A is for Atwood | Blogging from A to Z

The Penelopiad

by Margaret Atwood

I'm going to start the A-Z Challenge by admitting that The Penelopiad is the only one of Margaret Atwood's novels I've read. I know. I'm ashamed. One of these days I'm going to read The Handmaid's Tale because frankly it's shocking I've never read it, especially as I did my dissertation on dystopian fiction...

I read The Penelopiad last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. For anyone out there who has yet to read any Atwood - though I think until last year I was the only person left! - then I'd say this is a great starting point if you don't want to go straight into The Handmaid's Tale. Her spin on the story of Odysseus is just brilliant, and it's not a very long novel, either - you could easily read it in a day if you wanted to!

As for me, I'd like to read The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace next!

Review | The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood | 2015 Fairytale Challenge

The Penelopiad

by Margaret Atwood

My Rating: 

"Now that all the others have run out of air, it's my turn to do a little story-making."

In Homer's account in The Odyssey, Penelope--wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy--is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen, Penelope manages, in the face of scandalous rumors, to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son, and keep over a hundred suitors at bay, simultaneously. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships, overcoming monsters, and sleeping with goddesses, he kills her suitors and--curiously--twelve of her maids.

In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking: "What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?" In Atwood's dazzling, playful retelling, the story becomes as wise and compassionate as it is haunting, and as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing. With wit and verve, drawing on the story-telling and poetic talent for which she herself is renowned, she gives Penelope new life and reality--and sets out to provide an answer to an ancient mystery.

This year I'm taking part in the Retelling Challenge hosted at The Daily Prophecy, so it feels right to review a retelling in the first month of the year!

Over the past few years retellings have been hugely popular in many different mediums. Whether it's a book like Cinder or a film like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters we just can't get enough. Despite their recent popularity retellings aren't new; most myths, legends and fairytales have several incarnations from the moment of their conception, which is why so many of us around the world have different ideas as to how Rumpelstiltskin or Little Red Cap ends. 

Now retellings are branching out in the literary world, and it's great to see! There are fairytale retellings like Cruel Beauty and Strands of Bronze and Gold, but now even classics are getting a new lick of paint with books such as Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies, based on Romeo and Juliet, and Diana Peterfreund's For Darkness Shows the Stars, based on Jane Austen's Persuasion.

And, as can be seen in The Penelopiad, mythology isn't getting left out either!

The Penelopiad tells the story of Homer's The Odyssey through the eyes of Odysseus's long-suffering wife Penelope. In this book Penelope is given the chance to tell her side of the story, and throughout her account her twelve maids, hanged by Odysseus at the end of The Odyssey, act as a haunting Greek chorus.

Before reading The Penelopiad I hadn't read any of Atwood's fiction - I still haven't read The Handmaid's Tale, but I'm hoping to cross it off my TBR this year! - and I was nervous I wasn't going to like what I read because she was an author I'd heard so much about and wanted to like. Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed.

I loved the way Atwood played around with the story of The Odyssey, and particularly with our perception of Odysseus, throughout the book. She certainly gave Penelope a voice worth listening to, and I empathised with her throughout. My favourite sections of the book, however, were definitely the sections in which Penelope's maids took to the stage; they spoke so eerily and lyrically that I found it even more enjoyable to read their sections out loud to myself.

The Penelopiad didn't blow me away, but I loved how Atwood interpreted the original story and loved even more that she gave poor Penelope a voice of her own. It was a quick, easy and enjoyable read, and I definitely recommend it - especially to any of you who are taking part in the Retelling Challenge this year!

Reading Wrap-Up + Mini Book Haul | July 2014

Once again, stressing about university and the future meant I barely did any reading in July, but I really enjoyed both of the books I did read and really that's all that matters!

The Penelopiad

by Margaret Atwood

My Rating: 

Now that all the others have run out of air, it's my turn to do a little story-making.

In Homer's account in The Odyssey, Penelope--wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy--is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen, Penelope manages, in the face of scandalous rumors, to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son, and keep over a hundred suitors at bay, simultaneously. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships, overcoming monsters, and sleeping with goddesses, he kills her suitors and--curiously--twelve of her maids.

In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking: "What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?" In Atwood's dazzling, playful retelling, the story becomes as wise and compassionate as it is haunting, and as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing. With wit and verve, drawing on the story-telling and poetic talent for which she herself is renowned, she gives Penelope new life and reality--and sets out to provide an answer to an ancient mystery.

I'm ashamed to say that before last month I had never read any of Margaret Atwood's fiction. Yes, that really does mean I've never read The Handmaid's Tale. As both an avid reader and a feminist, I'm appalled with myself. 

I stumbled across this little hardback edition of The Penelopiad for just £1 in a charity shop in South Wales and I just had to have it. I love Greek mythology, and the idea of reading Penelope's side of the story really interested me - that poor woman really does put up with a lot of crap in The Odyssey!

Considering I was in a bit of a slump despite being in the middle of several great books - books I'm still in the middle of! - my friend Laura and I decided to read The Penelopiad together, and we both enjoyed it. I loved what Atwood did with the original tale, the little ways in which she tweaked it, and the voice she gave Penelope was just exquisite. Now I'm very eager to read more of her fiction!

The Undressed

by Jemma L. King

My Rating: 

The Undressed is a poetry collection inspired by a cache of antique nude photographs of women. King studied the photographs ranging from the 1840s to the 1930s and attempted to return voices to these mostly anonymous women lost to history.

Meet Olive, the silent movie star, Karolina, 'The Folding Girl of Kotka', and Mary, the prostitute who hopes the judge she's due to stand before will turn out to be a client...

The second book I read in July I read on the very last day of the month and it has to be one of the best books I've read this year; this is especially unusual for me considering, I'm ashamed to admit, I very rarely read poetry collections for pleasure. Reading poetry is something I need to do more of, because there are some amazing poets out there.

This collection is just gorgeous. Each poem is like its own little story - something I love in a poetry collection - and each voice sounds different from the others. I definitely recommend this collection, whether you frequently read poetry or not!

Last weekend I went to a market stall with my parents where second hand books were being sold: 3 for £5. Naturally, I couldn't leave empty-handed and I ended up coming away with a miniature historical fiction haul.

Nowadays I tend to buy most of my books second hand - I don't care if books look a little worn, in fact I think it gives them character! - and all three of the books I picked up are ones I've been after for a while now, including another of Margaret Atwood's novels!

I picked up copies of Karen Maitland's The Gallows Curse, Daphne du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, and Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace. I mentioned Daphne du Maurier in a post at the beginning of last month as one of the authors I'm most ashamed to admit I have yet to read. I have a copy of Rebecca, but I've been wanting to read Frenchman's Creek for a long time now so I'm hoping to start it soon!

What did you read in July?

J.

What's Up Wednesday! | 16/07/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

At the minute I'm reading Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, alongside my friend Laura, and I'm really enjoying it so far! It's a sort of retelling of The Odyssey from Penelope's POV, but between each chapter there is a poem or a song or a monologue from the POV of Penelope's 12 hanged maids, acting as a Greek chorus. I'm really enjoying how Atwood is twisting the various things we know about Penelope and Odysseus, and Greek mythology in general, and I recommend it!

Next week I'm going to be taking part in The Underhyped Read-A-Thon - I wrote a blog post about it with all the information you need to know here! I think it's a great idea for a read-a-thon, a chance to read some of the books on your shelves that have been forgotten by the rest of the reading world, and I've set myself the challenge of only reading books with less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads.

What I'm Writing

I'm currently working on one of the climactic scenes of my WIP, in which a murder is committed, for the sake of my portfolio. I'm hoping I can finish a decent draft of the scene today and then send it out to some of my course mates to get it critiqued!

Recently I've also been revisiting a couple of vague ideas I had - one for a middlegrade novel and another for a YA novel - though they are very, very vague. Neither of them really have a particular plot or strong characters, but for now I'm trying not to let them distract me too much. I need to focus on my WIP!

What Inspires Me Right Now

I think knowing that I'm going home for a couple of weeks this Sunday is pretty inspiring - I'm looking forward to a change of scenery and some of my parents' cooking!

What Else I've Been Up To

Once again this week I haven't been up to much aside from working on my portfolio and job hunting and panicking about the future. I also finally got around to watching the season 2 finale of Orphan Black, and now I'm really looking forward to season 3!

Next week I'll definitely have more to talk to you about, because I'm going somewhere very exciting on Saturday!

What's new with you?

J.