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Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain
A fascinating and accessible guide to the Faustian bargain throughout the ages, written in a lively and engaging style.
From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain -- the exchange of one's soul in return for untold riches and power -- has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations.
Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from biblical themes to the Charlie Daniels Band, and illustrates how the instinct for sacrificing our principles in exchange for power models all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, and even social media, climate change, and AI. In doing so, Simon conveys just how much the Faustian bargain shows us about power and evil ... and about ourselves.
From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain -- the exchange of one's soul in return for untold riches and power -- has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations.
Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from biblical themes to the Charlie Daniels Band, and illustrates how the instinct for sacrificing our principles in exchange for power models all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, and even social media, climate change, and AI. In doing so, Simon conveys just how much the Faustian bargain shows us about power and evil ... and about ourselves.
336 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication July 9, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 12, 2024
It’s like an Adam Curtis documentary on Rock and Roll.
The book describes itself as being about the Faustian bargain, but it is broader than that, dealing with any deal with the Devil, real or metaphoric.
It starts with the religious basis of such deals, as is found in the Abrahamic texts and their apocrypha, then describes the quasi-historical story of Faust, including detailed sketches on his major literary interpreters: Marlowe, Goethe, and Mann. Discussing the tradition of soul-selling artists, the book then considers more metaphorical Faustian deals in our modern world, going so far as to suggest that we are exiting the Anthropocene for the Faustocene, a period of history not about our control over the world but about our unease with that control and what payment it might extract.
There is a section late in the book where the author makes a rejoinder to Adorno’s statement that no poetry can exist after Auschwitz to suggest that poetry is all there is after the first successful nuclear weapons test. And that feels true to form as regards this book, which at points feels more like poetry, an extended riff on the idea of what it means for evil to have a personage, or even an anthology of essays.
I did particularly like the sections on the underlying history of how we get to Faust. The idea of the Faustocene is fun. There were a few sections like that on the ways that these ideas intersect with the Gnostic traditions or likewise with the traditions around the Blues, that felt to short. And there were points where it felt like too much triangulation around a topic, or textual meanders, showing up since the concept itself is so broad.
I was unaware that the author was a religion writer. It feels embarrassingly self-obvious not to think about how a book about the Devil would involve religious thought. I think that this serves the text, but I do think that a reader should be aware of it in the sense that I feel like some of the sections are much more rewarding with a working knowledge of Christianity, and it might change how you appreciate the book.
It is an inconsistent book, not in quality but in topicality, moving in a sort of stream of consciousness through various representations of the Devil and their works. Its expansive reach means that I feel that the reader will matter here more than usual, because of how many different things that the book is. That makes it hard to recommend, or at least go into it thinking that you will love parts and be left out by others, and that it is less historical or lit crit than conceptual and experiential.
It may be the first time that I wished a book was a video essay, in that serialization and visual editing would provide more architecture to the text, and the rambling nature fit spoken language more.
My thanks to the author, Ed Simon, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Melville House, for making the ARC available to me.
The book describes itself as being about the Faustian bargain, but it is broader than that, dealing with any deal with the Devil, real or metaphoric.
It starts with the religious basis of such deals, as is found in the Abrahamic texts and their apocrypha, then describes the quasi-historical story of Faust, including detailed sketches on his major literary interpreters: Marlowe, Goethe, and Mann. Discussing the tradition of soul-selling artists, the book then considers more metaphorical Faustian deals in our modern world, going so far as to suggest that we are exiting the Anthropocene for the Faustocene, a period of history not about our control over the world but about our unease with that control and what payment it might extract.
There is a section late in the book where the author makes a rejoinder to Adorno’s statement that no poetry can exist after Auschwitz to suggest that poetry is all there is after the first successful nuclear weapons test. And that feels true to form as regards this book, which at points feels more like poetry, an extended riff on the idea of what it means for evil to have a personage, or even an anthology of essays.
I did particularly like the sections on the underlying history of how we get to Faust. The idea of the Faustocene is fun. There were a few sections like that on the ways that these ideas intersect with the Gnostic traditions or likewise with the traditions around the Blues, that felt to short. And there were points where it felt like too much triangulation around a topic, or textual meanders, showing up since the concept itself is so broad.
I was unaware that the author was a religion writer. It feels embarrassingly self-obvious not to think about how a book about the Devil would involve religious thought. I think that this serves the text, but I do think that a reader should be aware of it in the sense that I feel like some of the sections are much more rewarding with a working knowledge of Christianity, and it might change how you appreciate the book.
It is an inconsistent book, not in quality but in topicality, moving in a sort of stream of consciousness through various representations of the Devil and their works. Its expansive reach means that I feel that the reader will matter here more than usual, because of how many different things that the book is. That makes it hard to recommend, or at least go into it thinking that you will love parts and be left out by others, and that it is less historical or lit crit than conceptual and experiential.
It may be the first time that I wished a book was a video essay, in that serialization and visual editing would provide more architecture to the text, and the rambling nature fit spoken language more.
My thanks to the author, Ed Simon, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Melville House, for making the ARC available to me.
February 25, 2024
This title combines the best features of both the creative non-fiction and microhistory genres.
The Devil’s Contract is a comprehensive and entertaining a non-fiction book on this subject as one could like. In exploring the roots, advent, and legacy of the Faust legend, author Ed Simon connects threads as disparate as Gnosticism, medieval illuminated manuscripts, an assassinated Romanian intellectual, and finally the Manhattan project. Throughout the author showcases his wit and verve, adding linguistic and artistic flourishes that keep the pace lively and engaging. Like a skilled actor, the author draws you in and then takes you on a sprawling journey, compelling you all the while with the merit of his story and the artfulness of his delivery.
While I personally felt that a few of the later chapters strayed somewhat from the initial scope of the book, I can easily forgive authorial wanderings as interesting and delightful to read as these. This title should be required reading for anyone interested in the growth and evolution of the Faust legend; it demonstrates impeccably why this myth is so enduring and so central to much of later western culture.
The Devil’s Contract is a comprehensive and entertaining a non-fiction book on this subject as one could like. In exploring the roots, advent, and legacy of the Faust legend, author Ed Simon connects threads as disparate as Gnosticism, medieval illuminated manuscripts, an assassinated Romanian intellectual, and finally the Manhattan project. Throughout the author showcases his wit and verve, adding linguistic and artistic flourishes that keep the pace lively and engaging. Like a skilled actor, the author draws you in and then takes you on a sprawling journey, compelling you all the while with the merit of his story and the artfulness of his delivery.
While I personally felt that a few of the later chapters strayed somewhat from the initial scope of the book, I can easily forgive authorial wanderings as interesting and delightful to read as these. This title should be required reading for anyone interested in the growth and evolution of the Faust legend; it demonstrates impeccably why this myth is so enduring and so central to much of later western culture.
May 12, 2024
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Melville House Publishing for an advance copy of this new book that looks at the idea of making a deal that promises much, but asks for so much more, in media, religion, and even in our history, and what this tells us about ourselves.
One doesn't have to look to far in America to see people who have made Faustian bargains, sold their soul for well not rock n roll, but fame, money, and power. Turn on the news and see these people who promote the last president of this nation, the one who is on trial in quite a few states. These supporters all have the look of people who have given up, their eyes dead, knowing they made a mistake, but that little taste of power was just too much. Even in our everyday life we make deals with corporate devils. Here is the latest well super special phone. It can do amazing things, and will make your life better. Oh but it is made by exploiting children in Asia, and causing untold environmental destruction in Africa. Now, go do a little dance on TikTok. One might not lose their immortal soul, but maybe a little humanity. Or a bit of the world is gone for the next generation. So one can watch videos at full volume on an airplane. Ed Simon in his book Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain looks at the Faustian bargain, in media, religion, and unfortunately in the real world, an arrangement that so many seem to enter into, with arms wide open and consequences be darned.
The book is written as a series of essays looking at different bargains made by different people, from musicians, magicians, children of gods, and simple people trying to get a better deal. Simon begins with an explanation about how the idea of a deal to better one's life for the short term, with either an eternity of hellfire, or public scorn and becoming a joke throughout history is so important to both art and for understanding the motivations of real people. Simon starts with Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus, not the first place this idea started, but one of the more popular, and wonders what cost Marlowe payed, dying in a pub either over and unpaid bill, or because of his supposed intelligence work. A name known, but not as known as fellow playwright William Shakespeare. Simon looks at the story of Simon Magnus, and even at the book and film version of The Last Temptation of Christ, to show that even the son of God can be tempted by a good deal, even in the short run. The legend of Robert Johnson at the Crossroads, is told as well as discussions on modern media, like Robert Egger's The Witch. Simon also looks at the real world, such as the Manhattan Project, a plan that could have ended war for all time, by ending everything.
Ed Simon is a fascinating writer, with knowledge about media that mixes well with his knowledge of the esoteric. Simon is also a very good writer, and though the essays range through time and space, real to imagined, Simon keeps everything together, with both writing skill and the ability to keep making everything so darned interesting. From theaters, to buildings lost, to the Bible, to the Deep South, and the deserts of New Mexico, Simon keeps everything together, and make one think much about the life we life, and what we compromise on. In the end almost everything looks Faustian, good education, good job, big money, miss your family, get fired, lose everything, death. Maybe it is not the soul we trade, but the time that we lose is the biggest lose in these bargains we take part in.
Recommended for literary readers, philosophical thinkers, and people who like collections that make one think. I've read a few things by Ed Simon over the years, and this is the one that made me think the most, and wonder about life. I can't wait to read what Simon publishes next.
One doesn't have to look to far in America to see people who have made Faustian bargains, sold their soul for well not rock n roll, but fame, money, and power. Turn on the news and see these people who promote the last president of this nation, the one who is on trial in quite a few states. These supporters all have the look of people who have given up, their eyes dead, knowing they made a mistake, but that little taste of power was just too much. Even in our everyday life we make deals with corporate devils. Here is the latest well super special phone. It can do amazing things, and will make your life better. Oh but it is made by exploiting children in Asia, and causing untold environmental destruction in Africa. Now, go do a little dance on TikTok. One might not lose their immortal soul, but maybe a little humanity. Or a bit of the world is gone for the next generation. So one can watch videos at full volume on an airplane. Ed Simon in his book Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain looks at the Faustian bargain, in media, religion, and unfortunately in the real world, an arrangement that so many seem to enter into, with arms wide open and consequences be darned.
The book is written as a series of essays looking at different bargains made by different people, from musicians, magicians, children of gods, and simple people trying to get a better deal. Simon begins with an explanation about how the idea of a deal to better one's life for the short term, with either an eternity of hellfire, or public scorn and becoming a joke throughout history is so important to both art and for understanding the motivations of real people. Simon starts with Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus, not the first place this idea started, but one of the more popular, and wonders what cost Marlowe payed, dying in a pub either over and unpaid bill, or because of his supposed intelligence work. A name known, but not as known as fellow playwright William Shakespeare. Simon looks at the story of Simon Magnus, and even at the book and film version of The Last Temptation of Christ, to show that even the son of God can be tempted by a good deal, even in the short run. The legend of Robert Johnson at the Crossroads, is told as well as discussions on modern media, like Robert Egger's The Witch. Simon also looks at the real world, such as the Manhattan Project, a plan that could have ended war for all time, by ending everything.
Ed Simon is a fascinating writer, with knowledge about media that mixes well with his knowledge of the esoteric. Simon is also a very good writer, and though the essays range through time and space, real to imagined, Simon keeps everything together, with both writing skill and the ability to keep making everything so darned interesting. From theaters, to buildings lost, to the Bible, to the Deep South, and the deserts of New Mexico, Simon keeps everything together, and make one think much about the life we life, and what we compromise on. In the end almost everything looks Faustian, good education, good job, big money, miss your family, get fired, lose everything, death. Maybe it is not the soul we trade, but the time that we lose is the biggest lose in these bargains we take part in.
Recommended for literary readers, philosophical thinkers, and people who like collections that make one think. I've read a few things by Ed Simon over the years, and this is the one that made me think the most, and wonder about life. I can't wait to read what Simon publishes next.
June 2, 2024
What is the difference between magic and religion, between God and the devil?
Devil's Contract is a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the Faustian bargain, from biblical times to the present day. Ed Simon expertly weaves broad and seemingly disparate threads across history – including witch trials, art, music, theatre, literature, cinema, the atomic bomb, and the dawning age of AI – with the central idea to compelling effect. Well-researched and presented, every chapter contains the kind of captivating ideas and topics that will send me down internet rabbit holes to learn more about.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Devil's Contract is a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the Faustian bargain, from biblical times to the present day. Ed Simon expertly weaves broad and seemingly disparate threads across history – including witch trials, art, music, theatre, literature, cinema, the atomic bomb, and the dawning age of AI – with the central idea to compelling effect. Well-researched and presented, every chapter contains the kind of captivating ideas and topics that will send me down internet rabbit holes to learn more about.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 23, 2024
Ed Simon's "Devil's Contract" details the history of a question underlying a bargain as old as time - Would you sell your soul to the devil? For what? And would you figure out how to reneg on it at the last moment? From Christ to Roko's Basilisk, Simon looks at where we've been and what contemporary satanic pacts may look like today. From the bible to music to the little boxes for terms and services, everything might have Mephistopheles's fingerprints on it.
My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
January 31, 2024
Outstanding cultural theory of one of the central tropes of Western civilization.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews