Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Myths to Live By
Book Review: The best of all Joseph Campbells books
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book while on a cruise, and found myself spending a lot of time reading. Of all his works, this is the most down to earth. The others are too 'professorial' as if intended to impress, while this one simply lays it on the line. Psychology and mythology relate to each other very nicely, as Mr. Campbell realized when asked to share his concepts with those of a Psychologist. Jung was a favorite because of his concept of Universal Mind. Contrary to what might be thought, the book is not anti-religious, but it does explode particular Christian beliefs. Rather, it reveals the Universal meaning of 'life' which each community resolves in its own way, frequently as not, in similar ways. Boil away the variety of customs, etc.,and you have the essence of Joseph Campbell's work, and a better appreciation of man's universal mind.Book Review: Useful and beautiful
Summary: 4 Stars
This book reads like an essential afterword to the great video series. The chapters on mythologies of love, and of war and peace are especially effective. Campbell's teaching is direct, and honed to a useful, beautiful glow. He's a courageous thinker, able to order considerable insights with impeccable ease. Leaves us the richer. He's hailed for the scope of his vision, yet it's the inevitable intimacy of Campbell's teaching genius that makes his books so effective. Read this book and find a realm vaster and more intimate than one that brung ya! --that's effective spiritual reading, the fruit of clearly intense scholarship, and Campbell makes it immediate and consoling. Delivers what it promises. It's difficult to be disappointed by stuff this fine.Book Review: Western-centric and dated writings on Myth
Summary: 3 Stars
The problem here is not with Campbell's writing but with the place from which his writing originates. It is a 1960's academia entrenched in a Western cannon, believing itself capable of interpreting the cultural relevance of myth to non-Western peoples through the same lens it uses to critique western, and specifically Biblical, myth. Repeated references to "primitive cultures," a complete dismissal of African myth tradition, and a clear implication of a Western superiority make the insightful commentary on myth a challenge to isolate.If you are really interested in comparative study of myth, look at some original texts and avoid internalizing Campbell's bias; Campbell schematically interprets the Indian Vedas, Zen texts, Navajo stories, Norse mythology, the Bible, and works by Dante, Jung and Freud.
A discussion on the mythical implications of "last year's" moonwalk, or the Kennedy assassination, for instance, don't help much.
Book Review: Womb with a view....
Summary: 5 Stars
MYTHS TO LIVE BY consists of a dozen essays/talks Joseph Campbell prepared between 1961 and 1971. He described the period as a "new age" where "..we are...participating in one of the very greatest leaps of the human spirit to a knowledge not only of outside nature but also of our own deep inward mystery." At the time he wrote these essays, Campbell was a professor on a campus, surrounded by young people whom he found hard to understand at times. For example, in his essay "The Moon Walk--the Outward Journey" he relates his own feelings of awe on viewing the Apollo moon landing and contrasts them with the reaction of a student who wrote "So What" on a photo of the moon landing posted on a campus bulletin board. In another essay "Schizophrenia--the Inward Journey" he contrasts the use of mind-altering drugs by shamans and psychotics (including the LSD induced version) as the difference between divers and non-swimmers in "the waters of the unviersal archetypes of mythology."
I find Campbell's essays are very relevant, 30 years later. The most obvious example is "Mythologies of War and Peace" which addresses the underlying belief systems of participants in the Mideast crises. Campbell says the cruel fact is that "killing is the precondition of all living whatsoever: life lives on life, eats life, and would not otherwise exist...it is the nations, tribes, and peoples bred to mythologies of war that have survived to communicate their life-supporting mythic lore to descendents." He suggests that "we" in the West "have been bred to one of the most brutal war mythologies of all time." He then goes on to cite Deuteronomy and Isaiah and follows with excerpts from the Koran such as Sura 2, verse 216.."Fighting is prescribed for you."
Campbell does not condemn myths nor does he say myths are not literally true. He suggests creation myths and myths about love and war and peace contain the essence of the truth. Myths are to humans what kangaroo pouches are to baby kangaroos, they provide a "womb with a view." Being born simply isn't enough. We need myths to help us organize and guide our lives. However, our current myths arose in another era and were shaped by tribal mentalities that sustain the notion of GROUP differences. We need new myths for the journey of life.
Book Review: myths to live by
Summary: 5 Stars
Best book ever. I bought several copies to give to friends and family.
The chapter on schizophrenia makes more sense than any thing I've ever read.
Primitive mythology is harder to read, but more informative.
Joseph Campbell is a national treasure.