i think the PBS interview format suits Campbell better than a book. in both, he just relates story after story about different myths and intersperses commentary explaining how they're related and what is important about each. there isn't a lot of structure or direction to his writing and it gets a bit tiring after four of five hundred pages. in an interview though, it feels more manageable. he also gets quite animated and the interview conveys more of his excitement about the material than his writing.
still, his books are incredibly information-dense and have lots of footnotes, and a solid bibliography which is always nice.
anders - 2004-06-28 15:31:47
i think the PBS interview format suits Campbell better than a book. in both, he just relates story after story about different myths and intersperses commentary explaining how they're related and what is important about each. there isn't a lot of structure or direction to his writing and it gets a bit tiring after four of five hundred pages. in an interview though, it feels more manageable. he also gets quite animated and the interview conveys more of his excitement about the material than his writing. still, his books are incredibly information-dense and have lots of footnotes, and a solid bibliography which is always nice.