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I heard a lot about this book. I finally got a copy and started reading it a week or two ago. Great book! I highly recommend it to people trying to understand HOW they benefit from religion while at the same time struggle with the factual nature of it all. I’ll write more when I am done. I’ve been devouring it pretty quick. I know others here have read it.
Indeed, I agree with everything said so far. My favorite quote is as follows: “He who thinks he knows, knows nothing. He who thinks he knows nothing, knows.” – Joseph Campbell “The Power of Myth”
I’ve been reading this for, boy, about 6 weeks or more. I had to take it back to the library today (and it was overdue after being renewed once). But between an out of town trip, moving and trying to read 10 books at once what can I expect??? LOL I actually didn’t quite finish it, but maybe I’ll just buy it. This is an amazing book! Now I really, really want to read his book
The Hero with a Thousand Faces. I guess there were just so many sentences that spoke to me. Like confirmation of truths my soul already knew. This book helped cement in my heart how “true” and important our myths are. They mean so much to me.
You can sense his passion for myths in everything he says. Wouldn’t it have been exciting to take his class!
He talks a lot about the need for a new, universal myth in our times. I think about it sometimes as I’m driving or whatever. If we need a new modern myth that will be powerful enough for all cultures what would it be like?
just me wrote:He talks a lot about the need for a new, universal myth in our times. I think about it sometimes as I’m driving or whatever. If we need a new modern myth that will be powerful enough for all cultures what would it be like?
Campbell was George Lucas’ inspiration for Star Wars…..
Campbell really gives a reverence for myth, story, tradition, and ritual. As we go through our deep struggles our faith, we need to be careful to not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
These books totally changed how I viewed “religion.” In the beginning I was depressed to see so many similarities between (what I’d viewed) to be the one truth, and the other (mostly Paganism) “mythologies.” It left me with an empty, hopeless feeling…and I was lost — but absolutely fascinated — by the content of the books. The way I had pictured the eternal plan of life was shattered. But after a few more years of reading everything I could assimilate about the history of “God” and religion, I was left with a complete sense of peace understanding that we humans live by the “story.” We relate to the characters and inject ourselves into their shoes. We cry, laugh, hurt and rejoice in their experience. It doesn’t really matter if it happened literally. Or not.
Maybe that’s all we need?!
I’m about 30 pages into this book–it’s been discussed on this site a lot so I thought I should inform myself. Anyway, it’s been very interesting so far. I’ll say more when I finish. I had the hardest time getting this book from my library. At first it seemed all they had was audio and video (and I’m more a book guy at the moment). Now I finally have a book, but it’s a large, hard cover, coffee table book. Is that what the rest of you are reading? I am about as far as wordsleuth. They wander all over the place. I loved the part about marriage. It really opened my eyes. Hmmm…no, the one I read was a small paperback book maybe 200 pages or less, easy to read in a week or so. It was the conversation between Moyers and Campbell.
Heber13 wrote:Hmmm…no, the one I read was a small paperback book maybe 200 pages or less, easy to read in a week or so.
It was the conversation between Moyers and Campbell.
Mine too. I also enjoyed the video…the graphics were great!
Haws, b4 you go back, you may have the right one, maybe just hardcover. The one I read was also the transcript. I don’t know how else to explain it, other than tell you it was like this one I saw on Amazon…
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Illustrated-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0385247745/ref=sr_oe_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251479841&sr=1-1 ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Illustrated-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0385247745/ref=sr_oe_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251479841&sr=1-1 Tom, you have the same one I read. I think it is called large print or something. But the book was large and hardcover. It took me weeks to get through because I was reading other books at the same time (and moving). Heber13 wrote:this one I saw on Amazon…
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Illustrated-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0385247745/ref=sr_oe_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251479841&sr=1-1 ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Illustrated-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0385247745/ref=sr_oe_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251479841&sr=1-1 Yeah. That’s mine. Whew. I just have the coffee table version.
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