Customer Reviews

Iron John

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Reaching my mid-30s, I found myself with questions about manhood and who I was. Remembering an old interview with Robert Bly that I saw some 10 years earlier, I decided to pick up his book. Iron John is Bly's interpretation of an old folktale about a "Wild Man" who takes a young boy, and guides him toward a whole manhood. Bly sees in this tale an outline of the pre-Greek (or at least pre-Christian) system of initiation.

Mr. Bly's work was for the most part with Baby Boomers, and this book shows it. He focuses on issues that were important to that generation, such as Vietnam, workaholic/wife-beating fathers, "manic Catholic priests", and Republicanism. As an early post-Boomer, I find that my issues are somewhat different than this. However, Mr. Bly does take aim at many different groups, including New-Agers, and those who are "smoking weed, reading nothing, and being generally groovy."

I must admit that this book did not answer my questions. However, Mr. Bly's poetic look at what men are and can be speaks powerfully to me. This book is a fascinating and touching work, and is something men should find time to read.