The Power of Myth
1988
- long now manual for civilization
- campbell, joseph, -- 1904- -- interviews
- religion historians
- interviews
- myth
- mythologists
- mythology
- religion historians -- united states -- interviews
- historiens de la religion
- mythe
The story
*The Power of Myth* launched an extraordinary resurgence of interest in Joseph Campbell and his work. A preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, he has had a profound influence on millions of people. To him, mythology was the "song of the universe, the music of the spheres." With Bill Moyers, one of America's most prominent journalists, as his thoughtful and engaging interviewer, *The Power of Myth* touches on subjects from modern marriage to virgin births, from Jesus to John Lennon, offering a brilliant combination of intelligence and wit.
What it’s like
Warm, unhurried conversation on the page, with the cadence of two people talking in a book-lined room: Bill Moyers asks open questions and Joseph Campbell answers at length, wandering through stories from Hindu, Native American, Christian and Greek traditions, then doubling back to a joke or a personal anecdote. It reads like listening in on a long evening's talk, so it suits a slow Sunday afternoon, a cup of tea, or a dip-in-and-out read before bed. The tone is curious, genial and quietly witty, with a steady confidence that never hurries to a conclusion. Its arc is one of gradual widening, as ordinary questions about marriage, ritual and the individual gradually open onto larger ideas about how people have always made meaning. Intensity is low: the myths it discusses include sacrifice, war and violence, and some sexual and bodily material comes up in passing, but it is discussed analytically rather than dramatised, and nothing lands with shock. It is for readers who enjoy ideas over plot, who are drawn to comparative religion and storytelling, and who like a companionable voice explaining why old stories still matter.
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