A Short History of Myth (Myths, The)

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An excellet introduction

Reinstating the Mythical?

Easy to follow

Scholarly but Brief and Highy Readable

Boiled down just right -- why and how we gained and lost our myths

A Short History of Myth (Myths, The)
Karen Armstrong
Manufacturer: Canongate U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 184195800X

Book Description

“Human beings have always been mythmakers.” So begins best-selling writer Karen Armstrong’s concise yet compelling investigation into myth: what it is, how it has evolved, and why we still so desperately need it. She takes us from the Paleolithic period and the myths of the hunters right up to the “Great Western Transformation” of the last five hundred years and the discrediting of myth by science. The history of myth is the history of humanity, our stories and beliefs, our curiosity and attempts to understand the world, which link us to our ancestors and each other. Heralding a major series of retellings of international myths by authors from around the world, Armstrong’s characteristically insightful and eloquent book serves as a brilliant and thought-provoking introduction to myth in the broadest sense—and explains why if we dismiss it, we do so at our peril.

Customer Reviews:

An excellet introduction.......2007-10-01

This book offers an excellent presentation of the category of myth--what myths are, why they exist, what they provide, how they function in society as well as in individuals. It is both clear and concise; in no sense is it necessary to be familiar with the field in order to understand it.

Please be advised that the book is not an anthology of myths. It provides an introduction to myth that would be helpful in a course on mythology, but a collection of myths would also be necessary.

Reinstating the Mythical?.......2007-09-12

As modernity progressed, most myths were 'debunked'. However, modernity was unable to fill the psychological vacuum created by the negation of these myths. This has created problems for the society. Hence, it is time to reinstate mythology. This is the essential argument which Karen Armstrong makes in this book.

The book is divided into seven short chapters. She first defines myths. She then goes on to analyze mythmaking from the Paleolithic period (20000 BC), through the so-called Axial Age, down to the present times. (Curiously, this division of ages itself may be a modern myth!) She concludes the discussion on mythmaking with a peculiar digression into the modern literature as a form of myth-making, which to my mind is an extremely flat argument, as there is no ritualization surrounding this literature. She ends with a plea for reinstatement of mythology, to help people deal more comfortably with the world.

However, her plea is fallacious, to say the least. Mythos and logos are mutually exclusive - you cannot believe a myth unless you believe it to be true. You cannot have a such a thing as a logical treatment of myths. Therefore, when Ms. Armstrong argues that we should be allowed to believe in myths because it is useful (and not because they may be true), she is either being naive, or being very clever, and politically correct.

It must be noted here that though the word myth is derived from Greek mythos, it also has a parallel in Sanskrit: mithya, which literally means unreal. In Hindu thought, the world as we see it is unreal, and is only a projection of the God (Brahman). The term mythology came to be applied to the beliefs of others, as a pejorative, to suggest that they believed in a falsehood, whereas one's own religious beliefs were based on historical truth. In time, the birds came home to roost, and today there is a wide-ranging intellectual attack on the beliefs of the 'historically true' religions.

Ms. Armstrong's approach is mostly analytical. It is also by and large fair. The text, though dry, is peppered with illustrative myths, and this helps maintain interest.

However, the book also suffers from certain flaws. Firstly, Ms. Armstrong treats most speculations about myths of the ancient (pre-historic people or extinct cultures) as demonstrated facts. Her own speculations are presented as definite statements, rather than tentative conjecture. This is an extremely dangerous approach, and perhaps may create a myth about myth-making itself.

Secondly, her knowledge of non-Western mythology may not be all that reliable. My assessment is based on her understanding of Hindu mythology, which appears to be based on a reading of secondary sources by non-Indian translators. This makes her interpretation suspect and often it drifts away totally from the reality, in a kind of Chinese whisper. Indian tradition repeatedly emphasises that Vedic texts have to be meditated upon in order to understand them. These can not be read or interpreted like ordinary historical texts. Vedic pundits were expected to spend 12 years in learning just one Veda - and there are four of them!

For instance, we are told that Brahman is the power engendered by ritual ceremonies. This appears to be quite confusing. In Hindu thought, Brahman exists on its own - it is not dependent on power released through rituals. Then we are told that in Vedic India, ritual actions were known as karma, deeds. Actually, karma is any deed, of which ritual actions may be one category.

This is a short book, and you can easily finish it in a few sittings. You can also carry it around and read it during a journey. The font is easy to read.

While on this, I would also like to suggest a recent book 'Myth = mithya, A Handbook of Hindu Mythology' by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik (Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology). This book, provides an interesting, modern perspective on many of the Hindu myths, without being overly analytical or condescending. The book has been available in India since 2006 as a Penguin India publication. It will be available globally in January 2008.

Easy to follow.......2007-08-27

This was such a splendidly written novel by Karen Armstrong! She made it so easy for me to follow and otherwise usually difficult topic. What an enjoyment!

Scholarly but Brief and Highy Readable.......2007-05-15

An excellent overview of the probable origins of mythology, its role in our world today, and its possible future significance. This work is invaluable in understanding how religions came, and come, into being; what causes them to survive for awhile, and why they wither away once their psychological utility is exhausted when superstitious belief can no longer prevail in the light of manifest fact and reason.

Boiled down just right -- why and how we gained and lost our myths.......2007-03-02

If you don't have much time for myths this book might just do the job for you. It's good and short. Man developed myths because he needed them to cope with life. Without myths, life is hard and then you die. The author claims that the problem with modern life is that we have been demythologised (reason pushed myths out of our lives). Her solution is; read novels like Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and turn to other forms of art that can replace the function of myths for you.

Now or Neverland: Peter Pan and the Myth of Eternal Youth : A Psychological Perspective on a Cultural Icon (Studies in Jungian Psychology, 82)

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Not for the layman
Now or Neverland
A New Persective on the Peter Pan Myth
Now or Neverland : Peter Pan, Enigmatic Messenger

Now or Neverland: Peter Pan and the Myth of Eternal Youth : A Psychological Perspective on a Cultural Icon (Studies in Jungian Psychology, 82)
Ann Yeoman
Manufacturer: Inner City Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 091912383X

Customer Reviews:

Not for the layman.......2006-12-19

According to my therapist I have an issue with the "puer eternus" archetype.

I decided to acquaint myself with my puer. I found Ann Yeoman's book to be rather too terse, scholarly, academic and specialist for my purposes. I think one would have to be very familiar with Jungian analysis to really be able to derive something useful from the book. I am simply too unfamiliar with the concepts and the vocabulary and as such have found it to be a frustrating struggle.

I am waiting for Marie-Louise Von Franz' work on the same topic which I expect will be much more accessible based on the sample chapters I have been able to read of Miss Von Franz' other books.

I am sure this is a good book, but think about who you are and what you need before ordering it.

Now or Neverland.......2004-03-11

In "Now or Neverland," Ann Yeoman invites her readers to explore the complex world of the archetype of the eternal boy (puer aeternus) through her lively psychological analysis of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Yeoman's book is an outstanding example of interdisciplinary scholarship. She intelligently integrates the work done in such seemingly diverse fields as Mythological Studies (Eliade, Campbell, Kerenyi), Literary Criticism (Frye, Calvino, Armitt), and Analytical Psychology (Jung, Hillman, von Franz). Her use of literature, both poetry (Coleridge, Auden, Keats, Wordsworth, Shelley) and fiction (Dostoyevsky, Joyce, Melville), to illuminate various dimensions of puer psychology is outstanding and speaks highly of her as a literary scholar. Her cultural contextualization of Peter Pan in history (Edwardian England, the current Information Revolution, the British public school system) presents a provocative analysis of the collective psychology of the times. Finally, her reinterpretation and elaboration of earlier (1970s) studies of puer psychology and psychopathology by analytical (Jungian) psychologists, makes her one of the foremost authorities on the psychology of what popular culture has called the "Peter Pan Syndrome". There is little doubt that Now or Neverland will become a classic and take its place alongside Hillman's "Puer Papers" and von Franz's "The Problem of Puer Aeternus."

A New Persective on the Peter Pan Myth.......2000-03-24

Peter Pan was always a childhood favorite of mine. Now, having read Ann Yeoman's "Now and Neverland. Peter Pan on the Myth of Eternal Youth", I will approach the story and its characters with a new and, dare I say it, "grown-up" (sorry Peter) perspective.

Ms. Yeoman's writing style is clear and a pleasure to read. She presents unique and interesting insight into the hero, Peter Pan in an easy to follow manner and hence facilitates an "deeper" understanding of the myth and how it relates to us all.

I highly recommend it!

Now or Neverland : Peter Pan, Enigmatic Messenger.......1999-12-29

I've just finished reading Ann Yeoman's stunning Jungian book, Now or Neverland Inner City Books, 1998, ISBN 0-919123-83-X. 191 pp.) I'm going to read it again quite soon, as it is so packed with new information and living ideas a single reading can't do it justice. I picked it up because I'm interested in the Divine Child and the Puer Aeternus archetypes, which I believe are very closely related, and I thought Peter Pan might have something to say on the matter. He does, but it's backward -- he is a strangely subversive and disruptive figure, refusing to settle into any one role -- hovering at the window of Barrie's England (its stuffy ideals still very much a part of our own social history and psyche), but equally uncomfortable in the Neverland to which he always escapes, no matter how much he crows and manipulates an enthralled Wendy, her brothers and the Lost Boys and the rest of Neverland. He is, this Peter Pan, an enigmatic, often dark figure, related to gods like Mercurius, Pan, Dionysus, and an astonishing lot of others (Icarus, Prometheus, Lucifer and Narcissus are mentioned, I think quite correctly).

I shall certainly never read PETER PAN the same way again -- forget Mary Martin or that Disney fraud. Forget Robin Williams too.

I wanted to read this book because Ann Yeoman is combining a career at New College, University of Toronto, where she is Dean of Students with teaching Jung and literature courses and a small practice as a Jungian analyst. What I hadn't expected was her brilliant concluding chapter, in which she compares Neverland and the Internet. She is certainly the first Jungian analyst I've found who is addressing the kinds of problems that have been concerning me for the past five years. So we may find out something about Peter Pan's dilemma from cyberspace -- I have certainly met lost boys (and lost girls) floating around, scarcely remembering where home is, and heard more than one ticking crocodile. There's more to come from this Peter Pan -- we have not heard the last word from him or from Ann Yeoman.

From the concluding chapter - "Peter Pan provides a metaphor for the unknown new - rootless consciousness is the dis-ease of contemporary society as it faces an uncertain future. The radical uncertainty of our future finds its own metaphor in our rapidly evolving electronic technology. In many ways, the elusive promise embodied in Peter Pan is the promise also of cyberspace. The new electronic era invites us to enter an indeterminate virtual realm where, it seems, everything and anything is possible, where we may create ourselves as we desire, where freedom and creativity know no bounds. Yet the very metaphors we use to describe this virtual zone are ambiguous. Netscape, Web, Internet, Windows, Paths -- images of boundless potential, but also metaphors for entrapment and delusion. On the one hand, Internet users access a seemingly unlimited network of information; on the other, the value and structure of that same information must be questioned, if one is not to run the risk of having one's mind made up for one, as an unwitting adherent of, to quote Derrick de Kerckhove, a 'collective, techno-cultural morality' which generates an 'average and averaging psychology.' Who are we when flying in the Neverland of cyberspace?" (pp. 175-6)

Customer Reviews:

Not the edition you're looking for.......2005-10-12

This edition offers only a small selection of Lady Gregory's _Gods and Fighting Men_, plus the book itself is about 2" by 4". In other words, this book is really a souvenir--not a text to be read. You probably want to get the full text of _Gods and Fighting Men_ instead.

Know what you are getting..........2002-05-01

In case your one of the 96% who never really looks at the "size" of a book when you order it, make sure you do for this one. It's only a pocket version of Lady Gregory's book, and, although the website does not tell you so, this is an ABRIGDED version.

Just know what you're getting.

Decent translation, but "compiled".......2000-01-31

I have read this book and find that the first part is fairly accurate when I compare it with other translations of the stories about Finn and the Fianna. However, I read the notes section for the stories about Cuchulain and noticed that Lady Gregory states that she compiled these stories, while the book jacket states she translated them. Unfortunately she has used several different sources for one of my favorite tales (Deirdre and Naoise) and it makes me wonder how accurate her version of this tale is. She has some elements in the ending that I have found attributed to later versions of the tale (she uses the later version of Deirdre stabbing herself instead of her dashing her head on the rocks), but the fact that she admits in her notes to editing and compiling the tales as she sees fit makes me wonder what else she edited because she didn't like. Personally, I am searching for a translation that is more accurate when it comes to Irish tales, because I feel that the original meaning becomes muddled when tales are edited to match a person's taste.

This a reveiw of a person who has never read the book........1999-04-12

Even though I've never read Irish Myths and Legends, I can assure you I would like it. I'm always interested in the mythology of my heratige. There might be some of My personal favorites; Cuchculain, Finn McCoul, and The Voyage of Bran. That's why I, Jacob Behnke, a ten year older from Hastings, Minnesota, highly recomend Irish Myths and Legends.

Myth: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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Myth: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Robert A. Segal
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192803476

Book Description

This book is not about myths, but about approaches to myth, from all of the major disciplines, including science, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. The fate of the preternaturally beautiful Adonis is one of the main fables upon which Segal focuses, in an attempt to analyse the various different theories of myth. Where the theory does not work, he substitutes another myth, showing that, for all their claims to all-inclusiveness, certain theories, in fact, only apply to specific kinds of myths. A uniform set of questions is provided, to elucidate both the strengths and the weaknesses of the conjectures. A survey of the past 300 years of theorizing on myth, this book takes into account the work of such prominent thinkers as Albert Camus, Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, C. G. Jung, and Sigmund Freud. Finally, Segal considers the future study of myth, and the possible function of myth in the world as the adult equivalent of play.

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A Short History of Myth

Manufacturer: Canongate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 073946390X

In Frankenstein's Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-Century Writing

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In Frankenstein's Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-Century Writing
Chris Baldick
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198122497

Book Description

This book surveys the early history of one of our most important modern myths: the story of Frankenstein and the monster he created from dismembered corpses, as it appeared in fictional and other writings before its translation to the cinema screen. It examines the range of meanings which Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offers in the light of the political images of `monstrosity' generated by the French Revolution. Later chapters trace the myth's analogues and protean transformations in subsequent writings, from the tales of Hoffmann and Hawthorne to the novels of Dickens, Melville, Conrad, and Lawrence, taking in the historical and political writings of Carlyle and Marx as well as the science fiction of Stevenson and Wells. The author shows that while the myth did come to be applied metaphorically to technological development, its most powerful associations have centred on relationships between people, in the family, in work, and in politics.

Tarzan and Tradition: Classical Myth in Popular Literature (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

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Tarzan and Tradition: Classical Myth in Popular Literature (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)
Erling B. Holtsmark
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313225303

Book Description

This book is a study of Burrough's first six Tarzan books, revealing intriguing parallels between Tarzan's story and the sagas of the heroes of ancient Greece and Rome.

Myth and Archive: A Theory of Latin American Narrative

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Fascinating, yet occasionally maddening!
Gonzalez Echevarria

Myth and Archive: A Theory of Latin American Narrative
Roberto González-Echevarría
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822321947

Book Description

Myth and Archive presents a new theory of the origin and evolution of Latin American literature and the emergence of the modern novel. In this influential, award-winning exploration of Latin American writing from colonial times to the present, Roberto GonzÃ¡lez EchevarrÃa dispenses with traditional literary history to reveal the indebted relationship of the novel to legal, scientific, and anthropological discourses.
Providing ways to link literary and nonliterary narratives, GonzÃ¡lez EchevarrÃa examines a variety of archival writingsâfrom the chronicles of the discovery and conquest of the New World to scientific travel narratives and records of criminal confessionsâand explores the relationship of these writings to novels by authors such as GarcÃa MÃ¡rquez, Borges, Barnet, Sarmiento, Carpentier, and Garcilaso de la Vega. Moving beyond demonstrating that early forms of creative narrative had their geneses in the sixteenth-century authoritative discourse of the Spanish Empire, GonzÃ¡lez EchevarrÃa shows how this same originating process has been repeated in other key moments in the history of the Latin American narrative. He shows how the discourse of scientific discovery was the model for much nineteenth-century literature, as well as how anthropological writings on the nature of language and myth have come to shape the ideology and form of literature in the twentieth century. This most recent form of Latin American narrative creates its own mythic form through an atavistic return to its legal originsâthe archive.
This acclaimed bookâoriginally published in 1990âwill be of continuing interest to historians, anthropologists, literary theorists, and students of Latin American culture.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating, yet occasionally maddening!.......2005-02-18

This is a fascinating reshaping of the academic discussion [or to use the current jargon, "discourse"]on Latin American literature. To read Gonzalez Echevarria is to be dazzled by erudition and his true passion for Latin American letters and culture. Aficionados of Latin American literature who study this work will undoubtedly be humbled by Gonzalez Echevarria's scholarly stamina and provoked by his insights.

The insights themselves are worth careful consideration. Distancing himself from the traditional, chronological approach to Latin American narrative, and expressly by-passing a few "milestone works" that are perhaps less significant to the development of Latin American letters than is traditionally posited (e.g "Amalia", "Maria"), Gonzalez argues that the greatest shapers of Latin American narrative have been a few key works that in form and rhetoric embody the trends of the "hegemonic discourse" that dominated Latin America at different periods in the region's history. During the colonial era, Gonzalez argues, the predominant form of writing in the region was the legal document. Correspondingly, he argues, the salient literary texts of the period took on the forms, rhetoric and tones of legal discourse (e.g Bernal Diaz' "Historia Verdadera de La Conquista de Nueva Espana," El Inca Garcialaso's "Commentarios Reales,"). During the 19th Century--his so-called 2nd Conquest of Latin America--the "hegemonic discourse" was scientific observation; more specifically, the travel writings of Europeans and Americans who viewed Latin American flora, fauna, and customs through a scientific lense. Correspondingly, Gonzalez argues, the salient Latin American works of the period (e.g. Sarmiento's "Facundo," or Euclides da Cunha's "Os sertoes")seek to define phenomena in their respective societies while using the structures, form and rhetoric of the predominant scientific-travel writing. In the 20th Century, he argues, works are shaped by the concerns and observations made by anthropology and ethnography. Here he cites Gallego's "Dona Barbara" and Carpentier's "Los Pasos Perdidos", as well as Miguel Barnet's testimonial novels.

Gonzalez suggests that thematically Latin American narrative has consistantly sought the region's cultural legitimacy and ownership of a mythic origin, a source of Latin America's true identity. This search for a mythic origin has generally been conducted through the hegemonic discourses that he describes. Gonzalez illustrates his point through key modern works by Borges, Carpentier, and Garcia Marquez--works which he shows are entirely conscious of the shifts in hegemonic discourse and the search for origins/identity.

The work is generally a joy to read, and makes the lone, lay reader long for an animated discussion of Gonzalez' ideas around a seminar table. There are times, however, when the author lapses into the worst forms of academic obfuscation and post-modern excess, and when he does so he undermines the goodwill that his work engenders. A case in point-- in a discussion of Facundo, Gonzalez states: "What Sarmiento has found in his voyage of discovery and self-discovery is a present origin, one that speaks through him, hollowing out the voice of his scientific language. His authority will not be attained by it, but by the tragic sacrifice of his protagonist, which he re-enacts in the text. This tragic fusion is a reflection of the linear time introduced by the evolution of nature, which brings everything to an end, inexorably, so that it will be reborn in a different guise." This passage, while not representative of the whole book, is simply preposterous, wound as it is in obscurity and the solipsism of contemporary academic criticism. Passages such as this are particularly frustrating given that, in this instance, Sarmiento's "protagonist" is a historical figure, and the notion that Sarmiento is "reenacting" Facundo's fate is entirely a construction of the critic. Such analysis plays well in academia, but it is entirely removed from probable "authorial intent." [And yes, I acknowledge that the concept of "authorial intent" is now considered antiquated and naive in literary circles. But historians who have studied Facundo would be maddened by this passage.] In other works (i.e. "Celestina's Brood"), Gonzalez has argued that the Baroque is the most suitable mode for Latin American cultural expression. Perhaps in keeping with this conclusion, he himself occasionally engages in "gongorismo" that, while arguably culturally consistant, adds little to a sense of understanding.

Ultimately, however, these lapses are only intermittent, and they do not spoil the insightful treasures and the intellectual thrills that Gonzalez provides. This book is a joy.

Gonzalez Echevarria.......1998-06-20

Every student of Latin American literature should read this book, which is the most compelling critical perspective in the field today.

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Recognizing his two nationalities
A frontiers man with foresight
As close to Thoreau as it gets - in some ways better
An experience in love and appreciation of life.
Buy it for the descriptions of beaver life; skip the rest.

Tales of an Empty Cabin
Grey Owl
Manufacturer: Key Porter Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1552630307

Book Description

These tales are stories of the struggle and endurance of the Canadian Native people, the bears, the wolves, and all the animals that visited Grey Owl's camp. Grey Owl's masterful tales of the Canadian wilderness have won the admiration of readers all over the world, and with our increasing awareness of the frailty of our environment, a new generation of readers will look for answers in these unique and powerful stories.

Customer Reviews:

Recognizing his two nationalities.......2004-05-11

This is an excellent book. It explains a man of two nationalities, proudly recoginizing his Indian heritage. How can people say that he was an Englishman?? He focused on the wild-life because most people take the wild-life for granted. From his mother's side, he had the Scottish blood; his father's side a more dominant, showed up in his personality and his physical appearance. He was involved with Great Britian, he did most of the things an English lad would do, as far as I am concerned, he did not wrong to anyone, only to himself by the consumption of alcohol; which is known today as "A white man's disease" He was "brave enought to tell the truth" I recommend this book as the best.

A frontiers man with foresight.......2002-01-18

Fantastic book.. wonderful stories told from a very perseptive individuals point of view. A man who loved to live life far from the modern day lifestyle of his day and enjoy the harshness and or the beauty that mother nature had to give. It definetly shows the stark reality of living a lifestyle in the Canadian wilderness. Yet he also conveys the beauty and peacefulness of living with nature and the animals.

As close to Thoreau as it gets - in some ways better.......2001-02-18

If it weren't for his fantastic writing ability, Grey Owl would have gone down in history as a liar and a fraud (after his death, the world discovered that the "Indian" known as Grey Owl was actually an Englishman born Archibald "Archie" Belaney). However, his books - true works of art - made a statement in the early 1900's that have stood the test of time. Anyone who appreciates a walk in the woods or quiet mountain stream will understand Grey Owl's passionate plea for conservation. "Tales of An Empty Cabin" has always been my favorite, but all of his works were masterpieces.

An experience in love and appreciation of life........1999-07-27

Would it not be interesting for each of us to express our point of view regarding all those experiences that brought us to a certain point in our lives. Tales of an Empty Cabin does just that. The cabin is actually a make shift structure somewhere in the northern reaches of Quebec, at a placed called Birch Lake (1928). This is where a man's life, like Saul of Tarsus, was transformed from trapper, guide, and forest ranger, to one of Canada's leading "environmentalists' and respector of animal life. Grey Owl, in contradistinction to most, was a real individualist, who took upon himself the task of challenging the 'status quo' in his day. Each chapter is a short story describing "life" in certain situations, conditions, and circumstances. It is a marvelous attempt at the sharing of one's perception of things. Grey Owl was a gifted observer and prolific writter. He was like an Olympic Athlete in that he worked, indefatigably, towards a goal; namely, depicting with great insight, a variety of activities so prevalent during his days in the north of Canada. He perfected his writting skills so well, that millions around the world recognized his abilities and talent. In fact, one of the stories (XIII), The Tree, was so popular it was published as a separate book. In his Epilogue he ends with this moving statement, "And the cabin won't be empty any more, nor the grove again so silent and deserted, while yet remains a solitary reader whose sympathy and kindly understanding brings Life to that memory-haunted valley in the hills, and awakens those others, who have dreamed and waited there so long." Grey Owl was a man who did his best to share his heart. This is a noble cause.

Buy it for the descriptions of beaver life; skip the rest........1999-03-04

The author emigrated from England to Canada early in the 20th century and adopted a Native American persona. He gained some fame as a Canadian nature writer, although he never attracted much attention in other countries.

This book is a potpourri of stories, philosophy, commentaries on conservation politics and on the Canadian national spirit, and other writings impossible to classify. The author's prevailing style ages poorly. He is fond of elaborate Victorian phrases, and is liable to choke any reader with a low tolerance for corniness.

The author's description of his life with beavers redeems the whole book. He is probably the only person ever to share his home with a family of these animals. (His cabin was built over the edge of a lake, and the beavers built their lodge in the wet end.) In this section of the book the author's overwrought style disappears. He describes his beaver friends' lives with a mixture of dry humor and passionate love that makes them vivid and unforgettable.

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Great Series

Canongate Myth Series: Includes A Short History of Myth, The Penelopiad, Weight, and Dream Angus (Myths, The)
Karen Armstrong , Margaret Atwood , Jeanette Winterson , and Alexander Smith
Manufacturer: Canongate U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Pullman, Philip | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles (Myths, The)

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ASIN: 1841958743

Book Description

An exquisitely designed box set of the hardcover editions of A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong; The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood; Dream Angus by Alexander Smith, Weight by Jeanette Winterson, as well as a four-page, beautifully designed insert of an essay by Philip Pullman, “A Word or Two About Myths,” available only within the box set.

Customer Reviews:

Great Series.......2007-03-27

There is an amazing new series of books being published. The first three have just been released in 32 countries and 30 languages. The project is the brainchild of Jamie Byng,a publisher at Cognate books. The series was launched October 22nd, 2005 after nearly seven years of work. Their goal was to assemble some of the top authors in the world and have them re-tell a myth or legend in their words - how they would tell the story. If the first few are any example of things to come, this will truly be an amazing series of books worth the time and effort to read.

The three released in this event are The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus by Margaret Atwood; Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson, and an introduction to the series by Karen Armstrong called A Short History of Myth. What makes these books and this series so great is that they are not approaching Myths as fairy tales, or children's stories, but as truth, as the stories that tell us who we are and why we are here and how we are to live.

There are forthcoming books by David Grossman: Lion's Honey: The Myth f Samson, and Victor Pelvin's The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, as well as future offerings by Chinua Achebe, Milton Hatoum, Donna Tartt, A.S. Byatt, Su Tong and Natsuo Kirino and possibly more to come after that.

In Canada these books are being released by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random house of Canada. Armstrong needs no introduction and her book serves as a reminder of mythology and story and the reason we as humans tell stories. So let us now begin with Atwood's book.

The Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood
Knopf Canada
October 2005

I am not normally a fan of Margaret Atwood's writings. I often find that she is too dark or has too much edge. Not that it is not good writing, and she is probably currently the most famous of the living Canadian authors, she just isn't usually my thing. I cannot say that for this book.

The Penelopiad is a hilarious romp through a story that most of us know, but told outside of time. There is an old saying that "dead men don't tell tales" and that may be true, but in this inventive retelling, a dead woman and her chorus of dead girls do just that.

Atwood has turned this myth on its head and told it from the female perspective. Unfortunately, our heroine is dead and in Hades, retelling her story from across the river Styx. She is telling her whole story but especially the events around Odysseus' long absence during the war against Troy and that unfortunate event with her cousin Helen.

The story is written in the format of a Greek Tragedy but with the humor and temperament of a comedy. Our chorus is the twelve dead maids, hung strung together on a ship's rope by Odysseus. They appear from time to time, in song, dance, or mock plays and trials to re-enact events from their lives to punctuate Penelope's story.

The twists and turns in this story will make you laugh out loud. A friend of mine who read it stated, `It begs to be read aloud.' And I could not agree more. Pick up the book, get some friends together and read it aloud, over an evening or two together. Much fun will be had with the ghosts of our 13 dead ladies.

Weight
Jeanette Winterson
Knopf Canada
October 2005

Now on to much weightier matters. Winterson takes a much different approach than Atwood. She tells this tale as herself telling her tale retelling a tale. Confusing? No not really. She begins with herself, tells the story of Heracles ad Atlas and then returns to her own life and lessons learnt.

Unlike the Penelopiad, this book Weight is very dark and brooding and leaves one with a feeling of unease as if we missed something, or even that in reading this book, like Pandora, we have opened a box and cannot now close it and will be forever different. Though we are not sure how.

How does Winterson accomplish this? In this deep brooding book she touches something primal inside. Much as Heracles is awoken and bothered by the question "Why? Why? Why?" this question arises and will not let him go.

So too, this book will awaken questions in your mind and your spirit, and maybe, just maybe, if we are lucky, in this book we will find the questions to lift our weight. If we can learn from it to tell our story we can be freed, and step out from under the burden on our shoulders, as Atlas so desperately desired.

As stated earlier this series is a unique event. It is stories from old being told by authors anew. As such they are books we could all enjoy and learn from.

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