The Mumpsimus Blog

Myth, storytelling and modern writing

25 July 2011

Posted by Ian Chadwick in What I'm reading now, art, culture and reviews, Book & film reviews, Personal reminisence, Language use and abuse, Social values

Back in 1949, Joseph Campbell, a follower of Carl Jung, wrote a book called The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It traced the story of the 'hero's journey' through the world's mythology, showing how every major tale, regardless of culture, shared common elements and archetypes. It detailled 17 quintessential steps along the mythic...

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Tags: literature, novel, writing, mythology 1 Comments

The clattering keys grow silent as the curtain falls

27 April 2011

Posted by Ian Chadwick in technology, Personal reminisence

The typewriter is dead. That news didn't surprise me, but it certainly saddened me.

The clatter of typewriter keys was sweet music to my ears, when I was much younger. I remember banging out stories and poems on my grandfather's ancient Underwood, watching the mechanical arms rise and fall, the letters not quite aligned on the paper. That...

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