Transformation: Understanding the Three Levels of Masculine Consciousness

Examines the stages in the lives of men through a discussion of Don Quixote, Hamlet, and Faust

On the heels of Robert Bly's best-selling Iron John ( LJ 11/15/90), comes this slim volume which offers quite a different assessment of maleness and its self-completion. Johnson, author of Inner Work ( LJ 7/86) and We ( LJ 2/1/84), uses three literary archetypes: Don Quixote (simple, two-dimensional man); Hamlet (complex, four-dimensional man); and Faust (complete, four-dimensional man). As a result of modern education and urbanization, Johnson posits, Western man is no longer simple; yet he lacks self-determination and therefore is trapped. The insights found here seem applicable to universal self-fulfillment and provocation (e.g., what significance does Faust's victory over the devil hold for men in these AIDS-ridden, economically troubled times?). Also, where Bly's book demands action, Johnson's is purely cerebral and more interesting to readers familiar with classic literature.
- David Nudo, New York
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.