Into the Woods by John Yorke is a book I first found during 504 last year, thanks to Teresa lending me a copy for research into my Shakespeare ‘about the author’ project (thank you!). It focuses on how stories work and why we feel the need to tell them. The basis of my ideas for Shakespeare last year was centred around how at the time, his plays were written for the common folk who couldn’t read or afford education, so went to the theatre for entertainment, much as common people flock to the cinema today. This explains why they are full to bursting with sex and violence, like the blockbusters of today, they were made to connect with the masses. But in the context of modern academia, they are viewed on a heightened pedestal as if they are reserved only for the highly educated, and can't be understood by common people. (I’m not saying Shakespeare isn't genius because it is, but I think it's genius lies in how it can speak to the human soul in everyone who reads it, rather than as some elitist high concept outsider’s assessment of the human race)
Anyway, these ideas started feeling relevant again as I’m looking at cinema and the reasons for which films are made today.
Also, Joseph Campbell is mentioned throughout books on story structure and narrative themes, so I went to the source and started reading The Hero With a Thousand Faces. The main idea is to connect these theories and examples to the current examples I have started looking at, in the superhero movie, star wars franchise etc. I find it really interesting that although Campbell’s writing predates literally all of the examples I’m using, his critiques still apply directly to characters and plots that he never even would have heard of. It’s a good indicator that story is universal, not only cross cultural but without regard to the constraints of time, either.
Neil Gaiman's recent Norse Mythology book has also been helpful in understanding the legacy of a story and how it can last across generations.
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