The Seven Basic Plots : Why We Tell Stories

In this arduous undertaking, 34 years in the making, Booker attempts to the tell the story of all stories, from Beowulf to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Referring to every genre, including folktales, films, operas and soap operas, Booker describes seven basic plots, which he contends share basic character types and present different views of the same central preoccupation. He then discusses the shift in the last 200 years to darker and less satisfactory endings, a move he deplores, preferring instead stories such as The Lord of the Rings in which all seven plots are combined in a single narrative. Booker concludes that the propensity to tell stories that conform to the basic plots is essential to human psychology. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR