caribourou's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
3.75
Super simple, informative and oddly making jokes at times. Would recommend for someone who would like to get into mythology but doesn’t know which one to start reading about, since it gives you a taste of each and you can decide which one is most interesting to you. This book goes over Norse, Greek, Roman, America’s, China and Australia.
Don’t rely on this for detailed stories, they’re just very basic summaries, I’m sure the real stories are way more rich and enduring.
Don’t rely on this for detailed stories, they’re just very basic summaries, I’m sure the real stories are way more rich and enduring.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Incest
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide, War, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual assault
maliablue's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
This was certainly interesting in some parts, but it was mostly poorly researched and badly written. I'm sure there are better books on world mythology out there- once that don't rely on Wikipedia!
This was certainly interesting in some parts, but it was mostly poorly researched and badly written. I'm sure there are better books on world mythology out there- once that don't rely on Wikipedia!
sofijakryz's review against another edition
2.0
Considering the length of the book and the promised range, I should have probably considered this but still expected more.
The book does alright with mini-summaries of stories. As expected, for their length they do feel a bit superficial, although most stories I had read before had the essential twists that make the original stories work.
What did not work for me, though, was the encyclopedic backgrounds containing info that most readers already know and not really going beyond that. There were a couple lesser known facts, e.g. that there are some exceptionally old Chinese scripts engraved on B.C. dated bones but even so I came across those somewhere. So overall those felt dull. Even more so, when interceding the summaries of myths themselves.
I did not like the style and language in some places either. Why waste limited space on jokes about Odin and chardonnay or refer to an ancient god as a "chap"? Ruins the effect of story being told.
Those bits where the author forgot or chose not to overexplain the background in the story and just stuck to the summaries of the myths read the most pleasantly.
Another thing I did not like was that some regions and cultures that have exceptionally rich and interesting mythical settings had only a couple of stories told, whereas Ancient Greek, Roman and Norse myths were overrepresented. There was nothing African, really, which is a shame.
There were some good bits, though. I was happy to learn some Aztecan and Mayan myths, although those were scarce.
Another pro - the use of illustrations styled after the cultures whose myths were summarised. Could have been more of these!
But those were about it for me. Overall, I ended up yawning throughout the book and probably won't remember most of the stories I was less familiar with (I forget easily!). Considering this in the context of previous bite-sized experiences, I think this is simply not my approach. Too superficial.
I would rather go with larger, fuller collections of myths, with a single book focusing on a region or culture. Many myths are short anyway and when presented in full, they often leave deeper impression, especially when presented in the context of other myths from the same cultures.
The book does alright with mini-summaries of stories. As expected, for their length they do feel a bit superficial, although most stories I had read before had the essential twists that make the original stories work.
What did not work for me, though, was the encyclopedic backgrounds containing info that most readers already know and not really going beyond that. There were a couple lesser known facts, e.g. that there are some exceptionally old Chinese scripts engraved on B.C. dated bones but even so I came across those somewhere. So overall those felt dull. Even more so, when interceding the summaries of myths themselves.
I did not like the style and language in some places either. Why waste limited space on jokes about Odin and chardonnay or refer to an ancient god as a "chap"? Ruins the effect of story being told.
Those bits where the author forgot or chose not to overexplain the background in the story and just stuck to the summaries of the myths read the most pleasantly.
Another thing I did not like was that some regions and cultures that have exceptionally rich and interesting mythical settings had only a couple of stories told, whereas Ancient Greek, Roman and Norse myths were overrepresented. There was nothing African, really, which is a shame.
There were some good bits, though. I was happy to learn some Aztecan and Mayan myths, although those were scarce.
Another pro - the use of illustrations styled after the cultures whose myths were summarised. Could have been more of these!
But those were about it for me. Overall, I ended up yawning throughout the book and probably won't remember most of the stories I was less familiar with (I forget easily!). Considering this in the context of previous bite-sized experiences, I think this is simply not my approach. Too superficial.
I would rather go with larger, fuller collections of myths, with a single book focusing on a region or culture. Many myths are short anyway and when presented in full, they often leave deeper impression, especially when presented in the context of other myths from the same cultures.
wordsrmyweapon's review against another edition
3.0
2.75 stars I enjoyed this. I probably would have liked it more if I was younger and just getting into mythology. I’ve been reading bits of this book for years but I finally decided to read the other sections of this book just so I could take it off my tbr shelf