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A Short History Of Myth
by Karen Armstrong


6.6

based on 12 reviews
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based on 3 votes
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BOOKS:

Official Publisher Site

The religious scholar offers, as the title suggests, a short survey of classical mythology.

Canongate, 176 pages
11/09/2005
$18.00

ISBN: 184195716X

Nonfiction
History
Literary Criticism
Religion

NOTES:
Part of Canongate's "Myths" series which also includes works by Jeanette Winterson and Margaret Atwood.

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Boston Globe Amanda Heller

More intriguing than the historical generalizations in this surface-skimming survey are Armstrong's thoughts on the purpose of myth, which was to create meaning and cohesion in a society by inspiring ''imitation or participation, not passive contemplation."

Daily Telegraph David Flusfeder

Elegantly argued and consistently thought-provoking.

Los Angeles Times Susan Salter Reynolds

Armstrong walks us through the ages, from the myths of the Paleolithic hunters, through the Neolithic farmers' rituals to replenish creative energy, through the rise of cities and the separation from nature ("people no longer experienced the sacred as easily as their ancestors") to the "death of mythology" in the "Great Western Transformation," when logos and fact replaced myth, or at least chased it into the realm of fiction. [30 Oct 2005, p. R11]

The New York Times Book Review Caroline Alexander

Succinct and cleanly written, [A Short History of Myth] is hugely readable and, in its journey across the epochs of human experience, often moving.

TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Carolyne Larrington

Armstrong cites George Steiner, asserting that art, like myth and "certain kinds of religious and metaphysical experience", is a "transcendent encounter that tells us, in effect: 'change your life'". This brings A Short History of Myth neatly back to the series of literary retellings which it is designed to introduce, but much has been leapt over on the way, including the subjects of the first two volumes.

The Guardian Nicholas Lezard

George Eliot's Casaubon, you will recall, was working on the key to all mythologies. This massive work remained uncompleted as he lay on his deathbed. What a pity he did not have this little work to help him on his way.

The Independent Stevie Davies

Armstrong has provided a valiant and readable account, clearly and concisely written, though as woolly in its methodology as the woolly ponies it describes on the walls of the Palaeolithic subterranean caverns of Altamira and Lascaux.

Washington Post Elizabeth Hand

[Armstrong's] essay here is serviceable.

The Spectator Sam Leith

[A Short History of Myth] sets itself too formidable a task to be accomplished in 150-odd pages of non-academic prose.

Salon Laura Miller

At heart, Armstrong writes about religion, not literature, and her "A Short History of Myth" isn't a very satisfying lead-in to a collection of fictional works.

Daily Telegraph Christopher Tayler

Armstrong's book is a readable, informed introduction to a fascinating subject, but her emphasis on myth's cultic origins makes it a slightly daunting preface to a series of contemporary retellings.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Donald Harman Akenson

[Armstrong] opens with a banality, "Human beings have always been mythmakers," and proceeds to a palpable untruth: "Our modern alienation from myth is unprecedented." [22 Oct 2005]

The average user rating for this book is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lola A gave it a7:
This book is intrigues the sense of religion based on myth and the history of times periods. It's very open with perception and connection to each aspect of the different periods. Overall, good interpretations are recognized and sought throughout the beginning and ending results.

Ian R gave it a6:
Starts well. It's a concise overview of myths from earliest human societies until today. However, the final chapter makes the surprising assertion that novels have become a modern place of myth-making, followed by some rather rambling thoughts about a few of her favourite books. Armstrong never deals with the possibility that science itself is the modern myth, or that the nightly news is a ritual around mass media myths of instant access to the "truth".

Mikhail A gave it a7:
Interesting theses, but the end lesson is lost in the short discussion that is more on cultural praxis then on developing a model.

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A Short History Of Myth by Karen Armstrong

A Short History Of Myth
by Karen Armstrong