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 Iron John is the man all men need to become. He is accepted and nurtured by men. Iron John has wronged the Wild Man and grown from the experience. Iron John is accepted and loved by women. He is allowed by his mother to escape the cyclic shame of motherly upbringing. He is announced to women as an independent based in strength who honors women's role in his life. Iron John is satisfied with himself and treats both men and women with respect because he no longer experiences the fear of inadequacy. Just as the boy tranforms to man by being wounded by older men, mother protector transforms into mother supporter and releases her son to the world. Iron John offers much to both men and women. Bly uses the mythological symbol of the Wild Man to place his readers in a receptive state to his words. Symbolism plays a role in this book such that face value reading will only reveal a muddled stream of poerty and analysis. By seeing and accepting the symbols of the mythology one can understand the deeper meaning of Bly's Iron John - Man's journey is never over because once you become a man then you are obligated to help others to proceed from boy to man. Unfortunately, I got what I needed out of Iron John in the first two chapters. The book struck me as the academics response to get into print: Take a well thoughout thesis and expand it so that no one wants to read all of it. This way the seminar paper can make money as a book. Rating: 8.
First, that I'm either woefully undereducated, or my taste in literature is too plain. It's the same feeling I get when I see a work of art or eat a gourmet meal that critics rave about, yet my stomach rejects. Perhaps I'm just too ill-refined for such lofty prose. Second, all conservatives are evil. As a conservative myself, I welcome other points of view, and no doubt Bly has considered his political leanings carefully. But it's odd how he interrupts what would otherwise be a lucid discourse with an out-of-context blurb about Reagan and other Republicans being untrustworthy. His thesis doesn't require it, so why bother (and I can't help but wonder how he would portray Clinton had he written this today)? Yet, Bly does make some important points. The industrial revolution and the information age that ensued have impacted our culture in profound ways. Gender roles and relationships have changed and evolved, and this book offers some interesting insights that are definately worth reading (if you can avoid tossing it in a dumpster long enough to find them).
Everytime I read it, I am bewitched by its strong images, its powerful, hypnotic rhythm and the beautiful horizon that lies ahead. The book is not very long, but it takes me several weeks to get through it. But that is because as soon as I find myself reading to 'get it over with', I close the book (and my eyes) and put it aside for a while. This "man's stuff" is hard work and you should take your time for it. Take a bath in the book and come out completely refreshed. As I come to think of it, Bly's occasional haziness probably is what makes this book so truly hypnotizing. And if you want to break the spell and get a 'how to' sequel to this book, you can always pick up the beautiful 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover' by Moore and Gilette. They will put your feet on the ground again - at least until the next time you pick up 'Iron John', that is. And thus, for contributing this book to a field where valid generalizations are hard to make and, consequently, "facts about men" that every man could agree on are rare, and for writing it even though every sentence could cause all-out war between the sexes (or between Christians, schoolteachers, the Society for the Promotion of Harmless Books and the Military, for that matter), this book -and its author- really deserve each of the five stars.
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In reading this book, I learned some things worth sharing.
We find ourselves in an age where languange has shrunk to the diminutive state of literalism. No longer in touch with the metaphorical or the symbolic, stories that have been with us since our youth; faily tales, myths and so on, are carried forward into adulthood, as simple folk morality, built on odd and silly images such as Giants, Witches and Dwarfs. This book will for many, penetrate the dense veneer of our conscious, science-bound view of life to show how, quietly and secretly, hidden within language and nature is another world, and how such images symbolize it.
But this is a dangerous book. Reading it canl seriously alter your world, stir something you weren't aware was even in you, and quite possibly leave you troubled for some time to come. Yet it is an essential reading for anyone asking of life, "Is this all there is?"
