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The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of Historyby Dan Karlan, Allan Lazar, Jeremy Salter |
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From Santa Claus to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from Uncle Sam to Uncle Tom, here is a compelling, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining compendium of fictional trendsetters and world-shakers who have helped shape our culture and our lives. The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived offers fascinating histories of our most beloved, hated, feared, and revered invented icons and the indelible marks they made on civilization, including:
# 28: Rosie the Riveter, the buff, blue-collar factory worker who helped jump-start the Women's Liberation movement
# 7: Siegfried, the legendary warrior-hero of Teutonic nationalism responsible for propelling Germany into two world wars
# 80: Icarus, the headstrong high-flyer who inspired the Wright brothers and humankind's dreams of defying gravity . . . while demonstrating the pressing need for flight insurance
# 58: Saint Valentine, the hapless, de-canonized loser who lost his heart and head at about the same time
# 43: Barbie, the bodacious plastic babe who became a role model for millions of little girls, setting an impossible standard for beauty and style
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A fun and informative take on its subject(s) -  |
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History Review |
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Though I can and would quibble with who made their list (for example I probably would have been more inclined to include Hannibal Lechter and less inclined to include Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but I can't quibble with their mission.
In history, mythology, literature, theatre, novels and more recently, movies and television, culture's so called mythical characters often have more influence than the real flesh and blood ones. In terms of history, (perhaps stupidly) I was surprised to learn that William Tell was actually a mythical character. According to the authors, his story wasn't even told until some 150 years passed from the time of Swiss independence. And interesting, the Tell story itself had been borrowed from several earlier non Swiss versions (including one from China!). In terms of literature, though I knew Dracula as he was devised was mythological but I didn't realize just how creative Bram Stoker had been inventing him. The idea that he could be conquered by the sign of the cross for example was all Stokers according to the authors. This one of those "fun" books in the tradition of the Ken Davis "Don't Know Much About..." series as well as pretty much anything by historian Rick Shenkman. So if you read and enjoy this book I would heartily recommend anything by those other authors. If you want something a little more searching...like, for example, an exploration of the process by which characters come to be invented and get more and more stories told about them, I would suggest Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer as well as Marvin Harris' Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. In each case, the authors in question try to be a little more searching and methodical about the genesis of myth. But whether you read the other books or not you'll enjoy this one because it talks about some pretty interesting characters. |
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This book didn't influence me -  |
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History Review |
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When I got this book, I expected to find educated views about the historical/cultural significance of each of the "people" that never lived. Why and how would they consider these particular characters the most influential? Amazingly, this book doesn't even discuss the influence of the characters on society throughout history or why they have so much staying power in our hearts and imaginations. Instead, the authors provide boring summaries of what the characters "did," or how they were created and by whom. Then they proceed to give self-righteous and condescending opinions about whether the message(s) in the story or the actions of the character(s) are appropriate in today's times. Gee, I thought that's what readers/viewers were supposed to do for themselves!!
For example, we shouldn't read Cinderella to our little girls because it creates a sense of false hope that you don't have to do anything to solve your problems (fairy godmother), and that men will only want to marry you if you're beautiful. Perhaps that's true, but last time I read the story, Cinderella was hard-working, lived a difficult life without complaint, and did not resort to treating people badly even when that was the way she herself was being treated. The problem with these compilation-type books is that they can so easily oversimplify and fall into the trite. Of course I was not expected objectivity. The very nature of a book of this type is one person's biased viewpoint (or in this case two people). I did, however, expect a literary and cultural analysis, as well as perhaps some humor or interesting perspectives. NOT! This book seemed to me like a brazen attempt for the authors to cash in on the success of books like the 1001 series. My advice: save your money on this one. |
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Rethink - perhaps? -  |
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History Review |
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Really cool book -- we are or aspire to be like those who never existed. Been passing this book around and talking about it. People don't realize how influenced (or biased) they are especially in thought by those who never existed. Great Read. |
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Makes a great gift for readers of all ages - |
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History Review |
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I gave this to my 17. y.o. sister for her birthday. She is impossible to shop for but lovedThe 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History. The Marlboro Man, Barbie, Santa Clause, Joe Came, the Wandering Jew and Mamie are a few of the many fascinating inclusions. The book is divided by category and easily read in chunks. The list is completely subjective of course, but it makes it no less interesting for debate, discussion and your reading pleasure. This is one of the those books you'll find yourself asking: "Why didn't I write this first?" |
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Pretty Dull -  |
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History Review |
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I gave this book 3 stars because I think the concept is great. The title is right up my alley. That being said, I read about 5 characters, and then started skipping around because I was bored. I was bored not by the choices, but because I think they summarized what we already know more than they showed the connection between the characters and today. For instance, all of the greek/roman myth selections basically retold the myth, and then left maybe a paragraph to show why it matters. I am familiar with myths, and enjoy them a great deal, but I found myself saying, "Ok....I already know this." Of course, some of their choices had me saying, "What?", but it's hard to choose ONLY 101 when there are so many. For that, I give the writers credit. I wish more had been done with showing the influential impact versus retelling what we know. |
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