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Product Details
Series: The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: New World Library; Third edition (July 28, 2008)
If, like me, you’ve heard the term “hero’s journey” but didn’t really know what it was all about, this, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is the definitive book by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell. Although it’s by no means an easy read, it is well worth the investment of time and study if you want to learn the expanded definition of a hero according to a general consensus of world cultures.
First, it’s important to recognize that the hero’s journey belongs to the greater fabric of mythology. In the book’s prologue, Campbell states without reservation that myth is the basic expression of all human culture: “It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into the human cultural manifestation. Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.” With these words, Campbell gives the reader fair warning that this book is not a mere collection of fairy tales, nor is it an attempt to contain mythology as a separate discipline. Myth, according to the author, touches every part of the human experience. It is not meant to be contained.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, therefore, is Campbell’s exploration of just one aspect of myth, the hero’s journey. In this “composite adventure,” as he calls it, the author relates “the tales of a number of the world’s symbolic carriers of the destiny of Everyman.Read more ›
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Really? I have to say why I like this book and think it deserves five stars? Campbell spent a lifetime focused on mythology and shares his insights in language the rest of us can understand. This is the book that helped us awaken to our hard-wiring for story and how those stories are told. This is the book other how-to books are based on. This is the third time I've bought this book because someone either borrows it and doesn't return it, or I read the pages thin.
Highly recommended for anybody setting out on their own journey as a storyteller, those interested in mythology and comparative religion, and those curious about how the human condition expresses itself.
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'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' is one of Joseph Campbell’s best books. It contains much of the other books, but when it comes to presenting the material, this book really is well-edited. The headers are comprehensive and the book in its overall makeup addresses not only scholars but also a young and always-young audience as it has a significant contact with present-day reality.
We are now once again in the midst of a Hero Cult, and Campbell has to be credited with the merit to have shown the negative sides of this patriarchy-related phenomenon and its many undesirable consequences. Contrary to the proponents of the cult of hero modeling, Campbell makes it all clear that, by following this idea, you miss your soul entirely. In the meantime, he is not the only one who is saying that. We are going to see further down in the review of Care of the Soul (1994) by Thomas Moore, that there are more authors now being alert to warn us about the dangers of hero modeling, and perfectionism, as these are symptoms of both individual and cultural narcissism.
Campbell can be said to be in contradiction with the hero cult, while this may sound like a paradox. Well, the paradox finds its solution in the simple fact that Campbell, in accordance with the oldest of traditions, defines the hero in a different manner than current popular culture. While this may not be obvious on first sight, this and my other reviews of Campbell’s books will peel this truth out for everybody to see.
The answer is probably that to be a hero in today’s hero culture, you have to abnegate self, so as to bring about private victory and eventually public victory, to use popular terms. However, it has to be seen that the creator of these terms, Stephen R. Covey, was not advocating modeling.Read more ›
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It's a very convoluted and difficult read. The writing style is almost whimsical and very difficult to get a grasp on. The writer does a poor job getting the reader's attention and leading him through the various thoughts and ideas clearly.
So far, I don't see what this book is saying, so I only give it 3 stars.
Once I get a better grasp on JC's writing and can understand what he's saying, I may bump my rating.
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The Classic on a Hero's Journey. We are all called to a Hero's Journey whether we accept or not. If you did accept as I did, then read this to understand the phases of the Hero's Journey and why you are on it. If I had known I would have read this decades ago. I wish you all the best on your Hero's Journey to finding your purpose and living your life with passion.
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Joseph Campbell is the modern master of the myth. In telling about the hero of a thousand faces, he brings the human race together in a journey that shows that even in our myths and heros we are united. .
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This item: The Hero with a Thousand Faces (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)
