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Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'
Greek Myths: A New Retelling, with drawings by Chris Ofili by Charlotte Higgins, Chris Ofili
3 reviews
aseel_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Pros of reading this as an audiobook: I know how to say the names
Cons of reading this as an audiobook: too many characters to keep in check, so I sometimes forgot whose story we were in.
This was a fine collection of different greek myths, nothing too amazing, although I liked the anchoring of the stories to the act of weaving, quite unique.
Cons of reading this as an audiobook: too many characters to keep in check, so I sometimes forgot whose story we were in.
This was a fine collection of different greek myths, nothing too amazing, although I liked the anchoring of the stories to the act of weaving, quite unique.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
emmonsannae's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A really nice collection of myths. C.H. doesn't glamorize or soften any of the original content (which inevitably forces the reader to ask why these stories are worth preserving, and what they say about us who came up with or reread them). I think this is a great read because it challenges an optimistic anthropology and forces uncomfortable questions about humans/nature/history/culture. It is a feminist retelling, to the extent that it centralizes women's experiences and imagines their desires and opinions. Women here aren't one-line tragedies of rape, abandonment, grief, or faithless gods while heroes galavant through their brave deeds. C.H. puts the women and their tragedies at the forefront while the heroes are peripheral, with the effect that the heroes' carelessness and disregard add to the womens' tragedies rather than enhancing the heroes’ fame. C.H. frames the story through a series of described tapestries, giving her Greek women an agency and a voice which historically was theirs in order to tell stories that historically weren't. That framing is beautifully done, too. (The book also has an excellent notes section which doubles as a classics text resource.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War
splendide_mendax's review against another edition
emotional
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tl;dr: This book is so good I could scream.
Frequently, retellings of classical myth seem to be built around the idea that there is a dichotomy between being classical and being feminist, and that the only feminist retelling of a classical myth is one that rewrites it to be kinder to the female characters. Higgins' Greek Myths doesn't change or shy away from the elements of classical myth that are deeply unfavorable to women (with one slightly odd exception); instead, she focuses in on how the women in them would experience them. It's a change of perspective rather than substance and it is extremely successful.
The ekphrastic framing of the stories is both absolutely genius and deeply classical. There were places where I could identify the work from which Higgins was drawing just by her phrasing and I fell a little more in love with the book every time it happened (especially when the source work was Ovid). I so enjoyed the way she talked about her source material at the end. As a classicist, it was really neat to see how she was thinking about the works from which she was drawing; I imagine that it would also provide a useful to-read list for someone with less familiarity.
I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Frequently, retellings of classical myth seem to be built around the idea that there is a dichotomy between being classical and being feminist, and that the only feminist retelling of a classical myth is one that rewrites it to be kinder to the female characters. Higgins' Greek Myths doesn't change or shy away from the elements of classical myth that are deeply unfavorable to women (with one slightly odd exception); instead, she focuses in on how the women in them would experience them. It's a change of perspective rather than substance and it is extremely successful.
The ekphrastic framing of the stories is both absolutely genius and deeply classical. There were places where I could identify the work from which Higgins was drawing just by her phrasing and I fell a little more in love with the book every time it happened (especially when the source work was Ovid). I so enjoyed the way she talked about her source material at the end. As a classicist, it was really neat to see how she was thinking about the works from which she was drawing; I imagine that it would also provide a useful to-read list for someone with less familiarity.
I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
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