Books: My Top Picks From 2008
Here are some books I highly recommend, in no particular order.
Note: Most of these books were published before 2008; I just happened to read them in 2008.
+ The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, with Bill Moyers
Campbell spent his life studying mythology and its role in emotional and spiritual development and in the development of religions, cultures and societies. In this book, written shortly before his death, Campbell summarized much of what he learned.
This is a very important book. Why? Because, according to Campbell, mythology has shaped us, for good and bad. Knowing how we’ve been shaped helps us adjust the way we think about things. Knowing how we’ve been shaped helps us live more fully in reality, in truth and in love.
Campbell wrote a lot about how mythology influenced religions, including Judaism and Christianity, and about how they often used myths (or stories) to communicate their ideas.
Also, many religions and cultures told similar myths. Some Christians and Jews might be surprised to learn, for example, that many stories in the Bible are very similar to stories told by other cultures and religions.
The creation stories in the Bible, for example, are very similar to creation stories told by other cultures and religions. Also, other cultures and religions had stories about a great flood, virgin births, walking on water, resurrection, etc.
As someone who grew up in the Christian tradition (on the conservative side), I found this book especially fascinating, enlightening and helpful.
+ Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood by Marsha Sinetar
Don’t be fooled by the title; this is not self-help flim-flam. Sinetar writes brilliantly about how our emotional and spiritual development influence our vocation. According to Sinetar, as we grow in self-esteem, we’ll make more and more decisions (including decisions about our vocation!) that are in line with our true self (who we really are and what we really love). Often our vocation will evolve as we evolve, as we grow in self-esteem.
(If Sinetar’s theory is accurate, and I think it is, I may soon be a piano-playing rock star or a writer for a hit sit-com or a stand-up comedian.)
Sinetar deeply understands the journey of emotional and spiritual development — this is a smart, smart book! — and she addresses core issues. If you’re wrestling with what to do with your life (i.e., what career path to follow, etc.), or if you just want to grow in self-esteem, this is an outstanding resource.
+ The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larsen
Three words: fascinating, disturbing, inspiring. This is a true story (though it reads like fiction!) about the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Much of the book focuses on the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair’s construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.
If you’re from Chicago, or just love Chicago, this is a must-read.
+ Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
This book is funny and deep — a great combo! I appreciated Gilbert’s vulnerability (she talked openly about her depression, insecurities, sex life, spiritual journey and much more). I admire her growth journey.
Also, this book is filled with funny, fascinating and quirky characters, such as Ketut Liyer, a loving, light-hearted, elderly, almost toothless Balinese medicine man.
+ God Laughs & Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right by David James Duncan
Duncan is an amazing writer, and really funny, smart and deep. In this collection of essays, the writing alone (the words, sentences and rhythm of it all) is worth the read — but he also says some really profound things about spirituality, Christianity, politics and environmentalism.
+ Co-Dependence: Healing the Human Condition by Charles L. Whitfield, M.D.
What is co-dependence? Here’s a quote from the book: “The cause of co-dependence is a wounding of the True Self to such an extent that to survive, it had to go into hiding most of the time, with the subsequent running of its life by the false or co-dependent self. It is thus a disease of lost self-hood.”
I deeply appreciate and respect Whitfield’s understanding of emotional and spiritual development. If you struggle with codependency (like I do), or if you just want to understand it better, this is a great resource.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Have to quibble with you on Campbell. I would say that by far his more important book is his “Hero With a 1,000 Faces” which is both rigorous comparative mythology and accessible to the lay reader. Campbell has done more to popularize mythology than anyone else in the last 100 years.
However, I contend that the “Power of Myth” series takes the basic ideas of “1,000 Faces” and mushes them into the “self-help flim-flam” you rightly decry below. To me “Power” boils down to little more than “slay your own personal dragon within” nonsense and is also deeply a-historical.
Yes, there are many remarkable similarities between mythologies and folktales. Where Campbell (and many others) takes the wrong turn is in making the claim that these similarities make all these narratives more or less the same and of equal value. Or simply telling the same story with a different narrative.
In response I would say a couple of things (and full disclosure–I can only speak with acumen on Greco-Roman material):
1. Campbell’s reading or application of these myths (to which he is, of course, entitled) is decidedly un-Greek. No ancient would have seen in the myths of Theseus or Heracles a template as to how to live one’s life. Greek myths are by and large a LAMENT. The majority detail the yawning chasm between humans and gods and never the twain shall meet. They long for a transcendence that never comes. It is pessimistic, yes, but NOT solved by “treading your own hero’s path”. Gods and heroes are to be appeased and avoided…not mimicked.
2. The similarities between mythologies and religious traditions ARE striking and vastly misunderstood by adherents and non-adherents to the major modern religions alike. However, to leave it there is to read them superficially. What IS MORE striking is where myth and a religion like Judaism and Christianity part ways. The Greeks and Romans had no real concept of “sin” or “fall”. Thus, their myths stay at the “lament” stage. Judaic notions of scapegoat/sacrifice/atonement and Christian notions of grace which seek to bridge the gap (which Greco-Roman myth could and cannot) are radical, unique departures from anything Campbell deigns to compare them to.
And by that comparison, I would contend, the life lessons (and their inherently solipsistic nature) Campbell and Moyers try to extract from their “broad-brush” approach ring eerily hollow.