Rating: 4/5
Review:
Thoughtful and readable
I thought The Penelopiad was very good. I approached it with some trepidation, but it
was readable, insightful and very funny in places.
This is the myth of Odysseus's wife, narrated by her shade
in Hades in the present day. As you'd
expect, it has Margaret Atwood's wry, intelligent feminist take on the
story. Penelope has rather an ironic,
world-weary voice which does become very funny in places. I could almost imagine her doing a stand-up
routine about this, and it makes the book very readable, while making some very
serious points. Atwood is very good at
highlighting the role and mythologizing of the perfect wife for the male
fantasy it is, but this is also concerned with class. She is very concerned with the fate of the twelve
serving maids who were hanged on Odysseus's return for consorting with
Penelope's suitors. They were
"just" low-born or slave women who didn't really count for anything
and they are neatly brought to life as the Chorus who periodically comment on
the story in the manner of Greek tragedy.
It's a clever device which makes the points about male hypocrisy and the
story's disdain for ordinary lives very well.
I found the actual verse of the Chorus a bit mixed; some was
very good, some less successful, but overall this is a readable and thoughtful
book which I can recommend.
(My thanks to Canongate for an ARC via NetGalley.)
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