What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sound of a Silver Horn: Reclaiming the Heroism in Contemporary Women's Lives
"Compelling, insightful, and inspirational....This book has an uplifting we can contain greater inner strength and support than we realize."
LINDA SILVERMAN, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR, THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER and
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT, DENVER
Now for the first time, a psychologist unearths the female face of heroism and What is the female hero's journey? How do women undertake the twin quests of healing and empowerment? And how can heroic women help reshape our chaotic world? Dr. Kathleen Noble charts the contemporary women's hero-path through the poignant, dynamic stories of women she has studied over the past ten years. From their rich histories she has fashioned a new framework for understanding life's events, and shows women how to devise new archetypes of heroism out of their own experiences.
LINDA SILVERMAN, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR, THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER and
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT, DENVER
Now for the first time, a psychologist unearths the female face of heroism and What is the female hero's journey? How do women undertake the twin quests of healing and empowerment? And how can heroic women help reshape our chaotic world? Dr. Kathleen Noble charts the contemporary women's hero-path through the poignant, dynamic stories of women she has studied over the past ten years. From their rich histories she has fashioned a new framework for understanding life's events, and shows women how to devise new archetypes of heroism out of their own experiences.
- GenresFeminism
Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Kathleen Noble
3 booksKathleen Diane Noble, Ph.D., is Research Associate Professor of Women's Studies, and Assistant Director of the Early Entrance Program, University of Washington in Seattle, where she also has a private practice as a psychologist, working with gifted women.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 19, 2010
In popular mythology there are stories and legends aplenty about great heroes who go on quests and, after facing overwhelming odds, return home victorious. These heroes continue their stories throughout the ages, of men who face dragons, fight for what they believe in, and change the times they live in whether for the better or the worse. In The Sound of a Silver Horn a question is posed, why are there no such heroes for women? Why isn’t there a “female hero” to journey alone, to face great odds, to change things? Why, when asked to name such a woman, can we only name a few, and only a very small number of them real?
So much feminist literature is hateful towards the male gender or harps about what keeps women from being fully human, fully real, fully heroic. This book is more empowering about what women can do to change themselves, to become a "female hero" in their own lives. It gives examples of modern day, contemporary female heroes dealing with struggles, quests, and transformations in that special way that only women can.
I especially enjoyed the linear fashion the book took, piecing apart the standard arc of a hero's journey and showing how women have done it in their own way and in their own circumstances. It covers how the journey begins, the call to awaken, facing the dragons of initiation, gaining allies, and of course the transformation and victorious return.
The only reason this book lost a star is because there was one section that, had it been closer to the front of the book, might have prevented me from being able to finish it. The section goes into the belief of spirituality, of having visions and dreams that foretell your own future, and of listening to them when making major life decisions. I am not a spiritualist and so found this advice, located towards the end and in one small section, to not gel at all with my world view. In fact, I found it so far fetched that I nearly stopped reading right there, even being so close to the end.
Throughout the rest of the book, the examples of heroism, positive messages, and encouragement on the quest to transform into better women was empowering and thought provoking to read about. I enjoyed the book a lot and would recommend it to women looking for examples of "female heroes" who succeeded where they now tread as a light of hope to help them, and empower them, to complete their own quests, wherever they might lead.
So much feminist literature is hateful towards the male gender or harps about what keeps women from being fully human, fully real, fully heroic. This book is more empowering about what women can do to change themselves, to become a "female hero" in their own lives. It gives examples of modern day, contemporary female heroes dealing with struggles, quests, and transformations in that special way that only women can.
I especially enjoyed the linear fashion the book took, piecing apart the standard arc of a hero's journey and showing how women have done it in their own way and in their own circumstances. It covers how the journey begins, the call to awaken, facing the dragons of initiation, gaining allies, and of course the transformation and victorious return.
The only reason this book lost a star is because there was one section that, had it been closer to the front of the book, might have prevented me from being able to finish it. The section goes into the belief of spirituality, of having visions and dreams that foretell your own future, and of listening to them when making major life decisions. I am not a spiritualist and so found this advice, located towards the end and in one small section, to not gel at all with my world view. In fact, I found it so far fetched that I nearly stopped reading right there, even being so close to the end.
Throughout the rest of the book, the examples of heroism, positive messages, and encouragement on the quest to transform into better women was empowering and thought provoking to read about. I enjoyed the book a lot and would recommend it to women looking for examples of "female heroes" who succeeded where they now tread as a light of hope to help them, and empower them, to complete their own quests, wherever they might lead.
February 22, 2014
This book took be totally by surprise and I couldn't put it down. I was expecting a drab fact filled journey and what I got was a personal, inspiring story of how ordinary women have found the Heroine in themselves. Kathleen Noble did her homework, and woven in with her own deeply personal journey is the courage for all women to truly become the hero in their own life.
January 24, 2016
Useful overview of The Hero's Journey from a feminine perspective.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews