Crowley - A Beginners Guide

by John S. Moore, John Patrick Higgins (Illustrator)

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Nearly seventy years after his death Aleister Crowley, the notorious Beast 666, is only just beginning to attract serious academic attention. Even so we would not expect to find him on any mainstream university courses; he is still too much associated with occultism. So, Crowley – A Beginners Guide is not your standard beginner’s guide. Let my servants be few & they shall rule the many & the known. Readers may be surprised at the richness and complexity of his thought, as well as the extent of his influence. He needs background to be understood. Giving this opens fresh perspectives on much recent intellectual history. Crowley – A Beginners Guide presents his main ideas in a straightforward and accessible format, with drawings and diagrams to place them in their historical context. It relates him to contemporary movements in art and scholarship. It describes his relationship to modernism and postmodernism, and his role in the counterculture of the sixties, as well as his continuing influence today. Interspersed are entertaining stories of his life and reputation. Brilliantly illustrated by John Higgins, Crowley – A Beginners Guide, is a highly accessible guide to this fascinating, complex and controversial figure. It neither promotes nor condemns him, presenting hostile as well as favourable views of his character and achievement. John S Moore is a freelance writer and independent scholar living in London. He is the author of Aleister A Modern Master (Mandrake of Oxford, 2009) and Nietzsche – An Interpretation, (AuthorsOnline Ltd, 2011) and has written on Schopenhauer, Wittgenstein and Edward Bulwer-Lytton among others. More information at www.johnsmoore.co.uk/

155 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 6, 2016

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphical novel gave a very decent intro to Crowley and his impact.

[Epos Opus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Crowley - A Beginners Guide
Author: John S Moore
Illustrator: John Patrick Higgins
Publisher: Mandrake
Language: English
Pages: 155
Published: 2015
Isbn: 9781906958695
Format: Paperback
Read and review: 2025
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ (3)

Crowley - A Beginner's Guide by John S. Moore is an introduction to the life of the infamous occultist, magician, and writer, Aleister Crowley.

The book provides a well-rounded picture of Crowley's multifaceted and eventful life, exploring his influences and the people he impacted throughout and after his journey.

My only critique of the book is that, for my personal taste, it covered too many topics. At times, it was hard to tell what was truly important to him and what wasn’t, as almost each new page introduced a new subject related to him.

[Nico]

You can find my review published in Spiral Nature Magazine here:
http://www.spiralnature.com/reviews/c...

[Jack Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has got a lovely matte cover and JPH's illustrations are pretty good.

However, I'm not sure the format works terribly well. It's intended that you can 'dip in and out' but I read it straight through and found that the explanation of some names and terms comes after (sometimes a good number of pages after) the initial mention. For proper beginners this is surely not that helpful. I wasn't really able to imagine myself as someone for whom all this would be new, but I think it might be a bit confusing.

As an aside, it could maybe have done with a further edit, as some things are capitalised inconsistently. It might also be helpful if the quotes were all referenced.

Having said all that though it's a nice little book and full of stuff that should encourage anyone interested to further reading about early 20th century occultism, Crowley, or any of the other fascinating characters mentioned within.