The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Power of Myth
Book Review: power of myth
Summary: 4 Stars
I have not gotten to read this yet, but a few colleagues have given favorable reviews.Book Review: powerful teacher was he, powerful teacher
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay the title is a geeky reference to Yoda. I picked up this book in my library when I was a teenager, checked it out, read parts of it, was interested in somethings, and that was about it. Then for some reason checked it out again a few years latter. Think the same copy. And I became fascinated. To this day few writers or teachers have inspired me as much. Unfortunately, Campbell's work is like a gateway drug of sorts. I became interested in the intellectual underpinnings of his interpretations of the great myths and religions and spirituality. So I started digging a little deeper. I began looking at his influences: Psychologists Carl Jung, Freud. Philosophers Arthur Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. There are other important influences on Campbell, but I developed an interest in philosophy. Well, that was that. I had a sort of mentor or great teacher in Campbell for awhile and at the time I really wanted, maybe needed one. But reading philosophy ruined it for me. I'll not get into that, except just to say that Jung is a quack and I can't swallow the metaphysics that is crucial to Campbell's take on myth. I think he relied on the best philosophy and psychology he was aware of at the time, but it doesn't hold up. Don't listen to me on it of course. I'm just some regular guy wondering about it all, maybe sorta like you. Do your homework and see what ya think. There is a ton of stuff online on Campbell, heh, just like everything else. TOO much stuff.
But I want to say, I love Campbell and appreciate his work and compassionate efforts as a truly wonderful, gifted teacher. I would to this day recommend Campbell.
Can't do better, imo, than "The Power of Myth" as a great introduction and very entertaining read. It is more than a good companion to the PBS series. It contains exchanges between journalist Bill Moyers and Campbell that were deleted from the televised program. Yes, the title is a dorky Star Wars reference, but while I was a Star Wars fan, that was not the principal draw. I really wanted the Truth. Campbell's interpretation of myth is perhaps wrong, fundamentally, in some important ways. But his work STILL inspires and you can get a lot out of it. Campbell recounting of the old stories, his breathing new, vital life into them, continues to amaze and inspire. He said we aren't looking for a meaning, really. What we want is "the experience of being alive so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive." I want to feel the rapture of being alive but I don't believe it is clear or makes sense to talk of "innermost being" and reality like he does. I thoughtlessly did at first, as do most people and probably you. Don't read philosophy -especially from the 20th Century- if your repulsed by the suggestion that innermost being is nonsense. But I still love the stories.
Book Review: the Power of Myth
Summary: 5 Stars
I got the book title from looking at a television programme and now, having read the book, I wonder how I've lived so long (I'm 61) without ever having heard of Joseph Campbell. Anyway, it's a great book by a great man and it arrived, as is usual for Amazon, in mint condition. So thank you.