Or, How I learned to stop worrying and love nothingness, by Joseph Campbell.

Think you've got an ego? I have. And I don't mean by this, are you arrogant and vain (again, I am, but that's a different problem), I mean simply, do you consider yourself an individual distinct from others. If you, like me, value any part of your uniqueness in this cold, vast universe full of fake prophets and people desperate to make a buck, then I'd approach this book with a dollop of scepticism.

Essentially, back in those deep, dark days just after World War II, Joseph Campbell had a crisis. It was the kind of crisis that people have everyday and can be summed up in these six words. What is the world coming to? The problem with humanity nowadays is that we're all too obsessed with ourselves to notice that we, as individuals, don't really exist. Stupid us.

His theory is this. There's one story, the monomyth, which we all share. All myths and stories from cultures far and wide are one. Or rather, the author, interested in myths, found some stories that shared similar themes and cobbled them together to make a metaphysical theory of existence par excellence. Resistance is futile. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, you are simply an incarnation of the divine one which is, also, nothing. The sort of stuff the Beatles got into before they split up.

Campbell is a Buddhist, if not in name then certainly in outlook. He positively salivates over his tales of the Buddha lifting up lotus flowers and staring into space for days on end, presenting each one with an almost audible 'Ta Da!' before hurrying to explain why it's all so profound. Is there anything that wonderful in becoming so detached that you find meaning in nothing? That you feel no emotion and let your own self dissolve (metaphorically, I hope) with a shrug? Nirvana indeed, but I'll pass, thanks.

I felt the cold hand of Jung everywhere, especially in the attempt to link the mental vomit of the unconscious (dreams) into his grand theory. Yes, some people have dreams that sometimes sound like myths. I don't dispute it. But most people just have dreams about having sex with film stars and flying (sometimes at the same time). But he didn't mention any of those.

As the book went on, I wasn't quite sure what was intended to be metaphor and what was supposed to be his theory of the afterlife. I presume he bought into the Buddhist theory of past lives and reincarnation as well as the immortality of the soul - leaps he just took with no analysis beyond noting that some 'primitive' peoples had believed it, so it must be true.

In this modern world so full of bullshit it must be easy to get carried away with what looks like the untainted and pure philosophies of people who knew how to kindle their own fires and skin rabbits, but I can't see why they would be any more insightful than you or I. "Humanity has lost its way" must be commonest cry of all mystics, prophets and religious teachers. But no one can ever quite remember the Golden Age, nor can we ever seem to find our way back to it. Funny, that.

All that said, Campbell's writing has vigour for the most part, even if he occasionally spills over into melodrama, and is much preferable to the likes of James Frazer in his patronizing account of why primitive people didn't 'get' science, The Golden Bough (and it's much shorter). It also helped me understand partly why Star Wars is so bonkers, especially that bit in the cave - you know what I mean. Apparently George Lucas was much taken by these theories. Still doesn't explain the Ewoks though.

As a comprehensive account of comparative mythology, you could do an awful lot worse, but the author confused similar narrative structures with profound universal truths and, alas, I remain unconverted.

Myths are a powerful current running through all cultures. Myths teach us who we are as a people, where we came from, and what we are capable of. Perhaps more importantly, myths teach us about our own journey to uncover who we are. Joseph Campbell takes you through the mythologies of dozens of cultures, and shows that the Hero of all myths, can be understood as one person, through one story in countless variations all on a quest of understanding the self.

The book is written in a very poetic style, especially near the beginning and end, which may make it a bit odd to read, but I feel relays the profound nature of the stories in a beautiful way. As I read this book I kept in mind a few stories, specifically the first Star Wars movie, and the first Sword of Truth novel, and as I read I was trying, and succeeding to match up the stages of the archetypal hero myth, with these modern legend/myths. I also noticed how things I wrote matched up, which I found interesting.

Joseph Campbell also came to the conclusion that almost all the early cultures were pantheistic (or solipsistically pantheistic), which was personally relevant, and interesting to read how various cultures explained, or understood themselves as the Divine. This book is filled with fascinating legends, insights into many cultures, and a monomyth, that shows much of the process of individuation and apotheosis. It's a classic that I put off reading for far too long. ( )

Everyone should read this.

Note: The first couple of chapters are burdened by the silly Freudianism that was fashionable at the time it was written (1940s). But that tails off pretty quickly and we get the 200-proof good stuff. ( )

This is a classic, especially becuase George Lucas used parts of it in Star Wars . Joesph Campbell did a lot of excellent research in formulating the hero's journey and the archetypal hero. Every fictional hero from Hercules to Jesus to Harry Potter has been based on Campbell's work, which shows his immortal legacy. ( )

In a funny post on Always Watching about how Kung Fu Panda is really just a remake of Star Wars somebody pointed in the comments to a book by Joseph Campbell called The Hero With A Thousand Faces. In this book he lays out the theory that in essence all myths are really different versions of the same story. George Lucas has said that he used this book in writing the Star Wars films, and after reading the book it becomes clear very quickly that he wasn’t the only one.

The basic theory is this: There is a monomyth, a base for all myths. Campbell spends a lot of time explaining the reasons behind this from a philosophical and psychological approach. For modern man, who seems to be ‘too civilized’ for myth, he pulls examples from dreams. He is a student of Jung, and this is evident in the book, much is based on theories by Freud and Jung.

Even though the book is sometimes a bit hard to read (it is from 1948, and they had a different view of popular science back then ;)) it is a good read. It shows that myths are much the same across the world, even in regions that have developed wholy separate from everybody else, like the aboriginals from Australia. The reasons Campbell describes are a bit far out to me. Campbell almost describes a world view that can be described on religions. He himself says that buddhism comes the closest to teaching the theory of the monomyth.

Religion and theory aside, it is a good read and the more you read, the more you see that current day hit movies and books are based, conciously or subconsiously on the same base story. I even had to look up if The Lord of Rings was written before or after publication of this book, the story follows the monomyth pretty closely. Apparently we subconsiously relate to and like stories that follow that pattern.

Anyway, the book is a good read and it opens your eyes to the how and why of storytelling, even though the philosophy, psychology and religion might not be your cup of tea. ( )