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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
The first third of the book, which focuses on the Hero's Journey trope, is rich in its analysis. The other two-thirds lack that same specificity and often contain excerpts of other myths without analysis to anchor them to the point Campbell makes.
This was an interesting book, if a little hard to follow sometimes. My mind wandered more than once and I had to reread sentences several times. Some of the ideas presented I just didn't entirely understand. Probably my favorite parts were instances where stories and myths were just told, supposedly as an example to something explained. I didn't always get it.
One thing that bothers me was the position of women in this train of thought. There were maybe two large myths told that dealt with a woman as the main Hero, but only to illustrate another point, not to illustrate the archetype of woman. From what I remember, woman signifies the Known World, and this knowledge is what the Hero wants to acquire, hence marriages and mistresses being totally acceptable. Much as I like the idea of knowing everything, I don't know how this flies when the genders are reversed. If the Woman knows everything, she has no reason to go on a Journey or do cool things. If she's the main character, she has to be coaxed into revealing herself (like the myth of Amaterasu). If a Heroine sets out on the same journey as a Hero, do the people encountered suddenly symbolize different things? If the Heroine meets the Virgin Boy instead of the Virgin Maiden, what happens? Campbell didn't get into any of that.
I don't think this is a great book to read for writing advice, but I think it's great for worldbuilding. It does break done dozens of myths and religions in such a way that writers could start to think of their own mythologies for their own worlds. I know it's done that for me. I don't know anything much about psychology, but given the importance of this book, it's probably still worth reading for those who haven't.
One thing that bothers me was the position of women in this train of thought. There were maybe two large myths told that dealt with a woman as the main Hero, but only to illustrate another point, not to illustrate the archetype of woman. From what I remember, woman signifies the Known World, and this knowledge is what the Hero wants to acquire, hence marriages and mistresses being totally acceptable. Much as I like the idea of knowing everything, I don't know how this flies when the genders are reversed. If the Woman knows everything, she has no reason to go on a Journey or do cool things. If she's the main character, she has to be coaxed into revealing herself (like the myth of Amaterasu). If a Heroine sets out on the same journey as a Hero, do the people encountered suddenly symbolize different things? If the Heroine meets the Virgin Boy instead of the Virgin Maiden, what happens? Campbell didn't get into any of that.
I don't think this is a great book to read for writing advice, but I think it's great for worldbuilding. It does break done dozens of myths and religions in such a way that writers could start to think of their own mythologies for their own worlds. I know it's done that for me. I don't know anything much about psychology, but given the importance of this book, it's probably still worth reading for those who haven't.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I don’t know how to feel about this book. On one hand, I’ve many highlighted and dog eared pages, but I don’t think I enjoyed reading it overall. I found the writing style caused me to zone out (as opposed to reading a book which requires concentration because it’s dense) and it’s a combination of Campbell’s writing style and the frequent legends and myth he incorporates.
I get that’s the point, but being so dense in 3/4 examples of myth per idea etc was draining and didn’t really support my understanding.
I get that’s the point, but being so dense in 3/4 examples of myth per idea etc was draining and didn’t really support my understanding.
This book explores such a wide array of different stories from vastly different cultures, and for that reason was super fascinating. However, I will say that my ADD brain had a really hard time with it because it seems needlessly verbose at times. I essentially read every word in this book twice. I’m happy to have read it, but can’t say that it was a lot of fun.
I love the idea of finding an underline story for every adventure. But I found the writing dated and sometimes boring.
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Joseph Campbell's seminal book from 1949. He already had a vast knowledge of different cultures' mythologies and how they are universally common, demonstrating the hero's journey. He was very taken with the then "new" psychoanalysis movement, dovetailing some of the psychoanalytic experiences with the mythologies of the different cultures.
Great lessons for our own times abound.
"The prime function of mythology and rite is to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward" (p 7).
Check out the tyrant-monster (p 11). "He is the hoarder of the general benefit. He is the monster avid for the greedy rights of "my and mine."...the inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world -- no matter how his affairs may seem to prosper..."
Many people today are unable to grasp the universality of world peoples and cultures, and the necessity for world togetherness/action.
As Campbell further notes national totems is useless --ineffective in this world in which the community is the planet. "The national idea, with the flag as totem, is today an aggrandizer of the nursery ego, not the annihilator of an infantile situation."
"Nor can the great world religions, as at present understood, meet the requirement. For they have . ebcome associated with the causes of the factions, as instruments of propaganda and self-congratulation."
The "life" is in all of us and the modern hero must attend to that to affect society. Not the other way around.
By the hero's journey, he/she can bring back to other people the needed development and maturity that will help mold a better society/world.
Great lessons for our own times abound.
"The prime function of mythology and rite is to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward" (p 7).
Check out the tyrant-monster (p 11). "He is the hoarder of the general benefit. He is the monster avid for the greedy rights of "my and mine."...the inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world -- no matter how his affairs may seem to prosper..."
Many people today are unable to grasp the universality of world peoples and cultures, and the necessity for world togetherness/action.
As Campbell further notes national totems is useless --ineffective in this world in which the community is the planet. "The national idea, with the flag as totem, is today an aggrandizer of the nursery ego, not the annihilator of an infantile situation."
"Nor can the great world religions, as at present understood, meet the requirement. For they have . ebcome associated with the causes of the factions, as instruments of propaganda and self-congratulation."
The "life" is in all of us and the modern hero must attend to that to affect society. Not the other way around.
By the hero's journey, he/she can bring back to other people the needed development and maturity that will help mold a better society/world.
Lots of fascinating mythical stories from all round the world but none of it held together as an argument or analysis I felt. Take any chapter and look at the amount of exposition or quotation of myth set against the author's own exegesis and the balance was overwhelmingly disproportionate in favour of the latter.
It wasn't until a single chapter around page 380 where I deduced anything or worth, where in just 3 pages the author neatly sums up the origin/function of myth and how this mutates into the modern age.
It wasn't until a single chapter around page 380 where I deduced anything or worth, where in just 3 pages the author neatly sums up the origin/function of myth and how this mutates into the modern age.
Campbell presents the monomyth in a way that is both accessible and enlightening.