Well worth reading, the only thing I didn’t like was tripping over too many references to mid-20th-century popular novels that I probably won’t ever read. However, the authors also analyze many of the nineteenth-century novels that interest me.

The theory of the myth and hero archetypes are rather dated as well. But the authors provide many interesting insights into the novels they touch on, and the general premise of the book is very well supported by their analyses. ( )