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The Penelopiad

Margaret Atwood

Start date: December 1, 2014

Finish date: February 28, 2015

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Jan 03, 2015 Rosemary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

‘Half Dorothy Parker, half Desperate Housewives’ says the quote from the Independent on the front of my copy, and it’s a good pithy description of this retelling of the myths surrounding Odysseus by his wife, Penelope, who famously held off numerous suitors while he was away by weaving in the daytime and undoing all her work at night. Now, in our time, still wandering in the fields of Asphodel in the Greek afterlife, Penelope feels it’s time to tell things from her point of view. Punctuating her ...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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Feb 09, 2017 Megan added it

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

Mythic and so playfully agile. Penelope became real right before my eyes. I wanted more though, especially with the maids--though I understand that lack of intimacy/depth was purposeful. And I think having recently loved another story featuring the underworld (Zen Cho's The Terracotta Bride) affected my ability to appreciate the simplicity of Atwood's worldbuilding when it came to shades and post-death life. ...more

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