The Modern Myths

Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination

By: Philip Ball

Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan

Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time—fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them—and still living them—today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called "modern myths." But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did. Through the medium of narratives that all of us know in their basic outline and which have no clear moral or resolution, these modern myths explore some of our deepest fears, dreams, and anxieties. We keep returning to these tales, reinventing them endlessly for new uses. But what are they really about, and why do we need them? What myths are still taking shape today? And what makes a story become a modern myth?

In The Modern Myths, Ball takes us on a wide-ranging tour of our collective imagination, asking what some of its most popular stories reveal about the nature of being human in the modern age.

©2021 Philip Ball (P)2022 Tantor

Surprising and superb

A surprising departure from Ball’s usual brilliant science reporting, and an insightful, thought-provoking listen from start to finish. He understands the value of great writing in a way many English professors, working from checklists, their taste permanently dulled by asinine notions of “the canon” - as if literature is a competition to see who meets a random petty professor’s preconceptions best - are incapable of doing.

An incomplete history of comic books

I came to this book because of how much I liked Philip Ball's" Beyond Weird" but was disappointed in this book's thin premise and its failure to come to grips with the purpose, function and effects of the myths themselves. Unimaginably, the book does not even mention Joseph Cambell's thought or work which thoroughly analyzed the meaning and function of societal myths and their underpinnings. Ball simply describe comic book characters and their evolution. And even then he really only covers DC Comics in depth. The much richer and deeper myth universe of the Marvel comics universe is barely touched upon. I kept waiting for the book to discuss the meaning of myths and their place in society with some effort to address Campbell's ideas. There was none. George Lucas the creator of Star Wars has often acknowledged his debt to Campbell as do many Holiwood screenwriters. Campbell pointed out the archetypal nature of myths and how they reflect the reality of basic human concerns, reinforce social cohesion and cooperation and create or reflect ideals. Religious myths of course have the same function, with the god myth serving to enforce behavioral and moral standards of behavior. Ball addresses none of these issues and doesn't seem to even know whoJoseph Campbell is. Consequently, Ball's book lacks intellectual substance and is reduced to a mere history of DC comic book characters. combined with interminable discussions of Frankenstein, Dracula, Robinson Crusoe stories which are not brought together with any unifying thread or idea but become mere recitations of the story and the authors' personal history and problems. The book is better at giving the details of Mary Shelley, Daniel Defoe and Bram Stoker's biographies than it is at explicating the significance of the myths they created. In short there is little thoughtful discussion and too much trivial comic book history in this book.