The Masks of God, Vol. 1: Primitive Mythology
by Joseph Campbell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joseph CampbellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-11-01
ISBN: 0140194436
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of The Masks of God, Vol. 1: Primitive Mythology
Book Review: A Deserved Three Stars
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read or skimmed all the reviews here. The people who love Primitive Mythology are devotees of Campbell who find spiritual guidance in his work. And good for them. If you're one these, then knock yourself out and buy this book. Fundamentalist Christians, you're wasting your time. Anthropologists and biologists, you're wasting your time too; this book has little or no scientific value. Primitive Mythology relies heavily on science that is about 50 years old. As another reviewer has pointed out, there have since been tremendous advances in psychology, cognitive science, and evolutionary biology.
However, fiction writers such as myself will find the book somewhat interesting. The value of Campbell's work is entirely literary. It provides powerful storytelling tools. One only has to look at the success of Star Wars and The Matrix, both of which made use of Campbell's ideas, for proof of this. But Primitive Mythology should be used only as a supplemental text because one has to wade through a lot of obsolete science to get to the good stuff. Like how Campbell constructs a narrative explaining how the mythology of agricultural and hunting societies might have come into being and their respective differences. This is interesting because it provides insight into how environmental factors can influence and dictate the structure of a story.
At its worst, Campbell's work is a collection of dated, useless information. At its best Campbell's work is a meditation on the power and meaning of the art of story telling. Outside of New Age spiritualism, this is it's value. Primitive Mythology is not Campbell at his best. But it's not Campbell at is worst either.
Before reading Primitive Mythology, I read The Power of Myth, Myths to Live By, and The Hero with a Thousand faces. I've watched the Power of Myth and Mythos and listened to a several lectures that were available for download on the Joseph Campbell Foundation website. I've been studying Campbell's work for several years now, so I feel capable of writing an informed review of Primitive Mythology, in spite of the fact that I've read 300 of the 470 pages of the book so far. I'm not sure I'm going to finish it.
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