The Hero with a Thousand Faces

I’m realizing I’m not a big fan of reading “text books” as favorite books… not sure how it could be a favorite book, yet, that was next on the list… The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.  It is a quintessential English Literature book on the “structure” which is called the monomyth, which explains the role of the hero in the story.  Campbell explains the various stages of the hero’s journey.  The hero starts at one place and then moves along the road.  There can be the “call to journey,” a “road of trails,” and potentially the “boon” where the hero may receive special powers with the ability to apply the special powers.  Campbell explains that while many stories contain these stages, they don’t always have to appear in that order.  He divides them into three sections, as he describes it: Departure, Initiation, and Return, all of which are pretty self-explanatory.  Campbell provides examples of the various stages and sections of the story by drawing upon Greek mythology, Biblical stories, and even Rip van Winkle!  For Literature teacher wannabees, a good read in understanding the structure of the story.  Numerous known stories, even from books that I have read, ie Symposium by Plato!  If I was interested in learning more, which I did, I’d add to the list, otherwise… who wants to read a class text book for fun?  You get the point!