false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166814050m/17645.jpg 17645 30 “Homer’s Odyssey is not the only version of the story. Mythic material was originally oral, and also local — a myth would be told one way in one place and quite differently in another. I have drawn on material other than the Odyssey, especially for the details of Penelope’s parentage, her early life and marriage, and the scandalous rumors circulating about her. I’ve chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn’t hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I’ve always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself.” — from Margaret Atwood’s Foreword to The Penelopiad 3016476 5 10 2005 The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus total:3236|5:554|4:1125|3:1095|2:390|1:72| 3236 11407 4579 473 1 4 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Jan 07 09:31:53 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 09:36:42 -0800 2008
There are some excellent moments -- the opening line is brilliant ('Now ...more...]]> 2 4 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 25 13:52:52 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 05 23:03:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 3 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 21 11:13:48 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 15:51:25 -0700 2007
Presumably the author feels that Penelope deserves better than to be a secondary character. But since, when put on center stage, this universal-victim Penelope never asser...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 11:45:10 -0700 2008 Fri May 16 09:58:20 -0700 2008 The Odyssey<i/>, The Suitors<i/>, which focuses on Penelope and her suitors (in Ehrenreich's tale the suitors are both men and women and there are no female ser...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 14:57:44 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 11 09:25:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 09 11:42:03 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 29 09:15:11 -0700 2007
I guess it's a classic Margaret Atwood theme that women are mean to each other. And I guess, it's an indictment? That ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 22:38:44 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 00:02:42 -0700 2008
Who is telling the truth? Is there only one truth? If so, can it be known? This may seem like a s...more...]]> 5 1 false true Fri Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 06:09:13 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 07 06:31:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 10 13:00:09 -0800 2008 Thu Jun 12 21:59:18 -0700 2008
This is a retelling of the story of The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, the wife left behind during Odysseus...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jun 04 14:03:20 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 14:03:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat May 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 01 14:57:50 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 18 23:00:40 -0800 2008 The Odyssey, and undercuts her in her turn with the sharp-tongued Greek Chorus of angry, dead maids. It is partially this interplay -- chapters of Penelope's memories aga...more...]]> 1 1 false false Sun Jun 24 12:40:11 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 24 14:44:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 true true Sun Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 15:21:04 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 15:25:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun May 04 19:42:28 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 12 23:42:29 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 00:15:37 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 12:48:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jan 21 21:54:54 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 21:55:45 -0800 2009
Good things: it's short. It has an interesting point of view:...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Dec 28 20:12:04 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 20:25:30 -0800 2008 The Other Boleyn Girl because she wanted to write a smutty romance novel disguised as history, Shakespeare probably wrote The Taming of the Shrew...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 16:07:07 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 17:37:32 -0700 2009 Margaret Atwood's novels. I read The Handmaid's Tale when I was fifteen, Oryx and Crake when I was twenty-two and The Blind Assassin and The Penelopiad when I was twenty-six. Aside from The Penelopiad, every single one of her books that I have read has ...more...]]> 3 0 false true Fri Jun 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 04:14:07 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 04:35:49 -0700 2009 The Blind Assassin and got The Penelopiad to read. It's short.

The story is told from Penelope's point of view and is amusing to read. However, it's also quite bleak. Her mother wasn't around to look after her, her...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 19:19:13 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 19:42:08 -0700 2009
If you like the retelling of ancient myths with a modern feminist twist, then you'd find this interesting.

I think Penelope-wife of Odysseus-is a great character. The opening...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=17645