Books

Day five: The Masks of God

You cannot go wrong with Joseph Campbell. If you liked any of his other stuff, you’ll like this. 

Reading this is like being on vacation to a far distant time. 

Primitive Mythology and Occidental Mythology were stronger than Oriental Mythology and Creative Mythology. The last verges on literary criticism, and a lot of it is just singing the praises of Joyce and Mann. 

These aren’t as pithy as Hero with a Thousand Faces or The Power of Myth, and they’re not quite as magical as The Golden Bough, but they’re very good nonetheless.

The division of religious traditions into shamanic (hunting cultures) and priestly (planting cultures) was intellectually interesting, but these books are more about feeling than thinking. And they certainly succeed in giving you a visceral sense of how god archetypes echo each other across time and place.

Four stars for their type, and it’s one of my favorite types. Firmly but not aggressively recommended. Prioritize The Golden Bough instead.

Day six: War by Sebastian Junger

My favorite war book of all time. 

I’ve never been in a war or anywhere near one, so take it with a grain of salt. But you can’t talk about this book without praising its realism. At the very least, any civilian should be able to recognize a believably complicated picture of humanity’s relationship with war. 

Yeah, war’s bad and miserable of course. But for the young men standing behind the weapons and hoping the enemy bullets miss them, it’s also peerlessly exciting. 

The book is full of great characters, memorable scenes, captivating detail, excellent writing, and a surprising amount of comic relief. Fans of Sebastian Junger will recognize his familiar role of narrator/character taken to its pinnacle. 

There’s also a pair of great documentaries to go with it. 

If you only ever read one book about war, read this one. 

5/5 no notes

I keep multiple copies in my house so that when it comes up with visitors I can give one away without cutting into my personal supply