The Penelopiad

Just finished reading Margaret Atwood's new book titled The Penelopiad. The author retells the tragedy of Penelope, cousin of Helen of Troy, and wife of Odysseus from Homer's Books of the Odyssey. I read about Ms Atwood's book in the reading section of the newspaper. I reread part of the original Odyssey just to refresh my memory from college reading nearly forty years ago. The Odyssey is so engrained in our culture through cartoons and movies, that I remembered most of the story but none of the symbolism. I didn't remember anything about Penelope and her twelve maids who were hung by Odysseus.

This modern book, written in the language of today, is a parady of the myths of that time. Penelope is in Hades--the afterworld retelling her story from her point of view as it happened three thousand years before. The book kept my attention throughout the telling. Most interesting was the small, what I'll call commercials, the author interspersed in various rhyme, different poetic forms, a court case, dream or drama. As I read the book, I felt like Penelope was actually beside me telling her story.

I think this book is an interesting one for someone who has read Greek myths and enjoys that sort of scholarship. It is a tongue in cheek parady of sections of Homer's Odyssey. The main character is not Odysseus, but his wife Penelope. The book cost $18.00 at Border's but I suggest a reader wait and buy it used or get it at the library. Although, I never like to wait when I think I may like to read a book. For me, it was worth the cost. I'll loan it to my friends. Don't know if my daughter would enjoy it. I wonder if she read the Odyssey in college. Are they still doing that?