The Penelopiad in Reading with Style

Sep 11, 2008 Nick rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I usually love Atwood's work, and I liked this one. But it didn't have the fulfilling quality that makes her other stuff so mysterious and wonderful. The Penelopiad is a retelling of the Odysseus myth from the point of view of Penelope. Women who are depicted in less than favorable light in traditional tellings of myth can make good narrators and can show a sympathetic side to their story. That's what Atwood does with Penelope here; it's not so much her fickleness with the Suitors that comes to ...more

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Jul 22, 2017 Sam rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, books-of-2017

First off, confession time: I've never read The Odyssey. It's sitting on my shelves, staring at me as I type this review, but I've never gotten around to it. That said, the tale of Odysseus is a classic and well-known myth, so I didn't go into this completely blind and Atwood covers all the major bases anyways.

I really enjoyed Atwood's writing in this one. It's wry and sarcastic and just a bit dark. I loved her take on Penelope as a smart, wily woman. I enjoyed reading about her relationship wi ...more

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Nov 14, 2007 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rws-2011-spring, 2011-read, historical-fiction, audiobooks

I very much enjoyed this short book. The narrator did a very nice job and having the chorus/maids passages read aloud worked great for the story and really highlighted the poetry of those passages. The story is told through chorus passages recited by the twelve maids that Odysseus ordered to be hanged when he returned from his odyssey and first-person narration by Penelope in Hades.

I found the story clever and was pleased to hear more about Penelope and her background. The not-so-subtle feminist ...more

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Apr 01, 2009 Bucket rated it really liked it

Shelves: mythology, reviewed, literary, experimental, life-and-death, women

The Odyssey from Penelope's view (in the afterlife, ancient Greek-style). She's at home waiting forever for Odysseus to return. Her thoughts on staying faithful, on hearing news of her husband, on their son and the way he grows up, on the hanging of the maidservants in the end who were "unfaithful" with the suitors. The hanged maidservants are the choir here.

Themes: Greek literature writing style, feminine perspective, gender/class double standards, fairness of justice, what comes after death

Thi ...more

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Mar 21, 2015 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Penelope with attitude. Penelope, wife of Odysseus comes through from Hades to tell us her version of the story along with a Greek chorus of her 12 murdered maids. I listened to the audio version narrated by Laurel Merlington who brings just the right amount of attitude.

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May 30, 2011 ColleenPA rated it liked it

Shelves: readalongs, read-a-myth

A very enjoyable retelling of the Odysseus myth, from the perspective of his long-suffering wife, Penelope. Is it a critique of feminism, or a defense of it? My complete review is at http://colreads.blogspot.com/2011/05/... ...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Rachel added it

Shelves: greek-myth-classics-etc

I liked it! She gave some interesting perspectives and a few new details that I wasn't familiar with. I also liked the variety in the interludes. ...more

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