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Metamorphica

Zachary Mason (Goodreads Author)

3.82 · Rating details · 237 ratings · 39 reviews

In the tradition of Zachary Mason’s bestselling first novel, The Lost Books of the Odyssey – where he recast episodes from Homer’s masterpiece – Metamorphica now reimagines Ovid’s epic poem of endless transformation, Metamorphoses. Just as the Roman poet reinvigorated the Greek Classical legends 700 years after Homer, so Mason now gives us a radical and exciting renovation ...more

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Hardcover, 282 pages

Published August 2nd 2018 by Jonathan Cape

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Mar 21, 2018 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, greek-mythology

Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Zachary Mason, who retold Homer’s story of the wanderings of Odysseus in his well-received 2007 debut novel, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, takes on Ovid‘s epic narrative poem Metamorphoses in his latest work, Metamorphica (2018). Mason distills Metamorphoses’ over 250 Greek myths into 53 brief stories, including the tales of Arachne, Daedalus and Icarus, Philemon and Baucis, Narcisssus, Achilles, Midas and many more.

Metamorphica is a loosely connected Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Zachary Mason, who retold Homer’s story of the wanderings of Odysseus in his well-received 2007 debut novel, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, takes on Ovid‘s epic narrative poem Metamorphoses in his latest work, Metamorphica (2018). Mason distills Metamorphoses’ over 250 Greek myths into 53 brief stories, including the tales of Arachne, Daedalus and Icarus, Philemon and Baucis, Narcisssus, Achilles, Midas and many more.

Metamorphica is a loosely connected collection of retold myths more than a cohesive novel with a single plot. It’s rather fragmented, both as a collection and within the stories themselves, many of which are of the “slice of life” variety. But lovely and elegiac writing marks the whole set, and each individual story is a well-crafted jewel, focusing the reader’s eye on its own individual theme and distinct characters. Mason focuses on the characters’ psychology and motivations: pride, revenge, love, greed, power and other timeless passions that resonate in both the ancient Greek settings and in our modern world.

The theme of transformation or metamorphosis also frequently resurfaces in these tales: Scylla was a beautiful sea-nymph who is now a man-eating monster; King Minos spends years pursuing his vanished friend (and prisoner) Daedalus, becoming a changed man in the process. Pentheus, a disciplined man dedicated to his duty, has a life-changing encounter with Dionysos, the god of transformation. When Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis so she will release the winds to allow the Greek armada to sail to Troy, his wife Clytemnestra is never the same afterwards:

… I remembered how he’d washed his hands in a fountain after killing her with the look of a man relieved to have put a difficult task behind him, and my mind ignited like dry kindling; suddenly I was empty of love, and had no purpose in life but to be his undoing. I’ve been waiting a long time for my husband to come home.

Chilling!

Mason reinvents the Greek myths liberally in several of these stories, leading to some unexpected but logical twists. Midas, for example, invents the concept of coin money rather than having the magical power of turning everything he touches into gold. Icarus, with his homemade wings, dashes himself against the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere rather than melting his wings by flying too close to the sun (though his fate in Mason’s story is quite different). Orpheus ventures into the underworld to win his lover Eurydice back from Death, but comes to a surprising realization about her as they climb through the cave toward the sun.

Although these stories are relatively independent of each other, they’re still interrelated, tied together by Greek mythology themes, some recurring characters, and a fascinating star map that visually mirrors the structure of Metamorphica, with each star named after a different story or character in the book. The map is divided into seven sections, with each section and its (imaginary, I’m fairly certain) constellations matching up with a different part of Metamorphica. Mason explains:

Lines are narrative connections which form constellations.

A story’s distance from the center increases with its distance from primordial time. The outermost ring is the end of the age of myth, which is the aftermath of the Trojan War or shortly thereafter.

I strongly recommend Metamorphica to any student or fan of Greek mythology, or readers who appreciate lyrical writing and fantasy that tends toward the somber and introspective.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for review. Thank you!! ...more

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Jan 19, 2019 Emer (A Little Haze) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read2019, reviewed, library-loan, hellas, ancient-civilisations-mythology, adult-fiction, 2stars

This is a stunning book. So beautifully lyrical. Gorgeous prose... But I was left cold. I think I love Ovid's Metamorphoses too much to let my heart love this too. Such a shame really because I was very much looking forward to this. And I guess the icing on the cake of disappointment was the retelling of Orpheus in the Underworld. Orpheus and Eurydice is my favourite ever Greek myth. I read it first when I was a really young girl and it just touched my soul in only the way a soul can be touched ...more

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Aug 20, 2018 Daniel Chaikin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

43. Metamorphica (audio) by Zachary Mason
Readers: Bronson Pinchot, Kevin Kenerly, Robertson Dean, Will Damron, Xe Sands, Amy Landon, Kate Reading, Robin Miles
published: 2018
format: 6:31 Libby audiobook (~181 pages, 304 pages in hardcover)
acquired: Library
listened: Aug 8-16
rating: 2

A very recent promising release with some super positive professional reviews, a beautiful hardcover (which I've only seen as pictures), and, for audio, an elaborate audiobook cast with several very good readers. I ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Jenia rated it really liked it

I received an ARC of this book from the publishing company Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

After having read Mason's previous book — a collection of reimaginings of the Odyssey — last year, I was very excited for his "follow-up" reimaginings of further Greco-Roman myths.Metamorphica didn't disappoint.

Metamorphica is based on the myths found in Ovid'sMetamorphoses—although not every myth found there, as the original has 15 books worth of content. Still, in the 53 short stories we get to meet characters ...more

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May 09, 2018 Bandit rated it liked it · review of another edition

Oh, I'm the first one to review this, how lovely. Greek mythology, mythology in general really, is a theme I love so much, I’ll revisit in in just about any form. This was, admittedly, something of an experimental retelling/reimagining of some of the beloved myths. I wasn’t familiar with the author’s work prior to this and the description was fairly vague, but what this ended up being is a relatively short collection of myths separated by pantheon divisions and told from a psychological Oh, I'm the first one to review this, how lovely. Greek mythology, mythology in general really, is a theme I love so much, I’ll revisit in in just about any form. This was, admittedly, something of an experimental retelling/reimagining of some of the beloved myths. I wasn’t familiar with the author’s work prior to this and the description was fairly vague, but what this ended up being is a relatively short collection of myths separated by pantheon divisions and told from a psychological perspective. So basically, while the facts of the stories may be known from other various sources, these versions deal with the emotional and mental states of its characters. And, of course, some of the stories also change the facts around also. The author stated he wanted to create a mythology book he wish he’d found and I suppose at that he succeeds. This was certainly different. And at times quite good. The stories vary in lengths and quality, the longest ones tending to be the best. The shortest ones are mere sketches, but with the word count increasing there come the real stories, the real flights of imagination. The language is lovely, but leans toward the poetic quite heavily. Not quite for me, but the beauty of it is impossible to ignore and certain turns of phrase or imagery were simply stunning. And I liked what the author did to some of the well known myths, quite ingenious and in a way more plausible (not that that’s a requirement of mythology), but the reimagining of Orpheus takes into account the realities of infatuation, Icarus’s flight is circumscribed by laws of physics, Troy is fought over by more personable less iconoclastic characters and for considerably less romantic reasons and so on. Changes, changes, Ovid would appreciate this certainly. So something of a mixed bag, inventive, clever takes on classics wrapped in the dreamy gauze of a narrative. Intriguing though and fans of Greek mythology would find much to enjoy here, plus it’s a quick read and a pleasant way to dream the morning away. Thanks Netgalley. ...more

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Sep 08, 2018 B. Rule rated it really liked it · review of another edition

These are haunting, elegiac pieces that use Greek and Roman myths as writing prompts. As in his earlier works, Mason is concerned with modern, Borgesian ideas of identity, paradox, and surreal desolation, and he pumps those themes back into the original stories, sometimes filling them with new life, and sometimes bursting the seams of the original. I wouldn't say all of the pieces are successful, and some of them are too slight to add much to Ovid. But they're all gracefully written and it's ...more

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Sep 20, 2018 Niki rated it liked it

not bad, not bad at all, but a little confusing at times - I'm a real fan of mythology, classic or other - generally I prefer when it's written like stephen fry's mythos, with a lot p tongue in cheek - as I said, not bad at all, a bit too serious maybe

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Dec 14, 2018 Yasmin ✨ rated it it was ok

Shelves: cover-love, books-i-own, so-boring, only-finished-bc-im-not-a-quitter, not-as-good-as-id-hoped

Metamorphica contains retellings of Greek and Roman myths, mostly focussing on Ovid's Metamorphoses. I had read most of the original myths before and even translated a lot of them myself. Where this book falls flat for me is how it offers a new view on each myth, but one that doesn't really make a point or even make sense. I feel like when you reimagine or rewrite a myth there should be a point to your changes. A reason. A different meaning you want to offer.

The changes made no sense to me. At Metamorphica contains retellings of Greek and Roman myths, mostly focussing on Ovid's Metamorphoses. I had read most of the original myths before and even translated a lot of them myself. Where this book falls flat for me is how it offers a new view on each myth, but one that doesn't really make a point or even make sense. I feel like when you reimagine or rewrite a myth there should be a point to your changes. A reason. A different meaning you want to offer.

The changes made no sense to me. At the end of the book there's a part called 'notes' where the author gives a couple of lines of explanation on a chapter. Turns out each chapter is only ''oh, what if...''. They're basically musings of the author on the myths. Sure, you can write about that, but it wasn't interesting and after each chapter I was unsure of what I'd just read. They're a bunch of short stories, but with no beginning, middle or end. They're too much like the original myths to offer a refreshing perspective or new insights, but at the same time they have lost the the core and strength of the original. Like I said, this book feels empty to me. There a words that form a sentence and sentences that form a chapter, but that's it.

The writing also made it very hard to get invested in this book. Honestly, the amount of times Mason uses 'and then he... and then they' is completely mind-blowing. Example:

''There was a moment of pain and then he didn't want to move. The grey sky through the black branches seemed unreal and remote - then they jostled him and he saw the wet sand inches from his eyes. He felt what might have been teeth, and then he felt what might have been a knife, and then he was just cold. (...) Then the women were gone, their cries receding into the woods,''

This is how the whole book is written. Not pleasant to read at all. The style is very lyrical as well. At first I thought it was pretty, but have you ever thought that you were reading, but when you get to the end of the passage you realize that none of the words actually got through to you? The style is so pleasing that it's empty, meaningless. There's so much wandering, gazing and floating going on in this book. Waves crashing, snow falling, fire burning, vague and cryptical conversations. I don't want to read 300 pages of that. The whole book is a bunch of adjectives and descriptions. There's no action or fire in the writing; there's no actual feeling in it. The book just seemed to drag on and on.

The chapters that contained myths I didn't know were incredibly confusing and I imagine the book is unreadable if you don't know anything or even much about Greek or Roman mythology. Each chapter is about a different person and the chapters have nothing to do with each other. There's no natural 'flow' from one chapter to another. But they are so vague that they can't stand on their own either. If you don't know the original myth, you will have zero understanding of what's going on. Even the chapters of which I did know the original story often made no sense.

The two stars are because it wasn't horrible, I guess. The writing is pretty, though not pleasant to read for 300 pages. At first each chapter was nice enough, but after a while they all blend together and become meaningless. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. ...more

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Sep 08, 2018 Amy rated it liked it

The lyricism doesn’t always hit the mark and occasionally falls painfully flat, but I like what he does with Narcissus and Clytemnestra and this exchange between Minos and Daedalus:
“Then I’ll build you a monument in stone,a colossal statue to stand by the harbor, and every man who sails into Knossos will see your face and know your name. Your fame will be written in granite.”
“My face ,” he says, “is a face like any other, and my name is a noise with no meaning.”

Best in small doses.

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Nov 20, 2018 Victoria Wood rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Full Overview, Review and Commentary over on my blog - https://girlwithnoselfie.com/metamorp...

Metamorphica is a collection of short stories based on the myths found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Though not all myths are included, Mason shares a wide variety of mythical characters and stories . Some characters are more popularly known, such as Athena, Icarus and Orpheus, and others I was meeting for the first time. Each myth was briefly introduced at the beginning of the story, and then we delve into ...more

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May 16, 2019 Tom Kenis rated it it was amazing

A poetic (f)re(e)telling of the Greek myths.
One of the best reads this year.

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Jun 11, 2018 Emmeline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

A beautiful transfiguration-- full of sharp, fecund grace.

The author's metamorphosis of Ovid's poem is sensuous, visceral, raw, joyful, fluid. Ancient mythologies echo of Borges and Calvino, and become timelessly postmodern. While Mason's first celebrated novel "The Lost Books of the Odyssey" featured predominantly masculine voices, Metamorphica comes alive-- sings, peals, whispers, keens-- with female experience and narrative.

It's a nuanced, lyrical and above all, heartfelt work-- a novel to ...more

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Jan 30, 2019 Jim Puskas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: folklore-mythology, whimsy

I have this image of Zachary Mason strolling about in a gallery of bright shiny toys, examining the hundreds of tales that Ovid left behind to amuse, edify and confound us over the past two millennia. In Mason's playful hands those stories and the gods, demigods and humans who populate them become gambling-bones, fiddle-sticks, golden coins to be tossed, to discover where they might land, what new adventures they might set loose. Some of them turn in upon themselves, becoming swallowed up by the ...more

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Aug 06, 2018 Zachary Houle rated it it was ok

What seems to be a new trend among authors is taking stories that are in the public domain and rewriting them with a modern sensibility. Daniel Mallory Ortberg did it a few months ago with his book The Merry Spinster, which refashioned old fairy tales with new twists on them. Now, Zachary Mason has turned in a book based on old Greek mythology and the writing of Ovid called Metamorphica. It’s not the first time he has done such a thing—his earlier book, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, was based ...more

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Sep 21, 2018 Debs rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, fairy-tale-retellings

I really enjoyed parts of this one. There were a couple in particular that I think would do well expanded into larger pieces and/or theater works.

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Apr 04, 2019 Naomi Ruth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fav-authors, adult-fiction, want-to-own

I picked this up at the library to read the story about Dionysos and was not planning on reading the whole thing. I read the first couple of pages and knew I would read every. last. word. I did not devour this book; this book devoured me. It was incredibly surreal. It was nothing I could ever write and yet... There were moments when I felt like I was reading something from a future Me. The stories wrapped themselves around me and put me in this fugue state. I loved the story of Thetis and how ...more

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Apr 25, 2019 Kim Lockhart rated it really liked it

If you love ancient Greek mythology, as I do, this sultry, richly textured reinterpretation of Ovid's writing will thrill you. The quality of the storytelling improves steadily, as the book progresses, and the author's endnotes are enlightening.

Mason updates the mythology by ascribing greater courage, selflessness, and integrity to the female characters than in most reimagined modern works. He paints both mortal and immortal males as petulant, passionate, and prideful, though vanity seems to be ...more

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Jan 23, 2019 Kathy Piselli rated it really liked it

My two favorites were Philemon & Baucis' story of never being parted and Herakles' slaying of the Nemean lion in which he devolves into the ancient monster he'd slain. The only thing that marred this book for me were the occassional editing mistakes (born, not borne, along - a field sewn, not sown, with salt). Bring back human proofreaders!

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Jun 06, 2019 Stormie rated it liked it · review of another edition

I had initially started reading a physical copy of this book, but put it down to focus on school work. I read through the entirety of it via audiobook this week while at work, and was a little disappointed. Overall, while I liked some of the story changes that Mason made, I wasn't always sold on them (save for the story about Minos and Daedalus--that one got to me a bit, admittedly).

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Sep 22, 2018 Alec rated it it was amazing

Mason derives fresh perspectives from centuries old myths, kindling (a favorite word of his) a new flame at the altar of Ovid. His telling captures emotions of loss, jubilee, and of course, transformation in the form of short stories that feel at once punctual and sweeping. For someone not totally familiar with Ovid, reviewing the older's work after Mason's is a unique experience.

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Apr 02, 2019 Taylor Caires rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Metamorphica was beautiful and full of simple yet powerful imagery. I loved this author's take on ancient mythology and I'll let this book haunt my shelves for years to come and I'll look on it fondly and read it many times ...more

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Nov 10, 2018 Maggie Chen rated it it was amazing

Mason has been accused of falling into the fashionable habit of 're-writing a classic book with a modern sensibility'. In fact, there's not a scrap of 'modern sensibility' here, which really would be a sin. Mason's drawing from somewhere else. I think this book is a work of genius.

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Apr 11, 2019 Anne, Unfinished Woman rated it it was ok

Shelves: genre-fiction, author-american, source-library, god-religion-the-church, social-commentary, classic, relationships, retelling

Each story told in the first person. Having just done a seminar on Ovid I did not like the journalistic style of the author, and missed the poetry.

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Mar 27, 2019 Katie Fellows rated it it was amazing

One of the best books I've read in a VERY long time! So gripping from start to finish and beautifully written. The myths of Icarus, Medea, Orpheus etc really do come to life!

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Aug 11, 2019 Priya Sharma rated it it was amazing

I adored "The Lost Books of the Odyssey" and have a huge blind spot for Zachary Mason's work. He dissects Ovid's "Metamorphosis" and then reinvents it in surprising ways.

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Apr 17, 2019 Nelli SilveryMoon rated it it was amazing

My favourite is Narcissus

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Feb 28, 2019 Ellie (faerieontheshelf) rated it really liked it

Shelves: short-stories-and-novellas, retellings, historical-set-in-the-past, anthologies-and-collections, stand-alone-novels, lgbtq, fabulism

A gorgeously written collection of retellings with some fresh, interpretative twists. (Philemon & Baucis, Persephone, Atalanta, Actaeon and Narcissus were my favourites.)

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Dec 11, 2018 Dan Rowinski rated it really liked it

Good premise, great writing ... gets a little repetitive and bogged down by the end.

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May 20, 2019 Dan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-owned

I wanted to like this more than I did. Some of the stories were great and interesting and were a joy. Others dragged and those stories became more common as I read on. I do think this is at least partly do to my lack of familiarity of the source from Ovid. I am more familiar with Homer and enjoyed the new direction in Mason’s previous book. I hope to read more Ovid and come back to this one day.

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