The Penelopiad
Review of the novel by Margaret Atwood
A fun and funny take on the Odyssey, told by Penelope in Hades, long after her death. There she can see and talk to the other characters from the story, gleaning new facts and new perspectives. The tone is playful, with creative twists on what readers of the original probably presumed.
Some memorable phrases, to give a sense of the flavor of this unique novel:
[Menelaus] “was thick as a brick and had the manners of a stump.” p. 77
“Helen should have been kept in a locked trunk in a dark cellar because she was poison on legs.” p. 79
“Odysseus had been in a fight with a giant one-eyed Cyclops, said some; no, it was only a one-eyed tavern keeper, said another, and the fight was over non-payment of the bill.” p. 83
[Circe] had “fallen in love with him and was feeding him unheard-of delicacies prepared by her own immortal hands, and the two of them made love deliriously every night; no, said others, it was just an expensie whotehouse, and he was sponging off the Madam.” pp. 83–84
“Then she’d slip off to take a dip in the palace fountain, or she’d vanish for days to tell jokes with the dolphins and play tricks on clams.” pp. 86–87
“Siens — half-bird, half-woman — who enticed men to their island and then ate them, though he’d tied himself to the mast so he could listen to their irresistable singing without jumping overboard. No, siad another, it was a high-class Sicilian knocking shop — the courtesans there were known for their musical talents and their fancy feathered outfits.” p. 91
“Desire does not die with the body,” siad Helen. “only the ability to satisfy it.” p. 155
“Consider us pure symbol. We’re no more real than money.” p. 168
