pickThis retell of Homer‘s The Odyssey is a mix of poetry and prose. It‘s not quite a Halloween read, but the story is told by Penelope and the 12 maids after they are dead. They are angry at what happened to them, and they will have their say:
”we are the maids
the ones you killed
the ones you failed
we danced in air
our barre feet twitched
it was not fair …”
Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.
pickI really love Margaret Atwood books. It was a very short story about Penelopeia, wife of Odesseus. She tells her side of the of well known story. It could have been a very long book about Greek women's life and status and all of the history but it was good as it was.
Ps. This book was very very expensive, however it is very short. I don't know what is going on in other countries but here books getting incredible pricy.
pickFinally managed to read this after reading Claire North's Ithaca. I liked The Penelopiad slightly better, because Penelope herself tells the story, rather than Hera, and the telling is much more economical. Adding the 12 hanged maids as the Chorus is also a good addition.
pickThis is a fairly short, surprisingly readable look at the social aspects of the world described in Homer‘s epics. Whether that was truly some heroic age, or more reflective of Homer‘s own time is another question altogether. Writing initially in the late 1940s, with revisions in the 1970s, Finley incorporates lessons learned from the Linear B tablets to bolster/adapt his conclusions as appropriate. If you‘re a classics nerd, I recommend this.
In case anyone thinks scholars are dry and humorless…
pickI was super excited to find this book at a farmer‘s market - it‘s a Canadian first edition print! I love a good myth retelling, especially from a woman‘s point of view. In particular, Atwood focuses on not only Penelope, but her 12 maids that Odysseus killed. These women who were nameless, innocent, and get glossed over. I‘m satisfied with their ending in this book, and there were some powerful quotes too.
My trip to Canada is almost done and I wanted to take a picture of all the books I bought this past week! Also I‘m sharing a hotel room with my mom so I had to take this picture while she was in the bathroom so she was not fully aware of the number of books I got. Yes I‘m 27 and I shouldn‘t care, but here I am.
so-soThe story of Odysseus's homecoming, told alternatively from Odysseus's and Penelope's point of view.
For much of this book I felt it was just a re-telling of the second half of the Odyssey which stuck too close to the original. It was only after Odysseus (disguised as the beggar) and Penelope met and the two tricksters start manoeuvring round each other that I really thought we were getting anything new.
