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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Campbell is the real deal. There is a reason Joseph Campbell is one of the very, very few academic intellectuals to achieve widespread recognition among popular readers, and this book is it.
Hero With A Thousand Faces is Campbell's exploration of the Hero's Journey, or the 'monomyth,' a broad, modular but clearly defined narrative pattern evident in the hero tales of every mythology, and therefore situated within the core of human storytelling tradition.
Campbell's style is dense and eloquent, but brisk. He tends to leap from example to example and his sentences are rich with metaphor and abstraction, as is expected and necessary in a scholastic work. But Campbell (unlike, say, Derrida or Lacan or Barthes or any number of post-modern scholars) takes no pride in attempting to fog his reader with literary obscurism or messy, abstract language. His style is clear, yet challenging, and reading him is like trying to study an intricately carved and multifaceted jewel.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves mythology, literary theory, storytelling, or is just fascinated by human culture and doesn't mind having their mind blown a few times.
Hero With A Thousand Faces is Campbell's exploration of the Hero's Journey, or the 'monomyth,' a broad, modular but clearly defined narrative pattern evident in the hero tales of every mythology, and therefore situated within the core of human storytelling tradition.
Campbell's style is dense and eloquent, but brisk. He tends to leap from example to example and his sentences are rich with metaphor and abstraction, as is expected and necessary in a scholastic work. But Campbell (unlike, say, Derrida or Lacan or Barthes or any number of post-modern scholars) takes no pride in attempting to fog his reader with literary obscurism or messy, abstract language. His style is clear, yet challenging, and reading him is like trying to study an intricately carved and multifaceted jewel.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves mythology, literary theory, storytelling, or is just fascinated by human culture and doesn't mind having their mind blown a few times.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Justifiably a classic for its erudition, but it's no exaggeration to say there are twenty or thirty pages of analysis: the bulk comprises long, varied examples which can tend toward tediousness.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I guess this is non-fiction, but it's non-fiction about myths and folklore. Oh well.
I'd wanted to read this for some time. It lays out a chart of the path (or variations on that path) that every hero takes in a wide array of myths from around the world. There's some psychoanalysis thrown in, with lots of references to Freud and Jung etc., but the part that really interested me was the comparisons of the various markers found in each story.
I hope it sticks with me enough that I'll be thinking about it for some time to come.
I'd wanted to read this for some time. It lays out a chart of the path (or variations on that path) that every hero takes in a wide array of myths from around the world. There's some psychoanalysis thrown in, with lots of references to Freud and Jung etc., but the part that really interested me was the comparisons of the various markers found in each story.
I hope it sticks with me enough that I'll be thinking about it for some time to come.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Absolutely phenomenal book. While finer points can be debatable, the broad strokes did much to unify the understanding of telling stories. The Hero’s Journey will resonate if you’ve seen A New Hope, the Cosmogonic Cycle will ring true if you’ve seen the entire trilogy.
I can’t recommend this enough. It thoroughly enriches reading.
I can’t recommend this enough. It thoroughly enriches reading.
This book has continued to resonate with me since I first read it four years ago. My last re-read offered even more. Campbell's knowledge of world myths is amazing. His analysis of the hero's journey is precise, intriguing, and valuable. THe acknowledgement of our need for myth and of our hero path is moving, to say the least.
Having always been a fan of mythology and hero quests, I've wanted to read this for a long time. I wasn't disappointed. Campbell introduces the reader to myths and legends from not only the well known Greek and Norse, but from the Native Americans, Africa, Scotland...almost everywhere. Campbell also revisits many of the characters who's stories he tells, detailing their further adventures while showing that all over the world, throughout time, our stories have been the same tale, with only the details changed.
However, as immersive as I found the stories, the text between could get very dry, as you'd expect from a scholar from the middle of the 20th century. I found my eyes glazing over the pages at times, looking for the next tale to carry forth Campbell's narrative. Because of this it took me much longer to finish than I would have liked, and in order to get through the last part I had to put the book in my bathroom, where reading is demanded and required.
However, as immersive as I found the stories, the text between could get very dry, as you'd expect from a scholar from the middle of the 20th century. I found my eyes glazing over the pages at times, looking for the next tale to carry forth Campbell's narrative. Because of this it took me much longer to finish than I would have liked, and in order to get through the last part I had to put the book in my bathroom, where reading is demanded and required.
Incredible summary of archetypes in myth and how they relate to each other. Eye opening and sometimes even funny.