Customer Reviews

Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

HarperCollins's Don't Know Much About series is the slightly more attractive younger sibling of Alpha Book's Idiot's Guide series. If Alpha's famous orange-and-white dressed reference books have spawned a whole new generation of readers whose quest for a maximum amount of facts are sated by prose any "idiot" could read, the Don't Know Much About series offers the same promise with a bit more elegance and charm. The text for DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MYTHOLOGY is provided by Kenneth C. Davis, a journalist and National Public Radio commentator whose encyclopedic knowledge of world history and culture enables him to construct prose that is as breezy as it is informative, as witty as it is delightful. He has an impressive ability to synthesize great quantities of texts and facts into a concise and coherent digest that, well, just about any idiot can read.

Organized into nine chapters that explore first the earliest civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia, then the later civilizations of Greece, Northern Europe, the Far East and the African continent, and finally the Americas, DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MYTHOLOGY follows the same sequence that countless mythology texts have used before. And like those texts, the bulk of Davis's book is comprised of well-written prose paraphrases of ancient literatures. In terms of form and function, it doesn't break any new ground; instead, it offers another alternative to speedy referencing.

Bracketing each chapter are lists that frame important events in a sequential time table called "Mythic Milestones." When read side by side, they constitute a concise timeline of world history. Of perhaps more pedagogical interest are a series of "key questions" that introduce each new section. While I personally found such canned questions inane, others might refer young readers to them as a way of guiding their experience with the material.

If there is little doubt of this book's usefulness --- you may want, for example, to spot-check a classical reference as you work your way through Pope's DUNCIAD --- I wonder about the sheer volume of books about mythology on the market these days. Whereas Davis's crystal-clear prose is proof of his years of reading primary texts in the field, the average reader of his text may never go any further than here. Naturally, Davis is aware of the importance of the original sources in the myths he retells. This is why so many of his summaries are accompanied by brief passages from primary source material. This, however, is not enough, nor is it the concern of the Don't Know Much About series.

As a teacher of comparative mythology at the college level, I am aware that students would benefit from reading Davis's summaries as a prelude to reading the original epics, hymns, chants, prayers, and folktales from which such stories come. But how many are reading about the myths beyond this point? How many, for example, have accessed a respectable verse translation of THE ILIAD in order to capture the pitch, as well as the plot, of Homer's epic tale?

If Davis's DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MYTHOLOGY fails to correct a growing trend towards summary and paraphrase, at least it does what countless other texts do well: it offers a starting point for further research and a lifelong love affair with the great mythic literatures of the world. The question is, how many are game?


--- Reviewed by Tony Leuzzi

I liked how Davis introduces each civilization's mythology with basic history and possible connections to the gods they have. He also provides a quick "Who's Who" of the various pantheons of gods. Unfortunately, that's about as far as it goes.

In his first chapter, Davis makes a distinction between mythology and myth. I didn't realize how true he would hold to the title of the book. This is a book about various mythologies (the study of myths) as opposed to actual myths (the stories of gods and men). As such it does a decent job. If you're expecting a book containing popular myths from each culture, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a book to introduce you to the major players in each culture's myths so that you can look smart and know who Ra really is when watching Stargate or who Homer Simpson is talking about when he makes fun of "the many arms of Vishnu," then this is the book for you.

One pet peeve though. He tries really hard to remain "religiously tolerant", which to me means "all religions are myth." He relates ancient myths to our modern times, in particular to various Judeo-Christian beliefs. He's largely successful and knowing his reader base, tries to respect Jewish and Christian beliefs, but there were times where I felt he just wanted to call Judeo-Christian beliefs myths. Because of this, I'm hesitant to read his Don't Know Much about the Bible book. He also has no problems including Hindu, Confucian, Tao, and tribal "myths," despite their common modern practice. As an added insult, he has no problem laying on the guilt of Christian interference in either altering ancient myths or completely destroying tribal religions, but he has few problems with the Aryan influence on the Greeks and Indians.

The first half of the book (Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Greeks) were very good but felt rushed for the remaining cultures. Part of this is the shear number of tribes and gods involved, as well as the repitition that comes from many similar and shared gods. So I felt cheated especially with the American and eastern myths. Though, like I said before, this is a quick overview. And in that regard, he succeeded in teaching me a little about everything, but more importantly, piqueing my curiosity and making me want to read his sources. So when I do start reading up on ancient myths, I'll probably have Davis's book right there to help me decipher all those gods and myths.

For anyone looking for a quick and easy way to learn about world myths, I doubt that there is a better source. It's well written and very comprehensive, although occasionally a little repetititve.

BUT

this is no scholarly work. First many of the quotes are from other popular secondary sources, such as Thomas Cahill's books. Also, wherever possible the author tries to be politically correct. This descends to the point of self-parody where he is disussing native americans. I seem to remember this tendency was also there in his civil war book and it's stopped me ever reading his "Don't know much about history."

Davis' "Don't Know Much About" series has always been marked by the author's conversational and breezy style as opposed to more dry, pedantic treatment of the subjects. That tone is continued here in his view of world mythology. Instead of aiming at being a comprehensive overview of the subject, he chooses to highlight the "you should know" topics - much like a Cliff Notes for a whole course. Often times the word Mythology only brings up images of Greek and Roman gods in people's minds. What Davis does well is to bring us back into the other myths of the ancient world - from Egypt and Mesopotamia, showing how these myths intermingled with other cultures and influenced, among other things, possibly several stories in the Bible. Davis continues around the world highlighting the stories of the Celts, the Norse, Indians, Chinese and Japanese. He comes up a bit short in his discussion of Sub-Saharan Africa and Native American mythology mainly because it is such a diverse topic involving not one dominant culture, but rather hundreds of individual cultures, each with their own views of the world. So while I would applaud him for including recognition of these areas, Davis set himself up with a task far beyond his current project that may leave the reader unsatisfied in these areas. Overall a good book to get a quick overview and introduction to names, stories and history of various cultures and how stories that are still familiar today came into being.

I'm new to this series, so I didn't know what to expect. This book offers a great overview of myths from different cultures and the historical periods and places they reflect, all with an easy writing style and topical current references. Although I read it straight through, I think it might be better read a little at a time. The introductory material did a nice job of laying out the role of myths in human experience, but it wasn't enough for me. My reservations about the book are not about what's there but what's not there. I'd have liked a bit more comparison and discussion of similarities and common themes and some discussion of what that might mean. But that was me, not the book.

I have read many of Davis's other books (history, bible etc) and enjoyed them. He combined homor/wit with useful and interesting insights and still managed to make each book educational. His writing was entertaining and I was inspired to investigate each topic further. So, it was with great anticipation that I approached the mythology book, I have a long standing interest in archealogy and mythology, and was sadly disappointed. I "don't know much about" what happened to Davis in this book but his writing seems to have lost along the way the very things that made him different. This book was very dry and difficult to get through with little humor or novel insight. If you want to read something this tough to tackle, try Bullfinch (still dry but more info). Maybe he thought he needed to be a "serious" writer ... I don't know but I hope that whatever ails him is cured by his next book.

***Author Kenneth Davis does a good job tackling an enormous subject--world mythology--in this concise, comprehensive, and generally entertaining book.

***Most books of this kind are basically dictionaries of mythology, offering brief "definitions" of the various gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters: who they are, what they did, and what mythos they belong to. Davis attempts something more than that sort of dry recitation of names and functions, by setting the myths and mythologies he discusses into a larger narrative of mankind's age-old and ongoing need for psychological security. Myths seek to explain--if only through stories--our place in an otherwise inexplicable universe.

***Davis organizes this survey by geographical area and the mythology of the people who inhabited it. He draws attention to parallel elements in the mythologies of people connected by circumstance--and those so far removed from each other that one can't help but wonder at the remarkable consistency of mythology everywhere it's found.

***Although this is not a book about history, Davis provides just enough of it to illuminate how particular myths may have originated and why they were perpetuated over centuries and between cultures.

***Davis attempts--and largely succeeds--to lighten the potentially leaden material here with humor and topical references; after all, part of the stated "mission" of the *Don't Know Much* series is to make accessible and interesting stuff we were supposed to have learned back in school but didn't because our teachers bored us stupid. Like a favorite professor who occasionally misses, intentionally or not, with some real groaners, the jokey references are usually a welcome and enlivening relief, as are the typographical breaks and provocative headlines that vary the pace of the text and keep the eyes from glazing over.

***Not as learned an effort as anything by Joseph Campbell, but not as stripped and dumbed-down as an Idiot's or Dummies Guide, *Don't Know Much About Mythology* is a lively and intelligent primer and a compact refresher course even for someone who does know a little more than "not much" about the subject.

This book is a good value for its cost. It covers myths from all parts of the world and It is good both for reading from cover to cover and for infrequent browsing. In about 500 pages, myths are told only in a concise manner, and are discussed briefly from several aspects by asking questions and providing some more details within answers. It gives general information about the time period and place the myths are born, main characters and some events. All in all it is enough knowledge for most people and considering its cost it is a good value for the money paid.

This review refers to the audiobook edition

Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need To Know About The Greatest Stories In Human History But Never Learned, deftly authored by Kenneth C. Davis and superbly narrated by John Lee is an insightful and concise presented study of the world of historical mythology ranging from Sumer and Babylon to the Greeks and Romans, to Egypt and Africa, to the Celts and the Scandinavians, to the islanders and aboriginals of the south seas, to the native cultures of north and south America. Complete and unabridged on thirteen cassette tapes for a total of twenty hours and twenty minutes, Don't Know Much About Mythology presents for listeners a significant overview of the gods, goddesses, and creation stories which shaped human societies and cultures down through recorded millennia. Also available in a 17 disc CD format ($102.40), Don't Know Much About Mythology is very strongly recommended listening for anyone with an interest in mythological, history, anthropology, and folklore for its insightful, easy-to-follow, nicely organized and inherently entertaining information.

Notice: This book is not intended as a know-all survey of world mythology. As you may imagine, the effort to contain all that information within a single volume would be vain and, let's admit, rather stupid. "Don't Know Much About Mythology," like Kenneth C. Davis's other efforts, is meant to introduce you to the subject, to pique your interest (for those who ARE interested in reading further, Davis supplies a wonderful bibliography at the end, complete with his opinions upon the various texts that influenced this book).

All that aside--this is a wonderful introduction into the realm of mythology. Davis tackles the subject from a Western viewpoint--he admits it up front--but treats each and every region with the utmost respect that it deserves. A few regions get the editorial shaft--I would have loved to have more info on the indiginous mythology of Australia--but that's to be expected; after all, one can only put so much info into a single book. The sections on Egypt and Greek mythology, as you may expect, get quite a bit of room; this is a bit unfair, but again, isn't surprising. What IS interesting--and what makes this book a vital asset to any amateur study of mythology--is that Davis takes a look at the way each region's mythology interacts with another's; he relates a lot of it to Christian/Jewish/Islamic mythology (this being a product of his Western viewpoint), but also relates the myths to each other. Combined with Davis's relaxed, sometimes witty prose, and you've got a book that is informative AND fun. It's a great starting point for a study of mythology; or, if you just want a cursory overview of the subject, it makes for a wonderful read.