Customer Reviews

World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, its strong points:

The prose was intelligent, the rich images of ancient artwork on every page added a great deal of context to the myths, and coverage of the subject matter was very comprehensive as a whole. I was impressed with the quality of the book itself. The pages were thick, high quality paper (almost like card-stock) and the full color images were beautiful. It was a pleasure to hold and read.

Second, its weak points:

In the sections on several cultures, the stories were summarized so much that at times I had trouble following them. In the myths I as familiar with from previous study, I realized part of the problem was that key details were skipped over in the telling that would have made future details (which were included) have made more sense. While the slangy tone of Mythology for Dummies was aggravating, it did a better job than this book of telling the individual stories it covered. That having been said-- this book covered much more ground than Mythology for Dummies, which was concerned largely with Greek Mythology (it dedicated half its pages to this culture alone). This book covered the mythology from many more world regions, which is doubtless why the author gave fewer details.

I have used this text in my World Mythology college classes for several years now and expect to continue for some time. I like the way it is set up, with the overview of common mythological themes, then covering each of several world myths in separate chapters. The text is easy to follow -- let's face it, today's college students are visual learners -- and has many illustrations and examples of art for the various cultures. Several students have told me they also like the text and intend to keep it. They also appreciate the reasonable price.

I'm using this as a text book for my mythology survey course and I'm finding it quite useful. Make sure you've got a dictionary handy to look up some words, but otherwise I find it easy to use, well organized and full of usefull information like pronounciation guides and regional timelines.
There is a strong emphasis on Europe and the Near East though biblical myths are compleatle ignored which to me isa major dissadvantage having not been raised in a Judeo-Christian house hold. All of the Americas are also rather thinly covered as in Oceana.

I bought this book for a class that I had over the summer. I now keep it on my coffee table and when people stop by, they automatically pick it up. Very good for some light reading on the side and very knowledgeable.

This book was purchased by me for my class in Fantasy, Myth and Enchantment. The general consensus is that the illustrations are beautiful, the history of where the myths come from are great and the myths themselves although good can be a bit dry.

This is a gret overview of major world myths. It is a good introduction for someone who has no experience with mythology. The pictures and descriptions of the art work are the best part about the book.

Unlike my other book, this one was purchased from Amazon. I received it in a few days. Give yourself plenty of time for delivery if your product is not from Amazon and actually another seller.