The Book of Myths

by Amy Cruse

Presents traditional tales from Greek, Roman, Norse, American Indian, Asian, and other mythologies

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, History

286 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1925

Reviews

[Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book at a second-hand book store since I love old hard-cover books and picked it up. Its a great start into myths!

[Medusa Dracul · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book...is hard to explain...i love MYTHS...it was all FACT not FAKE...and i like it...5 Star for me....

[Mariah Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read all of Amy Cruse's retellings of world myths. I have, however, read her retelling of the Native American, Blackfoot myth of, "The Story of Scarface". It was an enjoyable moral short-story about the value of perseverance, fortitude and self-discipline. Amy Cruse is a skilled writer. I would highly recommend.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all, a good book. This owes little to the author (one Amy Cruse) who manages to pour Victorian--even colonialist--scorn on many of the non-European cultures that she covers. For example,

"The North-American Indian, up to quite recent times, lived the free and simple life of the savage...as our own ancestors lived many years ago" (p. 150); "they [the Mexicans & Peruvians] had no love of beauty such as purified and ennobled the Greeks, and they had a much lower intellectual development" (p. 189); "The Chinese are naturally an unimaginative people, and in the secluded life that they have led for centuries, carefully shutting themselves off from intercourse with other peoples, there has been little to stir them up and force their imaginations to become active. Their myths, therefore, have not developed, but have remained mere childish tales" (p. 280); [following a favourable comparison to the 'Christian ideal of a universal Father',] "it would be strange if it were not so, for the Australian native has descended from one of the highest races. Unfortunately for him, he became isolated in the great forests and spaces of Australia...otherwise we may be certain that this most ancient of all the peoples would have developed to a higher stage" (p. 294).

I recall no such disparagement concerning the Greeks, Romans, Norsemen, Egyptians and Hindu. I spend so much space here detailing my annoyance with Cruse on this topic because it lowers the longevity of what is a great introductory collection of myths, IMO. The "complexity equals worth" mode of assessment is firmly dated, and those opening salvos had little to do with how most readers enjoy the subsequent stories anyway. It's not her dismissal that is upsetting, it's her flimsy basis for doing so and her false assertion of a 'standard'.

With all that dealt with, the stories were mostly fun to read! The Greeks & Romans were exciting, b/c they still pop up ever so often in our contemporary (Western) life. The Norsemen were fun to read also, especially since Marvel's recent Thor films (Loki is apparently the cause of our earthquakes...it figures). The remaining collections were much shorter than these two (the Babylonians only get a single myth in there), and the standout of these by far was the Hindus. It was a rollicking read, which made the pages fly by. Leaping from this book, I'll look for more about Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek mythology b/c those ones interested me most.

(As it happens, I [unknowingly!] absconded with this book from my old high school and decided to finally read it after it sat around for a decade. I will return it one day, hopefully)

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required reading in grade 9 (for me a long time ago) Still have the 1942 edition.

This book is what I believe started my lifelong interest in religions.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is totally racist. Nice pictures though!

[Maria Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though there were a few discrepancies, this was an interesting read with some myths I had never heard before. :)

[Daniel O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nov18 read 93min read 43 min yesterday but forgot to update...