Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology.
Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years.
This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come.
Christopher Booker was one of the founders of Private Eye and its first editor. He has a weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph and a regular column in The Daily Mail. He has published several books including The Neophiliacs (Harper Collins), The Mad Officials (Constable), and Castle of Lies (Duckworth).
Reviews
Reviews"....remarkable parallels between the structure of the modern film Jaws and that of the Old English Beowulf." Writing Magazine
"If you have any interest in fiction and the way it works, you will enjoy this exploration of the seven basic plots and how they have been adapted and developed across the centuries." Writing Magazine
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ISBN: 9780826480378
Catalogue code: N/A
Publisher: CROSSROAD/CONTINUUM PUB G - published 11/11/2005
Format: Paperback