otrops reviewed Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde
Review of 'Trickster Makes This World' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
I've always had a bit of a thing for tricksters. My favorite Greek myths always seem to involve Hermes, and I love a good coyote tale.
Trickster Makes This World is an excellent study that tries to get to the bottom of what makes trickster figures so fascinating.
It is excellently researched and well constructed. Lewis Hyde takes us through the various aspects of trickster and explores each of these aspects in depth. In each case it is a fascinating, wide-ranging discussion. Hyde has put together a masterpiece of digressions. He not only tells one tale after another about Hermes, Loki, Coyote, Raven and Monkey; he uses a wide range of interesting people to illustrate his point. John Cage, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Allen Ginsberg all make an appearance.
I found most of his arguments exhilarating. His discussion of Snorri Sturluson playing Loki's role as the …
I've always had a bit of a thing for tricksters. My favorite Greek myths always seem to involve Hermes, and I love a good coyote tale.
Trickster Makes This World is an excellent study that tries to get to the bottom of what makes trickster figures so fascinating.
It is excellently researched and well constructed. Lewis Hyde takes us through the various aspects of trickster and explores each of these aspects in depth. In each case it is a fascinating, wide-ranging discussion. Hyde has put together a masterpiece of digressions. He not only tells one tale after another about Hermes, Loki, Coyote, Raven and Monkey; he uses a wide range of interesting people to illustrate his point. John Cage, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Allen Ginsberg all make an appearance.
I found most of his arguments exhilarating. His discussion of Snorri Sturluson playing Loki's role as the bringer of Ragnarök was fascinating. His comparison of Frederick Douglass' life and The Homeric Hymn to Hermes was equally engrossing.
This is about as perfect as a non-fiction book gets for me. I find the topic endlessly fascinating. The breadth of Hyde's interests and research means that I have a number of new topics to explore more fully. Finally, Hyde's writing, while not quite conversational, is very approachable and occasionally exquisite, which is not surprising given that he's a poet.
