Product Description

Breathtaking in its scope and originality, "Seven Basic Plots" examines the basis of story telling in literature, film, and libretto. No one will ever see stories in the same way again. This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years. This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4555 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 736 pages

Review
An enormous piece of work, not really one book at all but at least three... nothing less than the story of all stories. --Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye

This is a truly important book, an accolade often bestowed and rarely deserved in our modern age. --Dame Beryl Bainbridge

This is literally an incomparable book, because there is nothing to compare it with. It goes to the heart of man's cultural evolution through the stories we have told since storytelling began. It illuminates our nature, our beliefs and our collective emotions by shining a bright light on them from a completely new angle. Original, profound, fascinating - and on top of it all, a really good read. --Sir Antony Jay, co-author of Yes, Minister

From the Publisher
Breathtaking in its scope and originality, Seven Basic Plots examines the basis of story- telling in literature, film, and libretto. No one will ever read a novel in the same way again.
Comparable to Harold Bloom's masterpiece The Canon.
The fruit of a lifetime's research and fifteen years in the writing.
Christopher Booker is an author with a high profile with a weekly column in The Sunday Telegraph. This is his most important book to date.
Review coverage and fierce argument and debate about this book are guaranteed.

About the Author
Christopher Booker was one of the founders of Private Eye. He writes a weekly column for The Sunday Telegraph. He has published many books including The Neophiliacs, Castle of Lies and The Great Deception. He still writes for Private Eye.

Customer Reviews

The starting pistol for an incredible new cultural debate
Why do we rent movies, buy books, visit the cinema, get hooked on Friends, Coronation Street, the West Wing or whatever? What motivated early man to paint narrative on the walls of his cave? Why do we tell, and indeed, love to expose ourselves to stories? It is these fundamental questions that Christopher Booker grapples with in his audacious new work.
This is essential book. Though there may be some that do not agree with Booker's conclusions, they cannot help but be impressed by the scale and rigour of his work.
From the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, to the Lascaux cave paintings in the Dordogne, Booker tirelessly explores how our insatiable hunger to communicate through story has shaped our politics, morality and art. And incredibly, the awesome scale of Booker's task is heavily disguised for the reader by the poise, wit and lightness of his experienced hand. This book is unique, I found ideas fizzing on every page, each piece in Booker's intricate jigsaw sparking and connecting with my own thoughts.
And the author neither preaches nor condescends - that is not Booker's style. Instead, he explains why the seemingly limitless language of human emotion is bound by the most fundamental and eternal of values.
And they say they new Nigella is an essential read...

A Seminal Masterpiece
I have literally just finished reading this book, having slaved with great enjoyment over each page for the last 7 days.

I won't attempt to sum up such a magnum opus but instead, here are some of my personal observations of the book - what made it special for me;

1. It is an easy read -- always interesting and well constructed, refreshing and thought provoking.

2. It is standalone -- by which I mean you are not expected to be familiar with the great works of literature or jungian psychology; in some ways this book is the ultimate "bluffers guide" to all of literature -- each work is surmised and explained in enough detail to justify an argument or assertion.

3. It is visionary -- this book paints the biggest of the big pictures; what emerges spans all of the arts and humanities bringing a truly visionary perspective that is at time challenging and always thought provoking; what stories reveal about who we are? why are we like we are?

4. It is inspirational -- how many readers will close the book desperate to unleash that "novel within them" given the secrets to developing plots that "hit the mark" (smile).

After reading it I can fully understand why it has taken 35 years to produce, having spent 7 days reading it I feel I have cheated the author. I'm sure I'll be back to it again as some of the subtleties reveal themselves, and to challenge the arguments themselves with the armoury he provides.

On the negative side, I found it meandered a little here and there and felt a little repetetive at times, but this is to be expected when you write, on average one chapter a year!!!! Some of the typos are surprising and it must contain some of the longest footnotes in all of publishing!

Best non-fiction book I have ever read.

The seven basic plots
This is a superb book judged by any standard and from any angle. I'd give it 6 stars if it were allowed.

It's extensively researched, annotated, and beautifully written. Not repetitive at all as some reviewers claim. Just for the sheer volume of encyclopedic reference material you should buy it.

Previous reviewers have commented negatively about Booker's presupposition of morals/ethics in terms of developing a good story. I heartily applaud Booker for this and additionally his point that the inner transformation of characters is what gives them and the story depth and meaning.

Resolving inner conflicts through a journey of dicovery/quest is why we read/listen to/watch stories/movies, etc. in the first place. Nowadays we have become so used to and enthralled by two dimensional pasteboard characters in modern novels/movies that we resent anyone who suggest that good stories need morals, depth and inner transformation of the characters as well as an external plot. Stories are not just for entertainment but good stories feeds the soul, just as pop music is entertainment and cathartic but classical music can be religious experiences.

Other reviewers have complained about the Jungian approach in analysing the development of characters. I personally think this is the best point of this book. I particularly agree with Booker's point that authors subconsciously projects their personal shadows onto his characters and one can nearly always discern the author's personal morals by the stories he writes. After all, creativity is but an exercise in self-discovery.

This book should be listed under Jungian psychology as well. Although the author has not so stated, I bet he's personally gone through analysis in the 30+ years that took him to write this book, because he shows an indepth knowledge of the Jungian approach far beyond what one might expect of someone who has just read up on it.

Booker has surpassed Joseph Campbell, and in fact has gone beyond where Campbell left off. So another star should be awarded and Booker deserves a medal just for his Herculean efforts. For his effectiveness he should be cannonised whilst alive.

Buy this book and read it!