ABORIGINAL MYTHS

by Alexander Wyclif Reed

1988 Reed mass market paperback, reprint. Australian import, A. W. Reed (A Dictionary of Maori Place Names). A collection of myths and legends from the Aboriginal people of Australia.

Genres: Mythology, Folklore, History, Religion

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Alexander Wyclif Reed (1908 – 1979), also known as Clif Reed and A. W. Reed, was a prolific New Zealand publisher and author.

As an author he was known most commonly as A.W. Reed.
Reed wrote many books on topics such as myths, language, and place names of both Māori and Australian Aboriginal cultures.

With his uncle Alfred, he established the publishing firm A. H. & A. W. Reed.

Reviews

[Marc Livingstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic little book on Aboriginal mythology, detailing the creation of everything, stories of the gods, ancestors and totems. some of the stories give a great insight into Aboriginal religion and culture such as the origins of animals and stories that explain why things are what they are like. The author also gives some additional information about the culture and practices of certain tribes. A enjoyable read!

[Jacinta179 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this paperback in a box while I was decluttering. From the address stamp I can see that I must have bought it in the late 1980s, secondhand as is my preference. It is a curious little book, saying more about the taste and understanding of the author and readership in the 1980s perhaps than about indigenous peoples of Australia. I don't think such a book could be published now as it lacks cultural context and might be considered an appropriation rather than an honouring of Aboriginal myths,
nevertheless once I started reading, I read it within two days. Always enjoying the simplicity of myth I was very engaged by stories of creation, relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, and adjoining cultural groups. The myth of the envious bush turkey bringing destructive bush fires to the land still serves as a contemporary allegory to so many political debates about land care.
I was intending to give one star as the writing style and and use of indigenous myth does not stand the test of time but as I was drawn into the stories I have opted for two stars.
Where to now with you little book? I think off to the local street library.

Update: a friend saw this and asked if they could have it--so definitely a book that desired to be out in the world.

[Maya · Rating 1 out of 5]

It can't decide if it wants to be about Aboriginal myths and the culture they come from, or if it wants to retell the myths, and ends up doing both rather poorly. It seems like we are getting summaries of myths rather than the myths themselves and while we get a few nice bits of context, it not nearly enough nor particularly insightful to make the book a valuable contribution for that reason.
But then, considering an attempt early on the book to coerce Aboriginal myths to fit a Christian narrative, seemingly suggesting that 'they were on the right track', there may well be a fundamental lack of respect for and understanding of the subject matter on the authors part.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, it's okay. It's a cis, straight white bloke writing like an enthused anthropologist rather than a storyteller or a purely historical work. The most irritating thing was plugging other books in the series, especially to say a story is repeated in those books. It feels like the expectation is you either already know the stories or aren't really meant to care to want to fully understand the detail or the background. Overall inoffensive but not anything I particularly engaged with.

[Luana Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stopped reading by the middle. The myths are very well described, but they lack the involving quality of short stories... Maybe another author could make them more intriguing.

[Kathryn Mellor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy enough to read but I expected more. I don't think I came away understanding aboriginal myths or culture very well

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent little book of Aboriginal Myths.
A larger book of Myths and Legends (and the author alludes to other works) may have given a more complete picture. And it lacks an index.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a good selection of myths here, but the lack of organisation or context and no index is a pain

[Seath]

it wasn't written very well