The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Circe by Madeline Miller

Not as good as her previous novel but I enjoyed reading about the themes of female struggle and survival.

My review: https://thebobsphere.wordpress.com/20...

The core part of this novel is based on Odyssea . Her writing style echoes the original style. She stays closely to the ideas and story of Homer. At the same time she gave Circe a very contemporary feel. I think it is a remarkable achievement.

As a side note: it is noteworthy that Odysseus got such strong women...Not sure he deserved them though.

I agree Claire - I thought this was really excellent - so much to unpack.

Claire wrote: "The core part of this novel is based on Odyssea . Her writing style echoes the original style..."

Hi Claire, I’m a fan of Homer, I’ve read multiple translations of the Odyssey, I have also listened to it in ancient Greek to get a feel for the hexameter and the pacing and repetitions of the verse.

Meanwhile, I’ve read 20 pages or so of Circe the first week it came out, and then abandoned it. >__< I don’t remember the details, but your comment intrigued me, can you explain what stylistic elements are similar?

I might have to give this another try :-)

Obviously it is not in hexameters and it is by no means a translation, but a few examples of how it brings Homer in mind:

- the use of epitaphs (“And there they were: Apollo, lord of the lyre and the gleaming bow. His twin, moonlit Artemis, the pitiless huntress. ”)
- a very poetic language
- mostly short sentences, with interruptions sometimes, almost never long periods
- even if it is not written in dactylian hexameters, try to read it out loud. It ressembles the reading.
- the thought that these stories originated in essence from oral tradition, is beautifully caught in the writing.

The first part is indeed less based on Homer, more on general mythology.

Thanks Claire, I’ll give it another go. I’ve read Song of Achilles and enjoyed it; but I didn’t enjoy the tone of the narrator in Circe. That’s mainly why I gave it up.

Now that I have a few more things to look forward to, I might stay engaged long enough to get hooked.