Christian Mythmakers

by Rolland Hein

[ladygrey]

This is a hard book to review because in a lot of ways it's only as interesting as the author he's discussing. So, the section on Bunyan was mostly dull and dry, but Tolkien was fascinating.
[a:Rolland Hein|1935|Rolland Hein|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s basic premise is engaging and he examines it thoroughly in the work of various authors. Taken as a counterpoint to [a:Joseph Campbell|20105|Joseph Campbell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1201938763p2/20105.jpg], it's really interesting.

But I was disappointed in the balance of authors discussed. He goes into great detail with Dante and Bunyon and Chesterton and MacDonald and Williams but doesn't discuss Lewis' Narnia series at all and doesn't even devote an entire chapter to Madeleine L'Engle, even though her name is on the cover (even before Tolkien). I enjoyed being able to glance through the history of the older authors and seeing the effect they had on later storytellers. But, I then wanted more time spent discussing those modern authors whose work is more widely known to a modern audience.

Particularly, Lewis and L'Engle. I understand [b:The Chronicles of Narnia|11127|The Chronicles of Narnia (#1-7)|C.S. Lewis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166457868s/11127.jpg|781271] are less mythological than Lewis' other books, but they are his widest read fantasy and I think it would have been interesting to bring them into the conversation. L'Engle also, I think, deserved more discussion of her various works. Especially since, like Tolkien and Lewis, she wrote quite a bit of non-fiction discussing myth and art and faith so she had a great perspective on her own work.