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catmeme's review against another edition
1.0
I'll keep this short. This book is a fantastic mythology primer for:
A) Someone who's never read a single mythology book. Ever.
B) Anyone who finds Joseph Campbell too challenging
C) Those inclined to believe mythology can be explained by exactly one theory
D) All of the above
A) Someone who's never read a single mythology book. Ever.
B) Anyone who finds Joseph Campbell too challenging
C) Those inclined to believe mythology can be explained by exactly one theory
D) All of the above
velax1's review against another edition
I wrote this when on page 2:
"Oooh, this does not start well. Neandertals are early humans (as in member of the gender homo) but in no way early homo sapiens. And the author goes out on a limb speculating about Neandertal culture and its implications D: D: D:"
Now I'm on page 10 and it became so terribly, unbearably preachy that I skimmed through the rest of the book, tried to read a line here and there, got the feeling that it goes on in the same way and decided to leave this book be. It borders on preachy-esoterical and is terribly pretentious for such a little book.
Nope, thank you. I'm so very glad that I bought it as a part of a heavily reduced 4-books-package and did not pay the full price for it ...
"Oooh, this does not start well. Neandertals are early humans (as in member of the gender homo) but in no way early homo sapiens. And the author goes out on a limb speculating about Neandertal culture and its implications D: D: D:"
Now I'm on page 10 and it became so terribly, unbearably preachy that I skimmed through the rest of the book, tried to read a line here and there, got the feeling that it goes on in the same way and decided to leave this book be. It borders on preachy-esoterical and is terribly pretentious for such a little book.
Nope, thank you. I'm so very glad that I bought it as a part of a heavily reduced 4-books-package and did not pay the full price for it ...
adilben's review against another edition
5.0
رغم صغر حجم الكتاب الا انه يسافر بك عبر الزمن لتعرف معنى الأسطورة واهميتها كتاب قيم انصح بقراءته
hedgewinnery's review against another edition
fast-paced
0.5
Picked up on a whim from my library to see just how successfully the author fit thousands of years of global mythology into just over 150 pages. The answer is not particularly successfully.
Aside from a lot of speculation presented as a solidity regarding paleolithic & neolithic spirituality, a very unsupported assertion of Artemis as the Great Goddess, a tinge of misogyny around a lot of it, & generally uninteresting conclusions, the breadth and depth of global mythologies were slimmed down to just the global north. From those, the majority were a name, practice and "look, see? Mythology!".
Despite that it was going to be a 2 star just for the scant pithy quotes that I'll be copying into a commonplace notebook, right up until I found the r-slur. In a book first published in 2005, when it was unacceptable, and then left in when it was republished in 2018, when it was even more unacceptable, in a context where it is meant as a complete derogatory remark devoid of any claim to "historical" context. A section where it was also used to justify ancient misogny. Beyond dissapointed & infuriated that at no point in the editing process was this flagged & removed/replaced with something more appropriate.
Aside from a lot of speculation presented as a solidity regarding paleolithic & neolithic spirituality, a very unsupported assertion of Artemis as the Great Goddess, a tinge of misogyny around a lot of it, & generally uninteresting conclusions, the breadth and depth of global mythologies were slimmed down to just the global north. From those, the majority were a name, practice and "look, see? Mythology!".
Despite that it was going to be a 2 star just for the scant pithy quotes that I'll be copying into a commonplace notebook, right up until I found the r-slur. In a book first published in 2005, when it was unacceptable, and then left in when it was republished in 2018, when it was even more unacceptable, in a context where it is meant as a complete derogatory remark devoid of any claim to "historical" context. A section where it was also used to justify ancient misogny. Beyond dissapointed & infuriated that at no point in the editing process was this flagged & removed/replaced with something more appropriate.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny
dougawells's review against another edition
3.0
I think it takes an amazing writer to take a challenging and dense topic and write something short and concise. I think she failed in this - it was short and concise, but not very satisfying. Felt very surface and disjointed.
kattheloremistress's review against another edition
4.0
Having grown up with a long-time fascination of myth, folklore and storytelling, this book was a must have for me. Styled as a long essay, it does exactly as the title suggests - telling us the history of myth as it has evolved through different human civilisations.
Armstrong does a great job of piquing the reader's interest of various eras, from the Palaeolithic period up to the last five hundred years or so and how science has played it's part. She provides plenty of references that allow a knowledge-hungry reader to read more deeply into these topics, but I think she did a wonderful job giving a good overview on the topic!
Armstrong does a great job of piquing the reader's interest of various eras, from the Palaeolithic period up to the last five hundred years or so and how science has played it's part. She provides plenty of references that allow a knowledge-hungry reader to read more deeply into these topics, but I think she did a wonderful job giving a good overview on the topic!
read_all_nite's review
2.0
A slightly helpful book that, in a mere 150 pages or so, gives an overview of the role of myth in human existence. Slightly helpful in that, it does give the reader a sense of how myth has functioned, or not functioned, over the vast sweep of prehistory and history. It also makes the important point that mythos is not the same as logos--this is something that is very hard for us postmoderns, who are steeped in philosophical materialism, to understand.
Is the book overly simple? Yes. Would this work as a college text on myth? No. Does it cover basic points of mythic history? Yeah, pretty well. So, if you want a very quick, brush up book, this might work for you.
BUT, keep in mind that this is the first book of a series of novels based on myth. So, using the logic of the market, it is only natural that Karen Armstrong--scholar of religions--be used as a shill for selling the novels listed in the frontispiece of the book. Wonder of wonders, Armstrong says myth only makes sense in the context of liturgy (very catholic perspective, but a valid one). Today, nobody believes in myths anymore (malarkey), and there are no rituals in modern life (has she never seen a football game?), so, of course, our mythic experience can be found in NOVELS!!! Read novels, maybe the ones listed by this publisher in the front of this book, and you'll have a mythic experience, get it? The book left me feeling a bit dirty and used. Never thought I'd say that about a treatise on myth.
Is the book overly simple? Yes. Would this work as a college text on myth? No. Does it cover basic points of mythic history? Yeah, pretty well. So, if you want a very quick, brush up book, this might work for you.
BUT, keep in mind that this is the first book of a series of novels based on myth. So, using the logic of the market, it is only natural that Karen Armstrong--scholar of religions--be used as a shill for selling the novels listed in the frontispiece of the book. Wonder of wonders, Armstrong says myth only makes sense in the context of liturgy (very catholic perspective, but a valid one). Today, nobody believes in myths anymore (malarkey), and there are no rituals in modern life (has she never seen a football game?), so, of course, our mythic experience can be found in NOVELS!!! Read novels, maybe the ones listed by this publisher in the front of this book, and you'll have a mythic experience, get it? The book left me feeling a bit dirty and used. Never thought I'd say that about a treatise on myth.