Mythic Imagination, Joseph Campbell
Mythic Imagination, Joseph Campbell
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Mythic Imagination
Collected Short Fiction

Author: Joseph Campbell

Narrator: Christopher Lane

Unabridged: 7 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 12/25/2018


Synopsis

Before he was the engaging professor who brought mythology into people’s living rooms through his conversations with Bill Moyers, before he became known as the thinker whose ideas influenced Star Wars, and before his now-beloved phrase “follow your bliss” entered the popular lexicon, Joseph Campbell was a young man who tried his hand at writing fiction. At the age of twenty-nine, after years of Depression-era unemployment, when he lived off money he had earned playing saxophone in a jazz combo and read the world’s great literature in a syllabus of his own design, Campbell published his first short story. That tale, included in this collection, remained the famed mythologist’s only published piece of fiction, until now.In these stories, readers will find rich mythological symbolism, down-to-earth concerns with the ravages of the Second World War, and singular iterations of Campbell’s famous Hero’s Journey schema—all interwoven into a literary style that anticipates the genre that would years later come to be known as “magical realism.” Compelling in their own right, these seven stories are essential reading for longtime Campbell fans and the many who continue to discover him afresh.

About Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) wrote classics including The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the four-volume The Masks of God, and Myths to Live By. His televised interview with Bill Moyers introduced his views to millions. Campbell’s interest in mythology was sparked by his love of reading about American Indians and visits to New York City’s American Museum of Natural History.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on August 26, 2016

Magical Realism. An interesting mix of fiction and history of times past. Development of characters was interesting but the stories were a little slow.......more

Goodreads review by Leslie on February 21, 2021

Parts of this book were good. It was written a long time ago and although I'd love to have time to dig into the entire mythological world Joseph Campbell referenced, I am not a mythology major and felt out of my league and bored at times. When the plot moved forward I was happy. When he diverged int......more

Goodreads review by John on February 14, 2021

I can't say that this book is an easy read, and that it is not full of some problematic language (due to it's time and place, and also not). I can say that this is ambitious and steeped in the desire to push into what makes the human mind work, and is dedicated to the idea of pushing past our known s......more

Goodreads review by Steven on February 14, 2021

Some fiction to help elucidate some of Campbells mythic philosophy. Can be very far-reaching at times, but still some stories to jump around to if you’re looking for deeper concepts in mythological symbology.......more

Goodreads review by Megan on March 01, 2021

Interesting view into the early thoughts of Joseph Campbell. That said, some of the stories were difficult to get through because of the gratuitous wordiness. But, the stories do get progressively better, so stick with it!......more