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The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Oct. 21st, 2006 02:17 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
For Penelope, wife of Odysseus, maintaining a kingdom while her husband was off fighting the Trojan war was not a simple business. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, Penelope must bring up her wayward son, face down scandalous rumours and keep over a hundred lustful, greedy and bloodthirsty suitors at bay ...
And then, when Odysseus finally returns and slaughters the murderous suitors, he brutally hangs Penelope's twelve beloved maids. What were his motives? And what was Penelope herself really up to? Margaret Atwood has given Penelope a realistic and witty voice to tell her own story and set the record straight for good.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Don't pay the cover price of £7.99 for this book because it isn't worth it. This is essentially Atwood's Greek mythology fanfic and whilst it is at times very funny, there's none of the depth of character that we'd expect from a writer of her calibre and the plot is superficial at best. It's diverting enough to read on a commute, but I'd recommend getting it out of the library or only having it as the free book in a 3 for 2 offer.
For Penelope, wife of Odysseus, maintaining a kingdom while her husband was off fighting the Trojan war was not a simple business. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, Penelope must bring up her wayward son, face down scandalous rumours and keep over a hundred lustful, greedy and bloodthirsty suitors at bay ...
And then, when Odysseus finally returns and slaughters the murderous suitors, he brutally hangs Penelope's twelve beloved maids. What were his motives? And what was Penelope herself really up to? Margaret Atwood has given Penelope a realistic and witty voice to tell her own story and set the record straight for good.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): ) The Verdict:
Don't pay the cover price of £7.99 for this book because it isn't worth it. This is essentially Atwood's Greek mythology fanfic and whilst it is at times very funny, there's none of the depth of character that we'd expect from a writer of her calibre and the plot is superficial at best. It's diverting enough to read on a commute, but I'd recommend getting it out of the library or only having it as the free book in a 3 for 2 offer.
