A Little Book on the Human Shadow: A Poetic Journey into the Dark Side of the Human Personality, Shadow Work, and the Importance of Confronting Our Hidden Self

This is a great little book that delves in an oddly poetic way about how humans relate with each other. Perfect for couples facing the usual difficulties doing that. The only drawback, and I'm not even taking one star off for that, is that this poet author insists upon including his inscrutable poetry that only makes his book more difficult to fathom. I've read the book about a half dozen times over the years, and each time I read it, its various meanings become more obvious. MUCH more obvious when I skip the obtuse poetry.It's about projections, only Bly usually doesn't call them that. His poetic prose makes plenty sense, and without the poetry, it could be a lot quicker read. But it's deep and to fully understand it, takes awhile. This last time I read it, I absorbed one paragraph at a time, and that was my most enjoyable reading of it ever, having finally learned to ignore the poems.We humans are devious in our inter-relating, and this book superbly explains how we do it, with a lot about why. It may be a little short of what we can do about it, but that becomes more and more obvious the deeper we get into it. With each new reading, I skip different chapters, too. And that seems to help.

I've read a few books on the subject of the Human Shadow, and found this one to be possibly the most useful in understanding this necessarily murky topic.I've also read a number of Robert Bly's other books, Iron John, and a few books of his poetry and translations and I feel this "Little Book" may now be my favorite.The very subject is "shadowy" by nature. And what knowledge there is of it, is not widely spread, despite the fact that it effects each and every one of us, causing great upset in our personal relationships, and our family, social, and, political lives. A more widespread understanding of this dynamic would be very helpful in addressing the problems we are now facing, and may, in fact, be necessary.This book is valuable resource in reaching that understanding.I hope this doesn't make the book sound dry or academic. It most definitely is not!Bly uses poetry and stories to illustrate and illuminate a "difficult" subject in a down to earth and intriguing way..A Little Book on the Human Shadow

Great reading

I found the book to be full of wisdom on how I can use the model of the shadow to become more fully aware of who I am. At first the poetry seemed to detract from my understanding but then I started to experience the poetry rather than reading it. I found new and deeper meanings as to what is being expressed. Starting with the birds in the poem about the flood I discovered the deeper meaning that until one owns his shadow, it will kill or damage him.I am using this book as a text in a class I'm teaching and find it stimulates many discussions. It is at once thorough and compact. Bly leaves the issue of evil incomplete preferring to remain in the personal domain rather than delving into the transpersonal. I think that is a wise move on his and the reader's part until one has some mastery in recognizing and recovering his own shadow.

The book discusses our human shadow and how we hide it differently in different situations, among different people. It discusses how we were taught to act a certain way while in the company of others or a particular group of people. A lot of the poetry had nothing to do with the section at hand, it appeared as if it was just thrown into the section to stretch the book. The first chapter, or rather Part I, of the book starts off well, but then it seems to be a lot of rambling until the final chapter. The final chapter had some really good information and insight into the shadow and will make you ponder the shadow, and the reasons why you chose not to honor the shadow. Basically, you're shadow is the inner-self; and if the inner-self is the real you, what are you going to do with all of those words, talents and expressions that you kept hidden in the shadow? There are some points in the book that will make you ponder upon your own life and human shadow. I gave it 3 stars because of the rambling and the unnecessary use of poetry in some places simply takes away from the point being addressed.

I've probably given this book to more people than I can remember. It is wonderful little book for anyone hounded by an addiction, or simply by the notion that he or she is not quite right. The person or role they play in the world is not quite authentic. Bly tells us that some of our most magical self as a child gets banished by parents' and society's requirements--into a bag, he says, which we drag along behind us. There is of course is a lot of soot and dirt that has made its way through the cloth as it has been dragged along for a lifetime--but combing through what we've got in there one finds rough jewels and gold coins. The shadow, both Jung and Bly agree, is what we cannot face about ourselves. Shadow explains an immediate dislike for another person: They are the mirror image of our shadow a part of ourselves we banished. But both men also agree that the only possibility of true change in one's life lies in the shadow. In the shadow is the gold,and fire,the parts ourselves we've forgotten which can make us whole.