A deep-dive into the cavernous human imagination where monsters and others reside in our collective subconscious and what they tell us about ourselves.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Non-fiction, History, Mythology, Folklore.
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Review in one word: Mesmerising
In Enchanted Creatures: Our Monsters and Their Meanings, Natalie Lawrence takes readers on a fascinating and richly detailed journey through 15,000 years of the human imagination. This ambitious work explores the incredible variety of monstrous and imaginary beasts we have created, from prehistoric cave monsters to modern science-fiction cyborgs, and investigates what these creations can tell us about ourselves. The book is a tour of an “other-worldly natural history,” one that has evolved alongside our deepest fears and fascinations.
The trajectory of the book is a sprawling historical and cultural exploration. Lawrence guides the reader through a monstrous menagerie that spans millennia and cultures. We encounter serpentine hybrids and deep-sea leviathans from ancient mythology, fire-breathing Kaiju from modern cinema, and the multi-headed hydra of Greek legend. The narrative is not just a catalogue of creatures, but an investigation into their purpose. Lawrence delves into how this vast array of monsters has helped humanity manage the extraordinary complexity of our minds, giving form to our anxieties and irrational terrors, the things we do not wish to know or understand.
The overarching theme is that monsters are not just figures of fantasy, they unlock the darker parts of being a human. For millennia, they have helped us to shape our societies, our minds, and our understanding of our own place in the natural world.
Lawrence’s style contains personal travel reflections and is highly readable. She takes deep dives into mythology, history, and psychology. She argues that you don’t have to believe in monsters to feel an affinity with them as symbolic figures. The tone of this book is one of intellectual curiosity and wonder. Enchanted Creatures is enjoyable and I would say despite it being about monsters, there is a thread of intensive exploration that elevates this book above childish fascination and towards something far deeper, a Jungian sense of the imagined ‘other’ and the dark parts of the human psyche. Definitely worthy of a read!
About the Author
Natalie Lawrence is a writer and illustrator with a PhD in the history of science from the University of Cambridge. Her work focuses on the intersection of science, art, and mythology, exploring how humans have understood the natural world and their place within it throughout history.
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