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kelseyfay638's review against another edition
3.0
Some very good points and interesting insights. Definitely worth the read, but more of a long essay and literature review than a full book itself (hence the 3 stars).
yaltidoka24's review against another edition
3.0
Blinks:
1. Our lives are full of make-believe stories that always seem to revolve around trouble.
2. With the help of stories we can practice for real life.
3. Dreams are nighttime stories that help our brains learn.
4. Our mind weaves information into meaningful stories, and sometimes it goes awry.
5. Stories shape our beliefs and behaviour.
6. Everyone likes to tell the story of their life - but that's not necessarily a true story.
7. Storytelling is changing its form - and becoming even more addictive because of this.
1. Our lives are full of make-believe stories that always seem to revolve around trouble.
2. With the help of stories we can practice for real life.
3. Dreams are nighttime stories that help our brains learn.
4. Our mind weaves information into meaningful stories, and sometimes it goes awry.
5. Stories shape our beliefs and behaviour.
6. Everyone likes to tell the story of their life - but that's not necessarily a true story.
7. Storytelling is changing its form - and becoming even more addictive because of this.
subplotkudzu's review against another edition
2.0
This was a quick read, meant to be an analysis of how humans instinctively tell stories, but the author never got too deep into any one aspect and instead breezed over a half dozen different variations on the theme. His somewhat dismissive comments concerning RPGs and LARPing in the final chapter were inaccurate enough to make me question the depth of scholarship in the rest of the book. I'm still happy I read it, and there are certainly some parts of it that I will be swiping for, no surprise, role playing games, but I was expecting a deeper, more scholarly work.
alicetheowl's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting look into the psychology of story: its role in shaping history, its possible evolutionary roles, and where it manifests.
Could've done without the aside into gender essentialist biological determinism, and the book blithely promotes the left-brain, right-brain myth without acknowledging any of the science about neuroplasticity from the last 40 years. Odd choice.
Could've done without the aside into gender essentialist biological determinism, and the book blithely promotes the left-brain, right-brain myth without acknowledging any of the science about neuroplasticity from the last 40 years. Odd choice.
courtneyrath's review against another edition
3.0
Nothing particularly revolutionary here (though he often makes it sound like he's saying something that no one has ever said before), but some interesting stuff from neuroscience makes his case stronger. Also, it's quite well-written.
chefcookeruns's review against another edition
3.0
The book is an easy read about stories and the history that humanity has with them.
I read this as an aside to reading about how to tell stories. As such, the book provides a nice ‘why’ while concurrently learning about the ‘how’ of storytelling.
I found myself familiar with many of the citations used in the book. It is an interesting read, but if you are a heavy reader into psychology (Thinking Fast and Slow and similar books) you may be also be familiar with the citations.
I read this as an aside to reading about how to tell stories. As such, the book provides a nice ‘why’ while concurrently learning about the ‘how’ of storytelling.
I found myself familiar with many of the citations used in the book. It is an interesting read, but if you are a heavy reader into psychology (Thinking Fast and Slow and similar books) you may be also be familiar with the citations.
laserbehm's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting enough to make you think, short enough to hold your interest. Maybe for those of us not big on nonfiction.
ekalthaus's review against another edition
3.0
A very pleasant book about the centrality of story to the human experience. I found particularly interesting the discussion of the possible evolutionary benefits of story. Much of the content was not particularly surprising - I think everyone is aware of the unreliability and self-serving nature of memory, and our tendency to make ourselves protagonist is pretty obvious. Also, I read this book after hearing the author interviewed on NPR - and I'm afraid the book didn't add very much to what I heard in the interview. Pleasant read with interesting ideas, but nothing that will blow your mind or make you think about things in a particularly new way.