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bittersweet_symphony's review against another edition
5.0
I've added Trickster Makes This World to my cherished toolkit for cultural criticism, alongside works by Alan Watts, Joseph Campbell, Margaret Atwood--and of course, David Foster Wallace. Trickster is a figure vastly misunderstood and undervalued in society, but that's the point of Trickster, now isn't it?
Trickster is an archetypal figure, most prominent in polytheistic religions, mythologies, and epic literature, who stirs the imagination and injects vitality into stagnant societies, small towns, and even households. He is known by many names: Coyote, Hermes, Mercury, Loki, Rumplestiltskin, Susano-o, Legba, Eshu, Prometheus, Kokopelli, and Raven. He lives on the road. He has no homeland, wandering from town to town, bringing fortune and misfortune, disrupting social structures, pushing boundaries, a thief and a gift-giver, a messenger between the gods and humans, a boundary-crosser, sometimes cunning and other times conned, a cross-dresser, and figure who thrives on the fringe. He is amoral, rather than moral or immoral, occupying the realm of ambiguity, ambivalence, contradiction, and paradox. Simply, he is the ultimate culture-transforming hero, an antagonist.
I use the pronoun “he” because trickster tales almost universally, regardless of whether the culture is matriarchal or patriarchal, it features a male character, or rather, a figure who usually manifests themselves as male.
Lewis Hyde asserts that “trickster the culture hero is always present; his seemingly asocial actions continue to keep our world lively and give it the flexibility to endure…that the origins, liveliness, and durability of cultures require that there be a space for figures whose function is to uncover and disrupt the very things that cultures are based on...When he lies or steals, it isn’t so much to get away from something or get rich as to disturb the established categories of truth and property and, by so doing, open the road to possible new worlds...He is the character of myth who threatens to take the myth apart.”
Trickster is not a devil or adversary as understood by monotheistic religions; when Christian missionaries came in contact with polytheistic religions they often translated the local trickster God, taking him to be a manifestation of Satan, Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. As Hyde points out, “Trickster only comes to life in the complex terrain of polytheism. If the spiritual world is dominated by a single high god opposed by a single embodiment of evil, then the ancient trickster disappears...The Devil is an agent of evil, but trickster is amoral, not immoral.”
Hyde gives us a fresh way to look at historical figures like John Cabe, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duschamp, Allen Ginsberg, and my personal favorite, Frederick Douglass, to articulate an important player in the remaking of culture and social institutions.
If you think Trickster is a devil at worst or a playful entertainer at best, reserved for fables and myths, then you are ignoring one of the most essential forces in society and community. One can't talk about any revolution (political, cultural, moral) without finding Trickster at the heart, the lone chaos-maker, playful and dangerous: you'll find him dressed in drag, joining all sorts of lovers in decadent orgies, giving gifts and misfortune to society, reversing roles, making the exceptions which define the rules, the key figure of each epoch, destined to be taken for granted.
Hyde gifts us a foundational implement to dissect and understand society, a dynamic map from which we can inspire other trickster behaviors, for this archetype is just one of the many we contain inside ourselves. We each show it now and again. Despite the damage occasionally unleashed, we ought to never forget the beauty that is found by embracing the God of the Doorway, the Cattle Thief charmer, who reminds us that nothing is static or certain, no rule can remain unbroken or unchanged. Everything has a season.
Embrace it and don't forget to laugh about it.
Trickster is an archetypal figure, most prominent in polytheistic religions, mythologies, and epic literature, who stirs the imagination and injects vitality into stagnant societies, small towns, and even households. He is known by many names: Coyote, Hermes, Mercury, Loki, Rumplestiltskin, Susano-o, Legba, Eshu, Prometheus, Kokopelli, and Raven. He lives on the road. He has no homeland, wandering from town to town, bringing fortune and misfortune, disrupting social structures, pushing boundaries, a thief and a gift-giver, a messenger between the gods and humans, a boundary-crosser, sometimes cunning and other times conned, a cross-dresser, and figure who thrives on the fringe. He is amoral, rather than moral or immoral, occupying the realm of ambiguity, ambivalence, contradiction, and paradox. Simply, he is the ultimate culture-transforming hero, an antagonist.
I use the pronoun “he” because trickster tales almost universally, regardless of whether the culture is matriarchal or patriarchal, it features a male character, or rather, a figure who usually manifests themselves as male.
Lewis Hyde asserts that “trickster the culture hero is always present; his seemingly asocial actions continue to keep our world lively and give it the flexibility to endure…that the origins, liveliness, and durability of cultures require that there be a space for figures whose function is to uncover and disrupt the very things that cultures are based on...When he lies or steals, it isn’t so much to get away from something or get rich as to disturb the established categories of truth and property and, by so doing, open the road to possible new worlds...He is the character of myth who threatens to take the myth apart.”
Trickster is not a devil or adversary as understood by monotheistic religions; when Christian missionaries came in contact with polytheistic religions they often translated the local trickster God, taking him to be a manifestation of Satan, Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. As Hyde points out, “Trickster only comes to life in the complex terrain of polytheism. If the spiritual world is dominated by a single high god opposed by a single embodiment of evil, then the ancient trickster disappears...The Devil is an agent of evil, but trickster is amoral, not immoral.”
Hyde gives us a fresh way to look at historical figures like John Cabe, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duschamp, Allen Ginsberg, and my personal favorite, Frederick Douglass, to articulate an important player in the remaking of culture and social institutions.
If you think Trickster is a devil at worst or a playful entertainer at best, reserved for fables and myths, then you are ignoring one of the most essential forces in society and community. One can't talk about any revolution (political, cultural, moral) without finding Trickster at the heart, the lone chaos-maker, playful and dangerous: you'll find him dressed in drag, joining all sorts of lovers in decadent orgies, giving gifts and misfortune to society, reversing roles, making the exceptions which define the rules, the key figure of each epoch, destined to be taken for granted.
Hyde gifts us a foundational implement to dissect and understand society, a dynamic map from which we can inspire other trickster behaviors, for this archetype is just one of the many we contain inside ourselves. We each show it now and again. Despite the damage occasionally unleashed, we ought to never forget the beauty that is found by embracing the God of the Doorway, the Cattle Thief charmer, who reminds us that nothing is static or certain, no rule can remain unbroken or unchanged. Everything has a season.
Embrace it and don't forget to laugh about it.
klparmley's review against another edition
2.0
I think I wanted a book of trickster myths without interpretation. His editorials got on my nerves, but I suspect it was my mood, not his fault.
wafflefonfabre's review against another edition
1.0
TLDR:You might get one or two myths or fun facts from this like I did but I still think any other myth book would be better. This books wastes most of its page count examining one myth over and over with very few new details each time. Im so disappointed tricksters are my favorite myth archetype and I wanted to learn more about tricksters that may not be well known.
This is one of the worst mythology books I've ever read and I've read a lot of them. This book not only redefines trickster to a definition thats just mind bogglingly strange, Lewis redefines trickster to a boundary crosser or in-between being or crossroads god. He didn't even include cleverness or anything about playing a trick which is how most people categorize tricksters.
Despite redefining the word trickster to basically encompass any god he still excludes goddess from being tricksters despite the face I could think of 5 off the top of my head that fit in the normal and his definition. This book doesn't even focus on most tricksters. Its dull and mainly examining one myth, you heard me one myth. For a god who I would say is on the edge of being a trickster, Hermes.
Honestly your better off picking up a Edith Hamiltons Greek myth book or another other book on myth cause you will learn little here. Every time you think your gonna learn about a new trickster psyche! No its Hermes time again! You know I like Hermes but this is 100 pages of the same myth. It feels like a high schoolers essay that Lewis is stretching out to hit a page limit.
This is one of the worst mythology books I've ever read and I've read a lot of them. This book not only redefines trickster to a definition thats just mind bogglingly strange, Lewis redefines trickster to a boundary crosser or in-between being or crossroads god. He didn't even include cleverness or anything about playing a trick which is how most people categorize tricksters.
Despite redefining the word trickster to basically encompass any god he still excludes goddess from being tricksters despite the face I could think of 5 off the top of my head that fit in the normal and his definition. This book doesn't even focus on most tricksters. Its dull and mainly examining one myth, you heard me one myth. For a god who I would say is on the edge of being a trickster, Hermes.
Honestly your better off picking up a Edith Hamiltons Greek myth book or another other book on myth cause you will learn little here. Every time you think your gonna learn about a new trickster psyche! No its Hermes time again! You know I like Hermes but this is 100 pages of the same myth. It feels like a high schoolers essay that Lewis is stretching out to hit a page limit.
nettles's review against another edition
1.0
Dnf 30%
Funny how Hyde came up with his own definition of trickster—which doesn’t include deception btw—and then blames other academics for why women are excluded and can’t be tricksters.
The writing has a certain type of academic pretentiousness that didn’t land for me. (What does he mean that the cows Hermes kidnapped represent asexuality?) I tried to read this in a book club and we simply had enough and moved on.
We’re looking for other books with Trickster god myths now.
Funny how Hyde came up with his own definition of trickster—which doesn’t include deception btw—and then blames other academics for why women are excluded and can’t be tricksters.
The writing has a certain type of academic pretentiousness that didn’t land for me. (What does he mean that the cows Hermes kidnapped represent asexuality?) I tried to read this in a book club and we simply had enough and moved on.
We’re looking for other books with Trickster god myths now.
ironwoodwitch's review against another edition
4.0
This book took me a rather long time to read - partially because I started driving to work and lost my train reading time, and partially because it was particularly chewy!
Hyde brings together quite a collection of thoughts, stories and other information about Trickster Gods, their stories and their role in society and the shaping of our world. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of modern people and how they at times took on the Trickster archetype to change their world. The most notable example, for me, were not the artists like Duchamp, but Frederick Douglas, who I would never have thought to include as a trickster myself. I have not yet read his work, but plan on picking up his autobiography in the future.
I particularly enjoyed that Hyde discussed myths and tricksters from around the world, and did not focus solely on Classical myths. I also enjoyed the appendix which talked about the lack of female tricksters and his discussions on why this might be.
Overall, I found it a very informative and enjoyable read. This book does presupposed a familiarity with many of the Trickster myths and themes; the only full retelling included was the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. However, I have a feeling that this book is generally aimed at those who already have some familiarity with cross-cultural mythology.
Hyde brings together quite a collection of thoughts, stories and other information about Trickster Gods, their stories and their role in society and the shaping of our world. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of modern people and how they at times took on the Trickster archetype to change their world. The most notable example, for me, were not the artists like Duchamp, but Frederick Douglas, who I would never have thought to include as a trickster myself. I have not yet read his work, but plan on picking up his autobiography in the future.
I particularly enjoyed that Hyde discussed myths and tricksters from around the world, and did not focus solely on Classical myths. I also enjoyed the appendix which talked about the lack of female tricksters and his discussions on why this might be.
Overall, I found it a very informative and enjoyable read. This book does presupposed a familiarity with many of the Trickster myths and themes; the only full retelling included was the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. However, I have a feeling that this book is generally aimed at those who already have some familiarity with cross-cultural mythology.
tlindhorst's review against another edition
4.0
This is a dense and rewarding book. It took concentration to read. Parts of it felt revelatory and transformed my thinking about tricksters as archetypes. I also learned much about Fredrick Douglass that I did not know. I loved the way Hyde writes, weaning together myth, present day a& his reflections on the intersections. My one bed is that a few of the chapters felt more abstract and disconnected (notably the interlude & project chapters for me).