate texts that will be a valuable resource to anyone with a serious interest in vampires, and the author has earned my respect with his obvious hard work.
That said, there are serious problems with Keyworth’s exposition. It is loosely organized, and the reader will often question the relevance of what they are reading. The work’s ostensible purpose is to demonstrate the different varieties of undead encounters in world folklore (mostly centering around preindustrial Europe) with a special emphasis on setting the vampire apart from the cadre of cadavers that it is commonly associated with. However, this point is often lost, and the author runs the risk of perpetuating the confusion he seeks to clear up. Indeed, Keyworth acknowledges an intellectual debt to the notoriously rambling work of 1920s mystic Montague Summers, and he may have inadvertently emulated that writer’s work a bit too closely. Like Summers, Keyworth tends to quote original sources at length, sometimes at the expense of readability. A popular Facebook challenge is to take a nearby book and enter the fifth sentence of the 52nd page as one’s status. Due to overly loquacious quoting, that sentence is over halfway down the page in Troublesome Corpses.
Keyworth also demonstrates some lapses in evaluating and contextualizing his material. Though Keyworth assiduously cites sources, but the reader is sometimes taken aback by how he incorporates quotes in the text body without laying proper background. Likewise, the author’s egalitarian nature in using source material tends to place all cited accounts on the same plane of reliability, which is dangerous in a field historically prone to flights of fancy. All through the book, there is very little analysis or interpretation. Keyworth is content to present his material and leave it at that, which makes for an unsatisfying read.
Troublesome Corpses is not an easy read, and my gut reaction is to give it three stars, but Keyworth’s pure erudition raises it up a notch. Even so, this would not be one of the first texts that I would recommend to those entering the field. Keyworth’s knack for filling in epistemological gaps probably makes this indispensable reading for specialists, but they will find much familiar material here and no revolutionary perspectives.
That said, there are serious problems with Keyworth’s exposition. It is loosely organized, and the reader will often question the relevance of what they are reading. The work’s ostensible purpose is to demonstrate the different varieties of undead encounters in world folklore (mostly centering around preindustrial Europe) with a special emphasis on setting the vampire apart from the cadre of cadavers that it is commonly associated with. However, this point is often lost, and the author runs the risk of perpetuating the confusion he seeks to clear up. Indeed, Keyworth acknowledges an intellectual debt to the notoriously rambling work of 1920s mystic Montague Summers, and he may have inadvertently emulated that writer’s work a bit too closely. Like Summers, Keyworth tends to quote original sources at length, sometimes at the expense of readability. A popular Facebook challenge is to take a nearby book and enter the fifth sentence of the 52nd page as one’s status. Due to overly loquacious quoting, that sentence is over halfway down the page in Troublesome Corpses.
Keyworth also demonstrates some lapses in evaluating and contextualizing his material. Though Keyworth assiduously cites sources, but the reader is sometimes taken aback by how he incorporates quotes in the text body without laying proper background. Likewise, the author’s egalitarian nature in using source material tends to place all cited accounts on the same plane of reliability, which is dangerous in a field historically prone to flights of fancy. All through the book, there is very little analysis or interpretation. Keyworth is content to present his material and leave it at that, which makes for an unsatisfying read.
Troublesome Corpses is not an easy read, and my gut reaction is to give it three stars, but Keyworth’s pure erudition raises it up a notch. Even so, this would not be one of the first texts that I would recommend to those entering the field. Keyworth’s knack for filling in epistemological gaps probably makes this indispensable reading for specialists, but they will find much familiar material here and no revolutionary perspectives.
March 22, 2024
3.5 Stars
I appreciate the author's enthusiasm for his subject, his evident hard work in researching and compiling materials, his citing of sources at the end of every chapter, and his extensive bibliography. I also am grateful for his introduction, in which he explains how his chapters are laid out. However, this book reads somewhat like a dissertation with minimal analysis or oversight, and presents so much quoted, yet peculiarly organized, text that it overwhelms the reader. As well, some material seems irrelevant in a book about the reanimated dead (the chapter on werewolves, for example). Its saving grace is that it touches not at all upon vampires in fiction, for which "Troublesome Corpses" earns that extra half-star. A good effort, though Paul Barber's "Vampires, Burial, and Death," still occupies my top spot for researching vampires of European folklore.
I appreciate the author's enthusiasm for his subject, his evident hard work in researching and compiling materials, his citing of sources at the end of every chapter, and his extensive bibliography. I also am grateful for his introduction, in which he explains how his chapters are laid out. However, this book reads somewhat like a dissertation with minimal analysis or oversight, and presents so much quoted, yet peculiarly organized, text that it overwhelms the reader. As well, some material seems irrelevant in a book about the reanimated dead (the chapter on werewolves, for example). Its saving grace is that it touches not at all upon vampires in fiction, for which "Troublesome Corpses" earns that extra half-star. A good effort, though Paul Barber's "Vampires, Burial, and Death," still occupies my top spot for researching vampires of European folklore.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews