Reflections on the art of living : a Joseph Campbell companion

by Joseph Campbell

Other authorsDiane K. Osbon (Editor)
Hardcover, 1991

Publication

Imprint: New York, NY : HarperCollins, c1991. Edition: First edition. Series: Series. Responsibility: selected and edited by Diane K. Osbon. OCLC Number: 25206306. Physical: Text : 1 volume : 311 pages : portrait ; 21 cm. Features: Includes bibliography.

Call number

Myth / Campb

Barcode

BK-03650

ISBN

0060167181 / 9780060167189

Original publication date

1991

CSS Library Notes

Description: Selections from Campbell's Esalen Institute lectures, supplemented by relevant excerpts from his past writings and the writings of others he often quoted to illuminate his work.--From publisher description.

Table of Contents: Introduction --
In the field --
Living in the world --
Coming into awareness --
Living in the sacred --
Notes (p. 299-307).

FY1993 /

Physical description

311 p.; 21 cm

Description

Celebrated scholar Joseph Campbell shares his intimate and inspiring reflections on the art of living in this beautifully packaged book, part of a new series to be based on his unpublished writings.

Language

Original language

English

User reviews

LibraryThing member LTW
In A JOSEPH CAMPBELL COMPANION, Diane Osborn has assembled excerpts from Campbell's many works, and distilled the central ideas Campbell wrote about over the years concerning the origin and purpose of myths. She has organized these excerpts into topical areas: "In the Field", "Living in the World",
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"Coming into Awareness", and "Living in the Sacred." Although the topics can be viewed as linear, reflecting the progress of the soul or psyche, I suspect Campbell would have suggested they are also cyclical and that one exists in all four simultaneously.
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LibraryThing member fancyconstance
I think the title of this book is a little misleading. A reader's "companion" typically consists of annotations, information tangential to and explanatory of the work in question. The subtitle, "Reflections on the Art of Living" is more accurate: this book is a distillation of the essense of
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Campbell's life work. You don't really even have to have read Campbell to find value in this book.

More spiritual, less academic, than the body of his work itself, "Reflections" is something of a capstone course if you will...but as I said it stands alone as well. This is more of a book of inspirations based on Campbell's scholarly work, and if you're not into that kind of thing you might want to give this one a try anyway. A taste:

"The warrior's approach
is to say "yes" to life:
"yea" to it all.

Participate joyfully
in the sorrows of the world.

We cannot cure the world of sorrows,
but we can choose to live in joy....

The world is perfect. It's a mess.
It has always been a mess.

We are not going to change it.

Our job is to straighten out
our own lives."

If that rings true at all for you, I think you'd enjoy having this book on your shelves.
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LibraryThing member DrY
A decent introduction to Joseph Campbell's thinking. There were sections that the reader should skim through as fast as possible to avoid nodding off.
LibraryThing member belgrade
Inspiring and accessible

Rating

(83 ratings; 4.2)
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