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kingkorok's review against another edition
informative
reflective
3.25
Really interesting content, but I struggled to finish this. The author talks about so many books that I'm unfamiliar with, which made it difficult for me to follow the point she was making. I also couldn't figure out the flow of the book & sometimes connections were made between really disparate things in a way that was less persuasive to me. European, African, and Pacific Islander tales were analyzed in tandem as though universalist themes & conceptions of gender exist across culture, which I think other scholars would challenge. Also no discussion of the hero model as it relates to empire, which felt relevant in some moments of the story. Some parts were fascinating, though!
notizhefte's review against another edition
3.0
Viel Material, das allerdings ermüdend präsentiert wird, einzelne Darstellungen, etwa mit Blick auf Miß Marple, sind überdies widersprüchlich. Daß es trotz des jahrtausendewährenden Patriarchats noch Bücher gibt, die es sich zu lesen lohnt, grenzt nach Tatar an ein Wunder. Meh!
saturnserina's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.0
annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Heroine with 1001 Faces is an immersive folklore based examination of the heroine archetype in the collective cultural consciousness written and presented by Dr. Maria Tatar. Released 14th Sept 2021 by W.W. Norton on their Liveright imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
This is an erudite, very well written, layperson accessible look at the archetypes and portrayals of women in cultural narrative from the ancient world to the 21st century. It's a meticulously researched and annotated survey course and also, in a way, a companion volume (rebuttal?) to Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces. I loved poring over the illustrations as well as the exhaustive bibliography and full chapter notes and annotations. The chapter notes are likely worth the price of admission for anyone interested in the subject and there's obviously been a swoonworthy amount of time spent on research and resource gathering on the part of the author. I took notes during the read and harvested an impressive number of items which warranted further examination later.
I found the entire book quite interesting and fascinating. It is, admittedly, a niche book but will definitely appeal to readers interested in cultural anthropology. It's not a very easy read. The language is rigorous and formal. I definitely don't think it's inaccessible for the average reader, but it will take some effort (and I think that's a good thing). This would make a good support text for classroom or library use, for cultural anthropology and allied subjects, as well as a superlative read for those who are particularly interested in history, culture, and the arts.
Five stars. This is well and deeply researched and engaging.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Heroine with 1001 Faces is an immersive folklore based examination of the heroine archetype in the collective cultural consciousness written and presented by Dr. Maria Tatar. Released 14th Sept 2021 by W.W. Norton on their Liveright imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
This is an erudite, very well written, layperson accessible look at the archetypes and portrayals of women in cultural narrative from the ancient world to the 21st century. It's a meticulously researched and annotated survey course and also, in a way, a companion volume (rebuttal?) to Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces. I loved poring over the illustrations as well as the exhaustive bibliography and full chapter notes and annotations. The chapter notes are likely worth the price of admission for anyone interested in the subject and there's obviously been a swoonworthy amount of time spent on research and resource gathering on the part of the author. I took notes during the read and harvested an impressive number of items which warranted further examination later.
I found the entire book quite interesting and fascinating. It is, admittedly, a niche book but will definitely appeal to readers interested in cultural anthropology. It's not a very easy read. The language is rigorous and formal. I definitely don't think it's inaccessible for the average reader, but it will take some effort (and I think that's a good thing). This would make a good support text for classroom or library use, for cultural anthropology and allied subjects, as well as a superlative read for those who are particularly interested in history, culture, and the arts.
Five stars. This is well and deeply researched and engaging.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
withlivjones's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
A really interesting and detailed feminist study in response to Joseph Campbell’s famous 1949 book. Tatar explores a massive range of heroines, from ancient mythology to folk tales to contemporary books and films. There are so many different case studies that just shows how there really isn’t one way to be a heroine - unlike Campbell’s hero with 1000 faces and his model of the hero’s journey, there are so many ways in which female characters can do heroic and transgressive deeds.
A few things:
- There is a fairly wide range of source material that Tatar discusses, but I noticed that particularly with the contemporary texts they were quite Western-focused; I would have loved to see, for example, a discussion on the heroines of Studio Ghibli films or Shoujo manga.
- While the book is interesting, there’s a lot of quite dense prose to wade through, and so I found that the book ended up feeling a bit repetitive and losing the full effect of its messages.
- Prepare to have many many books and films spoiled for you - the sheer volume of case studies is great but it also means that a lot of plots get spoiled within a paragraph so that the heroines of said plots can be discussed in depth (for example, if you’re still catching up on GoT I would avoid the last chapter).
A few things:
- There is a fairly wide range of source material that Tatar discusses, but I noticed that particularly with the contemporary texts they were quite Western-focused; I would have loved to see, for example, a discussion on the heroines of Studio Ghibli films or Shoujo manga.
- While the book is interesting, there’s a lot of quite dense prose to wade through, and so I found that the book ended up feeling a bit repetitive and losing the full effect of its messages.
- Prepare to have many many books and films spoiled for you - the sheer volume of case studies is great but it also means that a lot of plots get spoiled within a paragraph so that the heroines of said plots can be discussed in depth (for example, if you’re still catching up on GoT I would avoid the last chapter).
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and War