Twilight, Dead Until Dark, Enthralled

Three more reviews. Two negative, one neutral.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (1 out of 5 stars, did not finish)*

Um... No. Not my kind of thing. I can see the appeal of the invisible girl winning over the hunk-who-doesn't-date, but the writing style is poor and some of the relationship elements are rather disturbing. I tried to read it and could not finish it, so I passed it on.  Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (0 out of 5 stars, did not finish)* Another no. I didn't like the writing style at all, and when this happens I can't get into the book. The narrative was juvenile and the heroes two-dimentional. I gave it a perfunctory read and passed it on to someone else. Enthralled by Kayci Morgan (2 out of 5 stars)* Pros: very easy to read. In its own way quite sweet. Cons: Too short, therefore everything happening too easy and fast. Relies on well known 'recipes' of the vampire genre instead of actual development. Good, clear writing for a free ebook. The writer shows promise. I would like to read something longer by her. *My star rating and what it means:    Zero stars: Why me?!?  I do come across books that aren't really books, but brain damage in disguise. For reasons you can all understand, I won't be publishing reviews on them. I tend to become enraged and say things I later on regret. One star: Meh... I didn't like it and won't be keeping it. It might be the book, or it might be me. I'll try to clarify in my review. Two stars: Average/ Okay. Either the kind of light/ undemanding book you read and don't remember in a month, or suffering from flaws that prevented it from realising its potential. Three stars: Better than average. Good moments, memorable characters and/ or plot, maybe good sense of humour... Not to die for, but not feeling like you wasted your time and money either. Four stars: Wow, that was good! Definitely keeping it and checking to see what else I can buy from the same writer. Five stars: Oh. My. Goodness. The kind of book you buy as a gift to all your friends, praise to random strangers on the bus, and re-read until the pages fall out and the corners are no longer corners, but round.

Joseph Campbell

A hundred times yes. Amazing scholar, amazing book. Read it if you like mythology explained and integrated in everyday, modern life. He knew what he was talking about.

"The modern hero, the modern individual who dares to heed the call and seek the mansion of that presence with whom it is our whole destiny to be atoned, cannot, indeed, must not, wait for his community to cast off its slough of pride, fear, rationalized avarice, and sanctified misunderstanding. 'Live,' Nietzsche said, 'as though the day were here.' It is not society that is to guide and save the creative hero, but precisely the reverse. And so every one of us shares the supreme ordeal––carries the cross of the redeemer––not in the bright moments of his tribe's great victories, but in the silences of his personal despair."

The concluding paragraph of Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces"