Friday Forays in Fiction: Fable, Fairy Tale, Folklore, Myth

f

Read A Myth Challenge

For nearly a month now, after having recently encountered novels in which they have figured, I have binged on anything to do with fable, folklore, fairy tale, or myth including modern retellings of old familiar stories and stories that allude to them or have an aura (flavor, feeling, or ambiance) reminiscent of them.  Even my video viewing has gravitated towards them.

So I was excited to find this challenge and even though it is so late in the year I'm going to join in if they'll let me.  I don't want to wait for a yea or nay as I already had this very apropos Friday Foray topic planned and wanted to combine it with this weekend's Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon so whether or not it is too late to officially join I'm going to be reading on the theme anyway and since this ready-made hub of similar interest is there I can still be a peeping Tom if not an active participant.

There are levels one can commit to in this challenge but since I'm starting so late I'm only committing to the minimum which is:

Level 1 Athena: That’s a Myth!
Read any two (2) books about myths.

I can always up the ante as I go.

The rules imply that both NF exposition on myth, the traditional tellings of them and modern retellings in short stories and novels all count.

I'm going to begin with Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis which is a library book that I've already started.  Since fable, fairy tale, folklore and myth were my first story love which did not fade until my early teens, this book is more of a refresher course than anything.  Not that I'm not learning anything new though.

The second title will be one of the following which I own and thus qualify for the Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon:

Read Your Own Books
Read-a-Thon

I've been hankering after a number of books off my own shelves lately so this Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon is the perfect impetus.  For most of the book bloggers it is the pressure of review copies in their TBR piles that draws them to this but for me it is the pressure of library due dates.

I have many books both NF and fiction on the the mythology theme but for this Thon I'm narrowing it down to:

• Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes -- I've owned this since before my 17yr old nephew was born and have begun it several times and once passed the halfway point before getting distracted.  My sister has been after me to read it, especially certain chapters in the last half, so she can discuss her experience of it with me.  It's about time I did!  It sits on my shelf in plain sight right behind my Ott lamp and every time I reach around to turn on the lamp it gold metalic title glitters mocking winks at me.
• Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols -- this was one of my exciting purchase at my last Powell's book store visit 2 years ago!  I bought it specifically as research relating to a WIP which has a main character doing academic research on the tarot emphasizing its relationship to storytelling so this was one of those Jungian synchronicity moments for me and I fear my neglect of it has been an insult to whatever personal angel or muse sent it to me.
• The Mask of God: Primitive Mythology by Joseph Campbell
• The Mask of God: Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell
• The Mask of God: Occidental Mythology by Joseph Campbell
• The Mask of God: Creative Mythology by Joseph Campbell

I acquired Joseph Campbell's The Mask of God series the same year as Clarissa Pinkola Estes' book and have tried several times to read them cover to cover, moving back and forth among the four, making significant progress each time.  But that only accounts for half of the time I've spent with these volumes as I find them fascinating just to browse in.

• Also on my agenda for this weekend is one modern fairy tale, the novel: The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson which I bought off a Friend's of the Library shelf a year ago.  

I hope to read the novel start to finish this weekend but the NF I will dip into as the whim takes me as I've started every one of them at some point and some of them several times.  My bookmarks are still in them somewhere between pages 20 and 220.  I hope to decide by the end of this Thon which, if any, I can start up where I left off.  Every one is worth finishing and it is far from any fault in the books themselves that I haven't.  Just skewed priorities.

This current obsession with all things myth and fable is a good impetus to bring them to the forefront of my TBR!