Julian Cope has come a long way since the Teardrop Explodes. For eight years he has researched Britain's megalithic heritage in order to write about its inspirational and mythic importance.The Modern Antiquarian is quite an achievement, in which the singing space cadet once more reconciles himself to Earth. Book One is a series of ten essays reconstructing British paganism prior to the muscular intervention of Christianity. Seriously subjective, frequently wayward, they collectively seek to recover the Great Goddess, and restore a sense of femininity and spirituality to our landscape, dotted with its long barrows and standing stones. In the process, Cope introduces imaginative etymosophies [sic] and some wonderful chapter headings, such as "Why the Romans were so Heavy", and "Ur Indoors", while indulging his distaste for cities and his love of Roman-bashing, for their corruption of collective folk memory, and the straightness of their roads. Cope's own infectious vision is, understandably, more circular, if not exactly rounded. It would be easy to mock, with its amateur snaps (sometimes including a variously coiffed Cope or family, for scale, one presumes), and homespun New Age philosophy. However, Book Two, a rainbow-indexed gazetteer to over 300 prehistoric sites in Britain, is tremendous. Each entry combines a photograph, Ordnance Survey directions, a paragraph of geo-historical significance, and a personal observational note of Cope's. Occasional poetry surfaces--"Atop Knap Hill I eat my snot/For 'tis the only food I got"--but generally the absurdities are kept at bay, as St Julian leads us on a pilgrimage. There are even charming guidelines for those who use the gazetteer properly, including the invaluable tip to keep a plastic bag down your sock to collect rubbish in (Julian does). Splendidly eccentric, impossible not to enjoy, and as much a map of the errant genius of Cope as the land with which he so passionately communes. --David Vincent
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Much-loved book, brilliant This book is brilliantly practical - maps, photos, field notes. You can take it with you on weekends away, holidays - find places you would never have thought of otherwise. And Cope acknowledges the spiritual power of the places - is infectiously enthusiastic and committed about the whole experience. The design of the book is special too - bright orange cover, with blue shiny bits, and an outer casing - it's a good object, not just content. Worth the price.
I can't believe I haven't reviewed this book already! My title says it all, I have had it for eons and forgot to tell anybody what I thought about it, how selfish. Simply I think this is a MUST READ for prehistory monument geeks like myself who want to make that spiritual contact with the ancestors in the ancient world. (You know who you are) It is written in the most user-friendly style I have ever come across in this kind of subject area, that is an immediate attraction for myself. A refreshing change from all the more serious academic stuff I have had to... more info
Arch Drude This book is bloody brilliant. Everyone should own a copy. Apart from the fact that it will make you visit some excellent sites never thought about in your wildest dreams, it is enlightening, and most thoughtful. Julian Cope is a great writer, and were in not for this book I would never have visited Castlerigg - which has to be the best stone circle in the UK.....A real killer of a book!
Nearly...but not quite Julian Cope spent eight years writing this. You would think that with eight years he might have figured out a better system of presenting his work. I am constantly perplexed by his geographical groupings of sites and his brief notes on them. Don't get me wrong - I am grateful that he has spent so much time on a subject he clearly loves as much as I do but; he could have made a guide that gives the reader more in-depth detail along with a structure based on a geography that doesn't lump vast areas into one... more info
