Beyond The Hero

World Storytelling

by Allan B. Chinen

Some men yearn for an earlier time when heroes were honored by all, when patriarchs ruled over women and nations. But, deep in their souls, most men today know that they cannot turn back the clock. Together in small groups, or alone in their own hearts, they are seeking a path beyond traditional male hegemony, beyond the solitary hero - a path toward a vital yet compassionate masculinity.

Genres: Psychology, Mythology, Sociology, Feminism, Gender Studies

291 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1993

Reviews

[Mitch Dubeau · Rating 2 out of 5]

**THIS IS SPECIFICALLY A REVIEW OF THE AUDIOBOOK ON AUDIBLE, ONCE I READ THE PAPERBACK THE REVIEW WILL CHANGE**

Dr.Chinen has collected several stories, myths and fairy tales that discuss manhood beyond the frame of the hero. I came to this book after the realization that the hero myth is over told in our culture due to its ease of telling and it's ease of drawing in the audiences full attention. The result of this is men only know masculinity through the frame of the hero which is by necessity of violence image of masculinity.

My problem with the audiobook which I guess was going to be the case due to the fact that the audiobook is only an hour long for a 300 page book. Is that the audio version cuts out most of the stories and the entirety of the analyzes of the stories. I do not know why this is the case nor do I know why this is the only audio version of this book on the market. The stories that are told are good at interesting from the story of the little peasant telling the story of manhood through trickery akin to Odysseus with the moral failing of pride within the rest of the community and not allowing the little peasant to rise up in social status to the myth of the weaving Prince who finds initiation into femininity which saves his life. These are stories that I would tell my own child and then I'm genuinely interested in finding deeper meaning too while not being stories that are very popular in our modern canon. There is a running theme of masculinity finding salvation through finding femininity within itself, which is a theme I would have loved to explore. Had the analyzes been present in the audio version.

The final epilogue tells a story that I see a lot in particularly new age circles. That being the story of hunter-gatherers being super peaceful and chill and equal between men and women (This is in fact nonfactual, we have evidence against this) leading to an early farming community lead and dominated by women where the mother goddess was mostly revered (also nonfactual we have evidence against this) to the rise of patriarchy within military culture where the goddess was dethroned and discarded (also again non-factual we have evidence against this). I don't know if this was meant to be told as a myth or as fact but as fact it is factually wrong.

[Mike Algera · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories all in all, really speak to me, highly energetic, and plentiful in meaning. I normally skip the author commentary about the stories, but in this case, Chinen does an excellent job in breaking down the psychological structure and symbolism of each story. The bandwidth of his research delves deep into men's dreams, which was my absolute favourite component about the commentary. How he makes a connection between the story elements with dream sequences of real life people, as well as connecting the stories with other tales that don't appear within the collection to me is true dedication to his area of study.
Off the bat, my top three favourite stories within this collection were The King's Ears: The Shadow of the Patriarch; The Little Peasant: Shadow and Trickster and The King and the Ghoul: The Trickster Teacher.
A must read for lovers of folklore.

[Mark Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never thought fairytale and mythology hold this much value. In this book Allan Chinen explores an alternative path to masculinity. Moving beyond the traditional hero and patriarch through carefully curated stories from different cultures. Painting a larger picture, which guided us in a linear sequence, helping the reader find his way in life.
I absolutely love this book, it draws from different disciples. It is easy to understand and fun to read. This is one of the book which make opens many door for you to explore.
Thanks you Dr. Chinen for writing this amazing book!

[Ethan LoCicero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book certainly has its factual errors and problematic moments, especially with regard to its historical analysis and its gender essentialist view of human development. Chinen’s analysis should be taken with a grain of salt to say the least.

Nonetheless, the folktales he’s collected are incredibly valuable for anyone interested in constructing a concept of masculinity that is celebratory of the masculine spirit without valuing domination and patriarchy. And while flawed, Chinen’s analysis is useful in illuminating the often opaque symbolism in these stories. Because of this, I think this book is a meaningful contribution to feminist literature, especially if read in combination with something like Bell Hook’s “The Will to Change”.

[Linden Leman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book to be infinitely more accessible and practical than Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces." He retells the stories beautifully. I wish there was more application of the themes to anecdotes of people's real lives, rather than just their dreams.

[Paulo Behar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for men who want to further develop their humanity and maturity

[Paulo Behar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for men who want to further develop their humanity and maturity

[Randy Elrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book.

[Sarah Rigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories for fathers and sons about what it means to be a man. Chinen collects stories from around the world that expand the archetypes that men can relate to "beyond the hero." My husband was a psych major and read this for a paper he was writing about the mytho-poetic men's movement, and I thought it sounded fascinating and read it as well. Recommended.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done