Free eBook: Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis

Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis is currently free in ebook format, for a short time only. Publishers Weekly gave this one a starred review so it is worth picking up for FREE, I think. I'm not sure how long the discount will last, so snap it up quick! I did since I didn't own it and hope to have time to peruse it someday....

Book description:

The latest installment in the New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® series -- a magical journey into the timeless world of mythologyIt has been fifteen years since Kenneth C. Davis first dazzled audiences with his instant classic Don't Know Much About® History, vividly bringing the past to life and proving that Americans don't hate history, they just hate the dull, textbook version they were fed in school. With humor, wit, and a knack for storytelling, Davis has been bringing readers of all ages up to speed on history, geography, and science ever since. Now, in the classic traditions of Edith Hamilton and Joseph Campbell, he turns his talents to the world of myth.Where do we come from? Why do stars shine and the seasons change? What is evil? Since the beginning of time, people have answered such questions by crafting imaginative stories that have served as religion, science, philosophy, and popular literature. In his irreverent and popular question-and-answer style, Davis introduces and explains the great myths of the world, as well as the works of literature that have made them famous. In a single volume, he tackles Mesopotamia's Gilgamesh, the first hero in world mythology; Achilles and the Trojan War; Stonehenge and the Druids; Thor, the Nordic god of thunder; Chinese oracle bones; the use of peyote in ancient Native American rites; and the dramatic life and times of the man who would be Buddha.Ever familiar and instructive, Davis shows why the ancient tales of gods and heroes -- from Mount Olympus to Machu Picchu, from ancient Rome to the icy land of the Norse -- continue to speak to us today, in our movies, art, language, and music. For mythology novices and buffs alike, and for anyone who loves a good story, Don't Know Much About® Mythology is a lively and insightful look into the greatest stories ever told.

Mythologies by Yves Bonnefoy (Editor) & Wendy Doniger (Translator)

The University of Chicago Press is having a huge sale for the holidays. Alas, their wonderful folklore collections from years back are out of print and not in the sale. There isn't much folklore with the press, but I saw one title--Mythologies by Yves Bonnefoy (Editor) & Wendy Doniger (Translator) (Amazon link and U of CP link)--that may be of interest to a few of you. Some of these links are to Amazon where you can read more about it and because it is easiest for me to feed images from them. You have to use the U of CP sale brochure and link to get the special $99 price. Yes, that is expensive, but the two volume set is usually $300-$400 and this sale price for a new copy is less than the used ones--and it is a two-volume set so that's two books for $99. This is a small interest niche, but some SurLaLune readers fit in it.

About the book:

"The appearance of this monumental work in a beautifully produced and richly illustrated English edition is a publishing event of considerable significance."—Mark C. Taylor, New York Times Book Review

"The almost 100 contributors combine, with characteristic precision and elan, the arts of science and poetry, of analysis and translation. The result is a treasury of information, brilliant guesswork, witty asides, and revealing digressions. This is a work of genuine and enduring excitement."—Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

From Library Journal:

This collection of 395 articles was compiled by Bonnefoy (comparative poetics, College de France). Although it looks like an encyclopedia, it is not. Instead, as translator Doniger says in the introduction, it is "a collection of essays on some aspects of some mythologies written by a group of brilliant and philosophically complex French scholars and is highly opinionated and original." It is also highly inconsistent in coverage, having little to say about Judaism or Islam and offering only two essays on Buddhism. It often seems to be more about methodology than mythology. These criticisms, however, should not obscure the fact that this is a fascinatingly original if somewhat quirky and idiosyncratic collection of essays. As a reference book it leaves much to be desired. As a unique contribution to the study of mythology, it should be in every library with special interest in the field.

Library Essentials: Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature by William Hansen

Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature (Myth and Poetics) by William Hansen is a recent addition to my own library. It offers pretty much exactly what the titles states. And the publisher sums it up better than me so I will offer their words and then apologize for not having a table of contents. The best way to view one is through the Look Inside feature on Amazon. This book is a great resource and uses the Aarne Thompson system. No, most of the tales discussed are not the most commonly known fairy tales, but some of the biggest hits are present.

Book description from publisher:

From Cinderella to The Boy Who Cried Wolf to The Dragon Slayer to the Judgment of Solomon, certain legends, myths, and folktales are part of the oral tradition in countries around the world. In addition to their pervasiveness, these stories show an astonishing longevity; many such tales are found in classical antiquity.

Ariadne's Thread is a mini-encyclopedia of more than a hundred such international oral tales, all present in the literature of ancient Greece and Rome. It takes into account writings, including early Jewish and Christian literature, recorded in or translated into Greek or Latin by writers of any nationality. As a result, it will be invaluable not only to classicists and folklorists but also to a wide range of other readers who are interested in stories and storytelling.

William Hansen presents the familiar form of each tale and discusses the similar ancient story or stories, examining how each corresponds with and differs from that form. He then gives principal sources and, where appropriate, comments on the cultural factors affecting the shape and content of the ancient story, the context of transmission, and issues raised in the secondary literature. Finally, he provides a bibliography of scholarly studies and the pertinent reference in the standard folk-narrative index, The Types of the Folktale by Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson.

Again and again, Hansen demonstrates how ancient narratives are often best understood in the context of the larger tradition. He forces us to rethink the nature of Greek mythology by encouraging an appreciation of the extent to which Greek myths and legends parallel international stories. By virtue of their durability, he says, these orally transmitted stories rank among the world's most successful artistic creations.

Library Essentials Month: Fairytale in the Ancient World by Graham Anderson

Fairytale in the Ancient World by Graham Anderson is a deceptively slim book. This is the first of the books that I have listed as a library essential that was released a few years after I started SurLaLune. I remember reading it and thinking, oh, so much I'd love to add to SurLaLune!
Description from the publisher:

In this, the first modern study of the ancient fairytale, Graham Anderson asks whether the familiar children's fairytale of today existed in the ancient world. He examines texts from the classical period and finds many stories which resemble those we know today, including:

* a Jewish Egyptian Cinderella
* a Snow White whose enemy is the goddess Artemis
* a Pied Piper at Troy.

He puts forward many previously unsuspected candidates as classical variants of the modern fairytale and argues that the degree of violence and cruelty in the ancient tales means they must have been meant for adults.

My own review from 2003 is still up on Amazon, the only one there to date:

Having had this book in my personal collection for a few years now, I cannot praise it highly enough. As any folklorist knows, similar story threads exist across cultures and time. Why does this happen? One influence may have been the classic mythology from the Greeks and Romans. Graham Anderson makes reasonable connections between classical literature and our more modern folklore in previously unexplored ways. His writing is concise with easy-to-follow descriptions and analysis. If you are interested in the history of story, folklore, or the classics, this book is an excellent and relatively quick read. I only wish I had owned this book in the days when I was studying the classics as an undergraduate. It would have made reading the classics even more interesting than it was then.

That pretty much sums it up. I regularly reference this book when considering fairy tale variants or themes. No, many of these old myths are not necessarily directly related to our modern fairy tales, but the commonality of themes and plot devices is impressive. This one makes you think and it makes you want to return to classic mythology--especially when you realize how much you may have missed of mythology. I have an English degree which partially focused on the Greek and Roman classics and I missed much of these stories.

Best yet, many of the most popular fairy tales are found in these pages, from Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood to Snow White and others, there is some fascinating reading in this short book. When Fairy Tales from Before Fairy Tales: The Medieval Latin Past of Wonderful Lies by Jan M. Ziolkowski hit my own shelves, I was unfair to it because I wanted it to be more like Fairytale in the Ancient World. It is also a fine book with extensive discussion of lesser known tales, but I rarely return to it the same way I return over and over again to Fairytale in the Ancient World.

YA Reading Thoughts and A Book: Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman (ebook link) was released this past June and caught my eye with its title, of course, after all my recent work with mermaids, sirens, etc. I could probably post about a different YA fantasy novel with mythology, folklore and fairy tale elements every day of the month. Well, the fairy tale ones get fast tracked onto this blog, but the other ones not so much unless they spark my interest. Should that change? I don't want this blog to be just about books--although they are my favorite thing--my primary purpose is to show how fairy tales and folklore appear in the world around us. But it seems that the books are most readers' favorite entries, so perhaps I will broaden the parameters. And, after all, Young People Are Reading More Than You. And I am all about that, too, so I enjoy being part of the push.

I'm not one to miss my earlier youth and I enjoy the age I have achieved, thank you very much, but sometimes I am wistful over the literature I missed reading as a teenager by being born earlier. I mean what I missed reading as a teen because it wasn't published yet. I can't complain because that meant some of the greats weren't overshadowed and they fed my soul during those years--I wouldn't give up reading Madeleine L'Engle or Robin McKinley over and over during those years again for anything. I also discovered the classics and devoured them more than I see the current avid teen readers doing these days because they have so many choices to distract them.

Oh well, enough rumblings. Back to the book. Sirenz is surely not soul-stirring but it sounds like fun that provokes a little thinking, too. The mythology usage sound intriguing so I thought I would share it here.

Book description from the publisher:

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when the fashionistas find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes-with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself. To make them atone for what they've done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld an individual whose unholy contract is up.

Finding that delicate balance between their fashion addiction and their new part-time job in the eternal hellfire biz turns out to be harder than Meg and Shar expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there's the matter of the fine print in their own contracts...

Yes, there is the fashion hook to get the book started--I am rather weary of the high fashion schtick that chick lit's boom left us--but it seems to move away from that and use mythology in a quirky way, so more fun and perhaps inspiration to learn more about some various Greek gods.

Fairytale Reflections at SMoST

  

I haven't highlighted last week's Fairytale Reflections at SMoST yet and it is already time for a new one. So now we have two....

Last week was Fairytale Reflections (23) Gwyneth Jones. Jones discusses princesses with some references to Cupid and Psyche as well as Perseus and Andromeda. There is definitely an emphasis on mythology. Here is the first paragraph:

The Princess As Role Model

I’ve always been attracted to fairytales. I knew I was a storyteller long before I knew I’d be a writer: I took on my father’s mantle, and told epic bedtime stories to my brother and sister, at an early age, and my father’s stories (also epic, endless episodes from the same saga, about the same characters) were all based on a traditional tale, the one about a girl who finds out that she once had seven brothers, who were banished and turned into crows when she was born. It has many variants, but from internal evidence the original must be the Moroccan one (The Girl Who Banished Seven). Naturally, she sets off to find them and rescue them from the enchantment. That’s typical of a fairytale princess (she’s one of those who becomes a princess by marriage, but it’s all the same to me). They do the right thing. They stand up to evil step-mothers, and no task is impossible...

This week is Fairytale Reflections (24) Nick Green. Green's success story about self-publishing is interesting, too. Another example of how the publishing world is changing very rapidly. Green discusses Dick Whittington and his Cat. Here are the first paragraphs.

Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington, thrice Mayor of London!


Is ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat’ really a fairytale? I’m going to call it one. Even though there is no actual magic (but see below), most of the ingredients are there: the poor and naive youth, the quest, the hardship, and at least a semi-supernatural element in the prophecy of the Bow Bells, calling the young Whittington back from Highgate Hill. I would argue that ‘Dick Whittington’ is not just a fairytale, but a particularly interesting one, being the only one (to my knowledge) that features a real person.

The historical Richard Whittington, of course, was Lord Mayor a total of four times (but legend ignores that as it doesn’t scan). Also, he was never particularly poor, and no-one knows if he really kept a cat. According to my diligent academic research (Wikipedia), the story’s origins lie further back, in a Persian folktale of a youth and his cat, onto which the legend of Whittington was later grafted. We can only guess the reason for this, but by all accounts Richard W was an all-round good egg and probably deserved it.

New Book: Abandon by Meg Cabot

  

A few years ago I sat on a panel at Dragon*Con discussing King Arthur and Camelot in the Young Adult track and one of the books I read to prep was Meg Cabot's Avalon High. And I enjoyed it. It had fun with the story while not being enslaved to it. To be honest, I was rather burned out on heavy, depressing Camelot stories with Guinevere usually annoying me no end, so Avalon High was refreshing. And it even got me more willing to deal with Camelot again despite the burnout. Enough so that I am actually enjoying the third season of Merlin that just finished to the point where I am eager for season four. If you only tuned in to the first season of that series, it has improved each season. The first season is the weakest, especially since the soccer player turned actor who plays Arthur has improved along with the writing although I admit it is Colin Morgan's Merlin that has hooked me. And John loves it even more than me and owns seasons one and two on DVD.

So I have to admit I am now interested in Meg Cabot's newest release Abandon. Yes, I know Cabot teeters on the "we're too cool or literary to admit we enjoy her" edge, but when I am looking for entertaining light reading, she often fits the bill just fine for me. I get rather annoyed at times by that attitude, too, especially when I am guilty of it. That's why I try to cover just about everything here but erotica which I don't touch on the blog trying this at least PG-13 around here. I say if people are actually buying books and reading, hallelujah! Even if they are borrowing books and reading, hallelujah! Fairy tales get the same kind of dismissive treatment and you in the choir here know they can be anything but light and innocuous...

And now Abandon is intriguing because it hits even closer to my own turf by being a Persephone interpretation. So it goes on the summer reading list. Don't know when, but I imagine it will happen!
Book description:

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

And here's a video: