Suddenly They Heard Footsteps: Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century

by Dan Yashinsky

In Suddenly They Heard Footsteps , Dan Yashinsky, one of North America's best-known storytellers, shows how an old tradition has become the new avant-garde. Storytelling is very much alive in the digital age despite the pressures of an “on-demand” society. Yashinsky admits that people no longer have to hear and retain information with the same urgency required of previous generations. However, people still choose to listen, and stories still have the power to create a sense of community and a shared past.

The belief that storytelling is a necessary and beneficial art for our times has sparked a contemporary renaissance of oral literature with a variety of festivals, groups, and gatherings. These outlets give storytellers new places to explore their art. There is also a burgeoning interest in the way stories flow through and frame everyday lives, anchor identity, preserve family heritage, and build bridges between communities. Yashinsky uses his own experiences in this growing worldwide movement to make a case for the increased importance of storytelling.

By turns humorous, inspiring, instructive, and philosophical, Suddenly They Heard Footsteps is fired with the magic of storytelling and instructs both the listener and the storyteller in gaining deep appreciation of the experience. Arguing that we can't double-click on wisdom, Yashinsky celebrates the many ways people choose to tell, listen to, and find meaning in stories.

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half a defence of storytelling and half a collection of stories itself, "Suddenly They Heard Footsteps" is a pleasant and eminently readable volume. While some of the stories might well come across better in oral presentation, the book mounts a passionate defence of the importance of storytelling in our modern age:

What I hold on to is the passionate belief that knowing good stories by heart and telling them to a circle of listeners makes a haven for the human spirit.

We are living through a time of unprecedented and troubling change. We have come to a crossroads where old and familiar customs break down, but the new moral frame and social structure we urgently need have not yet evolved. We step into the future with less connection to ancestral guidance than any human generation before us. Although we have invented amazing technologies for saving data, we are at risk of forgetting our personal, family and cultural stories. We broadcast our voices over vast differences, but talk less to our neighbours. Haunting these changes are the spectres of continuing violence, planetary degradation and, above all, the danger that we'll come to believe the implacable message of the powerful: that resistance is futile. (p. XIV-XV)

The book does tend towards the traditional stories, generally preferring stories with deep roots (and, to be fair, modern reworkings of the same) to more clean-slate, modern storytelling. I'd love to learn more about the stories that are being written today, and whether part of the storytelling tradition is making room for a new generation of stories, not just those storytellers who retell the old legends. Still, however, the core argument is profound and important, and it's an enjoyable read.

[Davidg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on the current growth in Storytelling. It is obviously written from the North American, and specifically, the Canadian perspective, but that doesn't prevent its message being applicable elsewhere. It doesn't pretend t be a 'how to' guide, but does give a philosophy of telling, e.g. the differences between adapting a story and altering the meaning of a story.

Recommended.

[Roderick Mcgillis · Rating 3 out of 5]

As good a discussion of storytelling as we have. A bonus are the several stories included at the end of this book. The guide through other resources is also excellent. A book for storytellers and also,those who admire storytelling.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I'm not planning to be a storyteller, I really enjoyed this. The personal stories and examples of stories Yashinsky told were interesting, and his musings on the meaning and utility of storytelling were mostly helpful (although a few things did get tedious). I'm looking forward to reading some of the books he mentioned in his list of resources.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading this fine volume makes me realize how much I love Yashinsky's meditations on storytelling - I also appreciate his annotated bibliography of resources - he includes some of his own stories and while some of them (I particularly like his re-telling of the Grimm's The White Snake) are excellent but others are probably better heard than read in print

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book as it was due back from the library. Its worth reading, a very engaging book but I personally didn't connect with it. I am certain people who love writing, and more specifically storytelling would love this.