Hero's Journey

It's tough to come up with an idea when you don't really do anything.

I took a trip to the book store yesterday after the last post. I haven't been there in a while, and I just like book stores. I even used to work in one. Now, I mean I worked in an actual book store that sold James Patterson and Harry Potter books. I currently work in a comic book store that sells comic books of Batman, Spider-Man and various other characters. The book store I used to work in was a Waldenbooks, which was the mall equivalent of a Borders (Waldenbooks eventually switched its' name to Borders Express). It was in the mall I work in now, and for a time I worked at both Waldenbooks and the comic book store. There is no book store in the mall now, which is annoying when people ask me where it is since it hasn't been there since last spring.

Still, the book store I went to is a Barnes & Noble. I only went with the intention of using up a $25 gift card I found in my bedroom. I have all sorts of crazy shit in my bedroom (and not even that kind of stuff you sick person). Still, my only actual pre-thought purchase was a video game magazine. That would only be $10, so I needed to find something that was at least $15. I have a nagging urge to use a gift card in one fell swoop, so that I don't have to worry about it again. A gift card with change left over on it is ridiculous.

My friend was recently in a mural arts book, so I went looking for that. With my mind being a sieve for that sort of information, I forgot the actual title. Chances are the chain book stores wouldn't carry something like that without a special order for it. The search got me to look in the arts section. Nothing really stood out for me, even in the how to draw section. It was then a trip to Science Fiction/Fantasy.

Looking in the SciFi/Fantasy section is a bit odd for me. Yes, I will go there every time I am in a book store. I may even buy something on occasion. I just don't remember the last time I actually read a book I bought from there. I have made attempts, mind you. I just don't really read them that often. I buy things with the full intentions of reading them, I just can't focus on actually completing it. The last 2 books I bought from that section were anthologies of critically acclaimed writers, Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock. Howard created Conan the Barbarian and Moorcock created Elric of Melniboné. They both created many other characters, but they are probably their most famous ones. Still, I haven't even finished the first store in the Howard anthology.

Perusing the new release section,. I noticed a WildCards novel. This is a series I would love to read, only it isn't in print. With a line of books about 14 titles long, you would thing they would keep the original selection of books in print, but nope. Someone hates that I want to actually read something. I didn't buy the new ones because I couldn't find any other WildCards books expect for the new one.

Other than the bargain section, the only other section I always check out is Mythology. Set right above poetry, it is only 2 shelves big. I always look there because I really want a Norse mythology book, but all that is ever there is Greek/Roman mythology books. There is the occasional Japanese or Celtic myths as well, but never any strictly Norse. Instead what I found there was Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey.

I haven't started reading it yet, but it is a series of conversations Campbell had with many different people throughout his career. Campbell is considered one of the premier experts on Mythology. I even found his book Hero with a Thousand Faces on my friends bookshelf later that night, which seemed like a sign. A simplified version of Campbell's theory is that there is one main pattern that surrounds the hero myth throughout every culture. He just seems like a guy I should be reading.

It's was a $30 book, and it looks like a textbook for school. I think it will be worth it though.