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Aug 14, 2011

Laura rated it:

When I worked at Ballantine Books in the early to mid-1990s, this was by far the most successful book the house had ever published (it probably still is). I couldn't get over it -- this piece of shit was a runaway best-seller? Overblown, overwritten, self-important, pseudo-intellectual -- what the hell was to like? And to top it off, the author acted like a complete asshole, with personality traits that matched her book to a T. Her visits to the office were ludicrous; she used to prance around, More...

15 comments like (20 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2011

Lamski Kikita rated it:

Let me just start with saying that there are two kinds of people who would NOT like this book: 1- chauvanistic men/pigs(hehe), and 2- women who are uptight with their religious and social beliefs (and the stepford housewives type).

This book is for all women, who struggled through life because of the pressures and pre-tailored expectations of their families, socieities, religious leaders, husbands, children, etc, and finally saw the light of the moon and could not fight the urge to ho More...

1 comment like (20 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

kate rated it:

I have read this book a few times. I pick it up from time to time to look over a chapter of this or that - it affected the way I think about other fables and even the movies. I am half convinced that the end of the Wedding Crashers is really about two healthy psyches driving away together into the future, married to themselves. I was rereading this book about the same time I saw that movie.

Any woman who is interested in empowering herself will be inspired. It is a jungian read More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2008

Lilith rated it:

This book saved my life. I was seriously struggling with an enormous amount of class-related stress, centered around a completely unsuspected attack on my creative potential. After a few months of being shredded mentally and creatively by the people I'd expected to lean on for support and physically by the demands of moving to a new country, I was at a horrible place, alternating between periods of blind rage and near suicidal depression, and for the first time in my life I was watching my abili More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

m. rated it:

I learned a lot from this book. The big ideas for me were:

1. "even if the mother vine is damaged, it doesn't mean her children are"

and

2. "it will never hurt you to go after something you want or something that is calling to you"

The books is sort of a slow-read, but I find the author generous and familiar and enjoyed the way she reconstructed women's psychology through myth.

It's good to have new (complete?) stories

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Saadiah rated it:

Juicy and satisfying, this book is for any woman who feels an urge to connect with wild and ancient concepts of what it means to be female: messy, raw, and full of luminously passionate creative energy. If this book doesn't make you want to howl out loud, I'm not sure what will!

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2008

Adrienne rated it:

Poetry! I so enjoy Estes's use of language and imagery and the various interpretations of stories and the universal and profound themes hidden underneath the layers of seemingly simple stories. I think this book is very important for women to read, especially for women who must protect and guide their daughters. My favorite story is Sealskin, Soulskin about a young seal/woman who loses her self in someone else's dream and finally finds the courage to pursue her dream and enrich her life.

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Mounia added it

Very Interesting book, have to say I had to put it down many times just because it need some deep thinking following some passages.
It linkes old cultures to the modern pshyche of women.
Incredible..I definitely recommend it!!

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2012

Rania rated it:

نساء يركضن مع الذئاب ...
يُجسد هذا الكتاب فكرة سعي المرأة للتصالح مع ذاتها الوحشية، الذات الوحشية هي الكائن الحي الذي يعيش فينا، يدفعنا للتقدم و هي الروح الحارسة التي تعتني بنا، هي ما يدفعنا للقيام بالمغامرات و التحديات للقيان بالإنجازات لتي نريدها.
الذات الشافية التي تقف بجانبنا لتخلق ولادة الحياة من جديد بعد أن يحل فينا الموت " موت مرحلة ما"(دورة الحياة/الموت /الحياة، بعد كل تجربة قاسية نمر بها هناك ولادة لحياة جديدة). كلارسيا بنكولا تتخذ رواية القصة كدواء و علاج للجروح و الن More...

9 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Julie rated it:

My neighbor is in a "Women Who Run With the Wolves" book group, and has been highly inspired by it. I didn't think I was too interested, but he let me borrow the companion audio recording, and I did enjoy it, mostly because of Estes's intensely pleasing voice and style of speaking and storytelling. Honestly, I'd love to hire her to talk to me all the time; I've never heard anyone more gifted in the art. Her soothing voice would have been a perfect casting for Meggie's voice in Inkhe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 03, 2008

Eva rated it:

As a person who has always loved fairy tales, I read this book very slowly and carefully, enjoying every page. The author's explanations, which incorporate Jungian psychology and principles of women's intuition, enriched and deepened my appreciation for the ancient feminine and the lost art of teaching through fable, myth, and allegory.

Dr. Estes is a very effusive person, which comes across in her writing and can be at times overwhelming. She is quite incapable of using fewer than More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Angelia rated it:

I loved this, perhaps because I found it at the right time.

This book is not for everyone. I doubt it would have appealed to me had I read it at a time when I didn't see its usefulness in my own life. Those who are not creative, or who already engage in regular creative pursuits, likely will not find the book useful. Those who struggle to fit creative pursuits into their lives, either because they are over-extended already or find their creative efforts stifled or mocked, might find the More...

0 comments like

Dec 23, 2011

melissa/missy rated it:

Jungian psychoanalytic theory applied to folktales and fairy tales from around the world. Yes? Yes.

I want to carry copies of this book around and hand them out, proselytorily, to everyone woman I encounter who feels confined, constrained, and soul-sick. This book has helped me to reconnect with my intuition, reevaluate what it means for me to live authentically, and reimagine what my life can look like when I live it wildly and freely. It really has been a gift to me.

More...

4 comments like

Mar 23, 2010

Chelsey rated it:

Another reviewer summed it up: this book's cover was misleading! I know that authors often have nothing to do with how their books are advertised, and perhaps I should have read the introduction before I bought it or something, but it *still* isn't fair that I wasted my money on a book chock-full of Jungian psychoanalysis when what is advertised and what I expected was a book about the literary and mythological archetype of the wild woman. What's worse, the book isn't so much about Jungian psych More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2009

Phoebe rated it:

Here's the deal on this book.

1) It is all too easy to make fun or roll one's eyes or be actually pretty nasty about it, because it's obviously got a ridiculously embarassing title. I personally got the book as a cheerful joke from my dad one Christmas, and I thought to myself, "gag me!"

2) But: Once I read it, I realized how smart this book is. (Eg, I learned the ever-useful term piloerection here.) What this book is is a master-key to the pictorial language More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2011

Barbara rated it:

This is one of those books I hope I'll read again, maybe in five years or so. The reason is that I'm sure I would have gotten something different from it at 20 than I did at 25, at 50 than I did at 55. If it had been published then and I'd first read it at 20, I can see how it would have been helpful to make it a ritual every few years of my adult life. Every woman has lived at least one of these stories. (Some of them men will have lived as well.) These are the stories that our life paths tunne More...

0 comments like

Apr 09, 2011

Jaine rated it:

Should be required reading for women of all ages. Apparently, for a little bit, the book was some kind of cult classic that was being passed around from woman to woman. Eh. It's still a book that women like to give to their friends.

I like storytelling, myths, legends. Blah blah. I don't know if it's possible to read this book and not see yourself. It's long. One of my friends told me she read it at night before bed for about a year until she finished it.

Well worth the re

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2010

Kathy rated it:

I bought this book years ago at a garage sale and never could get into it. Until one day I was walking past and had the urge to flip through it. I ended up reading the whole thing. I do agree with both sides of the love/hate reviews as it is hard to read and the author does seem to be a bit over the top but I read it at a time in my life that I really needed a bit of a pep talk. You really need to be mentally ready for this book.

I think this book is for people going through some iss More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2009

Alex rated it:

When I picked up this book, I was expecting alot more story and alot less babbling.

I was disappointed with the amount of analysis, especially since it was heavily psycho-analysis. I suppose if you went into this book wanting spiritual guidance or to revive your woman strength and feminist power, then it would be a great read.

Having taken my share of english literature courses, I didn't want to read more analysis of what it meant when this female character lusted after re More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 18, 2011

Wendy rated it:

Extreme power is uncovered in this book. Estes reminds us that we have fathoms to explore in the depths of our own psyches, and to be wild and fierce goes hand in hand with being gentle and protecting. We each have a right and responsibility to wake up and delve into the deep, singing up the bones of our basest needs and desires. Everyone you surround yourself with, including your own inner voices, should be expected to lift us and fulfill us, remaining true to the wild woman who watches over al More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

The Bee rated it:

Women who run with the wolves is a book about stories and how stories change your life. I think it is mainly written with women in their mind but I think it is good for men to have a look in it as well.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a post-trauma-specialist and poet who uses her Hungarian and South-American heritage of stories to show valuable life-lessons. Some might think oh it is only fairy-stories they are for children. But actually fairy-stories used to be told by older people to younger on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2010

Mary rated it:

Every feminist/spiritual/literature/writing related teacher I've ever had has told me I should read this book, so I finally did. Frankly, it was annoying. The ideas are wonderful, but the writing is obnoxious. I didn't know what the phrase "purple prose" really meant until I read this book. She also refers to the "Rio abajo rio" frequently, and EVERY SINGLE TIME, she writes: "The rio abajo rio, the river below the rive ..." It's just not necessary. After reading 200 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 25, 2011

Jean rated it:

Excellent, should be required reading. An eloquent writer and an amazing woman with great insights. She is one of my favorite authors and I listen audio versions of her books. I took great pleasure in reading all of her books so far. Her stories, her observations and their resulting lessons are so profound, so insightful and they have inspired me and helped me greatly to learn about life and I learned how to share stories that hear through a program I attended but this book and her others really More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2010

NotSoLittleWitch rated it:

For about 9 years different people where telling me that i 'have to' read it. So, of course, i did the opposite and i was avoiding it as much as possible. I know from experience that books that others think i will love, i truly despise (i wonder why: is it my too high expectations or people think i am not an ambitious reader and recommend 'easy' things?).
But finally the book was there, just next to my bed and i've decided to give it a chance. And i am lost a bit in my own thoughts. I don' More...

0 comments like

Dec 31, 2008

Meghan rated it:

What I learned from this book...can't be summed up in a review. Pinkola-Estes takes a fascinating look at fairy tales from different cultures, and examines how these tales teach us lessons about the human subconscious. Her primary audience is women, however I think that men will stand to benefit from her wisdom, as many of the negative voices in women's subconscious are also present in men's. This book helped me see myself more clearly, and also to clean out the dusty, rarely opened closet of my More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2007

Virginia rated it:

I think everybody should read this one at least once.

The only problem with it that I really have is the same problem that I have with, er... the movie Se7en.

It's great, except that it's become such a part of our cultural language that reading it years after it's release, it's become cliched.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2011

Natasha rated it:

Sometimes a story is just a story. That is what keeping running through my head as I was reading this book. I chose to read this book for a book challenge on Goodreads. It fit my criteria for a book shelved as feminism, history, and mythology. I suppose I should have paid better attention the summary which stated "Within every woman there is an inner force filled with passion and creativity. Estes teaches women how to access this vital part and free their wild natures."

I h More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Aitziber rated it:

Un libro lento, largo, pesado y pedante. La autora ha descubierto la penicilina de la realidad humana. Y ojo, digo humana que no femenina porque trata temas globales para la humanidad como si fueran exclusivos de las mujeres, lo cual de por si ya es un error. Supongo que tiene que ver con que sea tan dificil encuadrar lo "femenino" dentro de las sociedades occidentales.

No sé como está la situación animico-espiritual y psicológica del resto de las mujeres de este mundo, pero tengo que a More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Mari rated it:

I came across this book in a used bookstore in Arizona and have since bought copies for other women because I find it so inspiring. Dr. Estes introduces us to myths and legends of and about women and explores the psychology behind them. Estes is a Jungian analyst and believes that within all women there is a wild woman who has become domesticated. Through the use of folklore she delves into the psyche of women. One of my favorites was the story of Bluebeard who forbids his wife to enter a roo More...

1 comment like

Jan 26, 2012

Sarah is currently reading it

I am really loving this book, it covers so much of what I already believed in/felt (and I'm not even finished but wanted to write something even if it be incoherent) such as listening to your intuition, instincts, the life/death/life cycle knowing something good can and will arise from something bad, but reading it in such a way with folk stories followed by analyses, embellish the ideas and make them more solid in my mind and unwavering, knowing others believe the same helps and allows these be More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)