Jayson’s Reviews > The Penelopiad > Status Update
Jayson
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Notes:
(1) As with my last audiobook, this is a re-read of one of the very first novels I read when I began reading recreationally.
- I only read it because it's book two in the Canongate Myth Series. I never continued the series past it.
(2) I'm always surprised how popular my original review continues to be.
- This doesn't strike me as any sort of household name novel, yet I get notifications about it all the time.
— Sep 08, 2024 10:30PM
(1) As with my last audiobook, this is a re-read of one of the very first novels I read when I began reading recreationally.
- I only read it because it's book two in the Canongate Myth Series. I never continued the series past it.
(2) I'm always surprised how popular my original review continues to be.
- This doesn't strike me as any sort of household name novel, yet I get notifications about it all the time.
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is 99% done
Notes:
(1) I've sat through many an anthropology lecture and I'm unsure if Chapter 24's fictional one is a genuine feminist semiotic interpretation, a parody, or a deliberate exaggeration.
- It's so spot-on it could be any of those.
(2) I look back at my first review of this book and can't say that I disagree at all.
- This is an excellent pastiche and very clever, but that's it. To me, it never resonated any deeper.
— Sep 13, 2024 07:30AM
(1) I've sat through many an anthropology lecture and I'm unsure if Chapter 24's fictional one is a genuine feminist semiotic interpretation, a parody, or a deliberate exaggeration.
- It's so spot-on it could be any of those.
(2) I look back at my first review of this book and can't say that I disagree at all.
- This is an excellent pastiche and very clever, but that's it. To me, it never resonated any deeper.
Jayson
is 77% done
Notes:
(1) "I had bought [maidservants] or acquired them when they were small children, brought them up as playmates for Telemachus."
- Hmm, bought him a harem more like. I mean, having sex with noblemen is literally in the job description.
(2) Penelope comes off as extremely needy, especially where Helen of Troy's concerned.
- She needs her son Telemachus to insult Helen's looks so she can feel better about herself.
— Sep 12, 2024 03:30AM
(1) "I had bought [maidservants] or acquired them when they were small children, brought them up as playmates for Telemachus."
- Hmm, bought him a harem more like. I mean, having sex with noblemen is literally in the job description.
(2) Penelope comes off as extremely needy, especially where Helen of Troy's concerned.
- She needs her son Telemachus to insult Helen's looks so she can feel better about herself.
Jayson
is 51% done
Notes:
(1) "'Helen hasn't borne a son yet,' [Odysseus] said, which ought to have made me glad. And it did. But on the other hand, why was he still—and possibly always—thinking about Helen?"
- I don't know, maybe because Penelope talks about Helen ad nauseam.
(2) I'm somewhat surprised by all the sex puns.
- Penelope says Odysseus is proud of "his big [bed]post" and chorus maids call him "the saltiest seaman."
— Sep 11, 2024 03:30AM
(1) "'Helen hasn't borne a son yet,' [Odysseus] said, which ought to have made me glad. And it did. But on the other hand, why was he still—and possibly always—thinking about Helen?"
- I don't know, maybe because Penelope talks about Helen ad nauseam.
(2) I'm somewhat surprised by all the sex puns.
- Penelope says Odysseus is proud of "his big [bed]post" and chorus maids call him "the saltiest seaman."
Jayson
is 22% done
Notes:
(1) The chorus of handmaidens sounds less like a group of women than the Lollipop Guild from "The Wizard of Oz."
- You know, the ones that "wish to welcome you to Munchkinland."
(2) "Telling her side of the story" has so far been tantamount to airing out grievances.
- And not limited to the patriarchy nor men in her life, as one might expect, but also against Helen of Troy, of whom she seems eternally envious.
— Sep 09, 2024 10:30PM
(1) The chorus of handmaidens sounds less like a group of women than the Lollipop Guild from "The Wizard of Oz."
- You know, the ones that "wish to welcome you to Munchkinland."
(2) "Telling her side of the story" has so far been tantamount to airing out grievances.
- And not limited to the patriarchy nor men in her life, as one might expect, but also against Helen of Troy, of whom she seems eternally envious.
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Sep 08, 2024 10:58PM
Book what in the what series? What?
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mwana wrote: "Book what in the what series? What?"There's a Scottish publisher called Canongate, who started a series in 2005 called the Canongate Myth Series. It began with Karen Armstrong's non-fiction A Short History of Myth and continued with various popular authors writing myth-retelling novellas.
The Penelopiad was, I believe, the first novella in that series.
Jayson wrote: "mwana wrote: "Book what in the what series? What?"There's a Scottish publisher called Canongate, who started a series in 2005 called the Canongate Myth Series. It began with [author:Karen Armstro..."
Wtf. That information isn't on my edition. Are they interconnected? Sequential?
mwana wrote: "Wtf. That information isn't on my edition. Are they interconnected? Sequential?"No, they're separate and standalone. It's more of a themed imprint than a true series.
It doesn't surprise me that your edition doesn't mention it. This is really the only book that took off and became popular independent of the series. From a publishing point of view it makes sense to treat it as its own thing instead of #2/18.
