Sunday, July 12, 2015

Iron John - Robert Bly; book review

Today I'll be looking into a book written by Robert Bly entitled Iron John: A book about Men (1990).

According to the Wikipedia page; he is part of the Mythopoetic men's movement. Other authors also part of this movement include: James Hillman, Michael J. Meade, Sam Keena. All of which I've explored  some long time ago. For some reason have been forgotten by what is now called the Manosphere. These are lost gems which have simply been left behind.

Returning to Robert Bly; by many men inside these circles Robert Bly has made the greatest achievements through his books and workshops with men. A lot of these initial circles of men attempted to recreate initiation rites by going into the forest and performing tribal activities together. This included drumming, dancing around the fire, shouting, walking in the mud, etc... Remember, these were men only clubs. These clubs still exist and you can probably find one near where you are located.

These early authors also were dealing with the idea that modern Western Man was entrapped in their routine and a materialistic lifestyle. These men felt lifeless and so a lot of the energy was placed into finding this “Wild Man” inside each one of us. The civilized man and the wild man. It was a quest for these parts of ourselves which we have slowly lost over time by living in the city amongst a vast amount of people. And with an increasing amount of regulations upon male behaviour, certain men felt that the male existence needed an outlet...

Iron John is about a boy transitioning into a adulthood. The short story is rich in metaphores and vivid imagery. This is a book which also treasures and values male emotions. One cannot read it without gaining something out of it.

Bare with me if I make mistakes recalling the story, it's been a long time!
The boy encounters a wild man in the forest which fascinates him. He then discovers that the wild man lives under a lake and that to be freed, the boy would need to bring certain aspects of himself and drop them inside the lake. By doing so, the boy would eventually be able to gain the power which the wild man has.
I apologize for not giving enough justice towards the story itself in my review

This story is based on a culmination of myths, mostly from the Grimms fairy tales; hence it is very rich content and can be explored from many angles. It is the story of man rediscovering the parts of himself which he has left unattended. It is the boy integrating his mature self; and the adult man reintegrating his childlike self.

A lot of these books produced in that era were addressing the overtly feminine side that men were starting to connect with. The men of this era found that there was something wrong; but they could not exactly point their figure at it. They were explaining that it was good for men to regain access to their emotions; though there was much left that needed to be worked out. They recognized that man should live with his emotions, but not in the way that they were being instructed at that period. We also have to understand that in the early 90s, a man overtly expressing any form of emotions was more quickly bashed on then in comparison with today. These guys are talking about the Blue Pill men; though they were very much in part Blue Pill men themselves.

This is groundwork; this is part of the foundational work which has brought us the understanding which we now have today. I am certain that all the leading heads of the “Manosphere” have come to their current prominence by having read these earlier books.

Tribute needs to be given to these men.
Their place in the "History of the Manosphere" needs be more aptly recognized.

More log is thrown into the fire!

Peace

Iron John @Amazon
Robert Bly @Wikipedia
Written by ForgeHammerAnvil, published by diss identity

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