The Human Odyssey (Introductory): Our Journey of Life from Infancy to Eternity (The Human Odyssey Series)

A very thoughtful and thought provoking book. Simultaneously deeply complex and easily accessible. Elegantly weaves and juxtaposes two very important lines of thought regarding human development.This book cries out for a group exploration; there is just so much to be discovered and examined and wondered about. More than any one person is likely to notice on their own. It would be wonderful for high school kids. Imagine presenting teens with a book along with the admonition "don't even attempt to read this book cover-to-cover." That's a quote right from the book. It would blow their minds, right there. Then tell them to go through the book and look only at the cartoons and pictures, for fun!This book is to be read first for FUN. Then for INSIGHT. And once more for UNDERSTANDING. This is definitely not a teen book; it's an adult book that is so accessible that teens would find it fascinating. If only I'd had something like this as a teen. It's never too late - I'm a retired teacher and looking forward to the group I'm gathering to delve into The Human Odyssey. It takes a very complex (and important) paradigm and presents it in a completely new way. I highly recommend it.

I was really wanting to give this book a go, but the formatting was so atrocious it rendered it unreadable. Words repeated letters over and over, and there are so many broken tables that the content goes all over the page. Immediately returned for refund.

In The Human Odyssey our journey from infancy to eternity Hugh Martin attempts to illuminate what has until now been considered unexplainable. Different aspects of the human experience and the meaning of life have been examined through art and literature since the beginning of time. Rarely if ever has a single work attempted to grasp all of our serious hopes and aspirations, our multitudinous transitions and phases, our transcendent and unfathomable dreams and enigmas. Hugh Martin’s book does this in a way that is at times hilarious and often downright heartfelt. Mr. Martin is a man with deep connections to his subject, and as a passionate husband and father, a vested interest in the resolution of these profound ambiguities. The Human Odyssey makes arcane academic subjects tangible and interesting, he quotes the works of great scholars like Ken Wilber and Joseph Cambell, and gives their work the stinging resonance of Far Side. He takes a human puzzle, aspects of which might seem bleak, and imbues them with the satisfying finality of a Hollywood ending.The book begins with a summary of the playing field. The human experience is not, as we thought, a single linear path from point A to point B (i.e. birth to death), nor is it a flaccid static expanse of meaningless inevitabilities. Rather, it is something closer to a grid of fluctuating possibility. This grid is what Mr. Martin terms the ADAPT model and is not to be confused with the Darwinian call to adapt, though perhaps it is a fitting rallying cry for the modern human yearning to evolve. The Human odyssey calls the reader to do just that, EVOLVE! and explains how. The tools are all of our participants, processes, and pathfinders together. If you are a creative and not a drone, and all of us have creative potential though not all choose to follow it, then you’ll be seeking means to grow as a human. It is helpful in this search to understand the self as not a singular entity but rather a collection of entities compiled for a single purpose, the purpose of growth. ADAPT describes in detail the many aspects of the self that facilitate growth and encourages the reader to nurture and enhance them. As soon as you subscribe to the ADAPT model you’ve found a path to what Mr. Martin calls, the growth mentality which is simply the acceptance of change and your own development. Mr. Martin’s point is clear, the meaning of life is not to achieve, to produce, or even to die, the meaning of life is to grow, the process of expansion that enables a host of possibilities.I would recommend Mr. Martins book to anyone seeking to understand the questions common to us all. The book is an effective demystification of life’s most relevant questions. As demystification goes however, the book succeeds in becoming quite mystical. We can’t help in examining ourselves to see how profound our lives really are no matter how mundane at times they may seem. Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the convoluted systems of a modern world? Does the daily grind seem purposeless and impossible? Pick up Mr. Martins book, it is a roadmap to the ineffable.

Hugh and Amalia Martin have taken what here-to-fore has been an interesting but rather academic exploration of human development and created a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated, (sometimes funny—sometimes transcendent), workbook for an individual to not only know, but to grow “thy self.” The Human Odyssey is an impressively compiled, hands-on tool for self discovery and growth. It also provides a mechanism for counselors, therapists and teachers to help clients and students understand and independently expand their knowledge of and experience with, what it means to be human.When I first opened the workbook I felt a bit overwhelmed by what seemed to be a rather complicated and daunting schematic of color coding and layered charting. But this impression was immediately softened by the very specific advice to "not attempt to read the book cover to cover, but to set aside some uninterrupted time for study and reflection. Nibble on one small section at a time. Savor it. Chew it thoughtfully. Allow ample time for assimilation and digestion. . . .Read for Fun. Read for Insights. Read for Understanding.”I followed this advice and since I am personally going through one of those life transitions, went immediately to “developmental stages and transitions”, which I know fairly well from my own research and experience. The Martins’ grounding in the academic and professional literature is obvious. Their succinct, jargon free statements come alive with wonderful, arresting illustrations ranging from comic strip to fine art. Not only do they engage both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, the workbook is designed to access the various learning styles different individuals employ. One of its finest features is a series of provocative questions at the end of each section—extremely well designed and if thoughtfully answered, illuminating.The Martin’s integrative approach, beautifully frame life’s Odyssey by combining Ken Wilber’s analytical brilliance in tandem with Joseph’s Campbell’ insights from mythology and Jungian archetypical understanding. It is a comprehensive primer for understanding human development that will engage the reader in a most thoughtful exploration.However, a thorough exploration by the reader of the whole content of the workbook will be essential. Although the “dip into your interest at first,” is valid as a delightful introduction, readers should be encouraged to realize that if something does not fit their situation, they must dip deeper. For example, the charts that outline developmental stages are presented as lock-step standards within traditional western culture, which do not fit everyone. There are successful individuals that choose or are thrown onto a different path. Later sections in the workbook address impasses and challenges and offer methods to overcome obstacles in order to experience restorative growth. It would be helpful if this was made clear from the beginning.Knowing that this is an introductory copy I look forward to the updated version of the specific processes that facilitate the individual “hero’s” journey (pg 171) and a fuller exploration of ways to deal with cultural variants (pg. 100), although I like that the workbook format challenges the individual to be involved in his or her solution.This introductory version of The Human Odyssey whets my appetite for the completed version of a most engaging, fun, provocative and illuminating way to explore the complexities and meaning of one’s life journey.