The Penelopiad in Into the Forest

Nov 07, 2010 Jenna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: listen-book, mythology, retelling, retelling-mythology

I read this book when it was published in 2005 -- because I was intrigued by this mythology series, and because it's Margaret Atwood. I like both of those things, after all. But I wasn't particularly crazy about it.

I came back to it recently thanks to a literature class that introduced me to "The Odyssey." I discovered that I actually knew very little about "The Odyssey" after all (I thought I'd read it as a teenager, but it turns out I'd actually read "The Iliad" -- for shame.) I soon found mys ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 19, 2013 Hesper rated it liked it

Shelves: myth-and-folklore, fiction

Huh. I actually sort of liked it. Not loved, and definitely not hated; just middle-of-the-road liked. Given my rocky history with Margaret Atwood's novels, and my appreciation for her short fiction, I'd say her success at conveying her point without making me want to rant in all caps depends entirely on the brevity of her text.

The Penelopiad is a novella, which means Atwood has very little space to engage in self-indulgent postmodern shenanigans. (I'm giving you the stink eye, The Blind Assassin ...more

Like · see review

Dec 27, 2011 Merinde rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, folklore-myth

While I really enjoyed the parts narrated by the twelve hanged maidens, Penelope herself didn't feel very convincing to me. Nevertheless it was definitively worth reading. I found the part from the 'anthropologist's perspective' really good, very cynical and cutting. I loved it. ...more

Like · see review

Nov 20, 2019 Annette rated it liked it

Shelves: library, into-the-forest-2019, books-by-women, gbbw-read, 2019

I would have liked a lot more character development and insight. So little detail was provided that a minor character could have easily told the story as it was written.

Like · see review