Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Penelopiad

I am always confused when I read mythological retellings to give voice to the (usually voiceless) women in myth and then that one woman whom the author has given voice to spends a great chunk of her time talking about how awful all the OTHER women in myths are. In a brief 199 pages, Atwood manages to throw nearly every other female player in the orbit of Odysseus under the bus for seemingly no reason.

Additionally this retelling somehow failed at giving Penelope any type of personality. She truly was like the water her mother told her to be - formless and pliant.

Content Warnings

leazzz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

sas_ram's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I don't know what I expected. But after hearing so many praises about Margaret Atwood I was looking forward to it. I can't seem to like her humour though. I also detested Penelope as a main character. The plot is also flat (yes I'm aware that is based on mythology). I also didn't like the modern elements, the narration structure...

Content Warnings

theportalmaster's review

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m torn and unsure of how I feel or what to say. Firstly it’s important to note that I really enjoyed the writing style and pace. It went smoothly. Secondly, while I love original Penelope for her smart thinking and willpower, I’m not sure how I feel about her in this book. Frankly I never saw Penelope as being faithful to her husband as most seem to rather than a woman trying to not get married again and live in peace on her own. The faithfulness was just a farce and more believable excuse for the time, imo. I thought this book would take the same path. It wasn’t the case.
Despite that, in this book we don’t see any of Penelope’s wit and wisdom (shown in the original Odyssey and claimed by this Penelope to have), but maybe that’s the point. Idk. She is the main character who acts as a side kick if that makes any sense. She just takes every order and rolls with it, even by some people she has supposed power/title-given authority on. Like letting others raise her son as they please, even when she disagrees. She never seemed to put up even the most minimalistic of fights. She always disagrees in silence, in her own head, and harbors negatives feelings about it (obviously). Oh and also, the women in this book are so belittling and hateful towards each other, sometimes for no reason whatsoever, which is why I’m not sure of my feelings. There’s not a single female cousin that you don’t hate Penelope, we get it! Same for you Helene, Odyssey’s mom, Odyssey’s nurse, all of you girls, we get it. None of you likes each other.
Last but not least, Odyssey. I have always loved his adventures but never understood why the fuck he left again so soon? Couldn’t you chill a little longer after the massacres that happened in the palace and the trauma everyone endured waiting for you? Yea yea, adventurous spirit and all that, but you got responsibilities too. Feels like this author also has some very negative feelings towards him because this book? Oh my, this book doesn’t spare him at all. Quick. Think of a bad trait. Yea, whatever crossed your mind, this book’s Odyssey probably got that LOL
Now I know this review is all over the place but I’m not submitting an assignment so be nice. Maybe I’ll rephrase it better in the near future.

Content Warnings

onyxisalive's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I have a tendency to stem towards book that are based around greek mythology and this one did disappoint.
It is a re-telling of the myth of Penelope and Odysseus.
The book starts of telling us about Penelope’s childhood. The story of it was really sad, however there are a few complaints I’d like to make. Most of the logistical problems with the story are not the authors fault, but the fault of greek mythology. E.G. If you were trying to murder your daughter- a naiad- why would you try and drown her? Surely it would make more sense to just push her off a cliff, or hang her? The only reason I can think of is 1) he didn’t really want to kill her, it was just part of the alleged deal with Poseidon or 2) he wasn’t subconsciously committed to the crime. However, this all fringes on the idea that he wasn’t that fond of killing her in the first place- but both explanations given as to why he did it don’t seem to make much sense in that context. For example, if the shroud story were true why would he give up immediately after one attempt? Maybe he lost heart for it, but if he was that hesitant to partake in this in the first place why do it? Why kill her over a prophecy if he wasn’t going to give up?
In story two he made a deal with Poseidon. You can argue that he accepted the deal to try and avoid the wrath of Poseidon, but if that was the case why not make another attempt? As by not going through with it until the end you create a situation where he will still be mad at you.
The only reason I can make sense of this is maybe the mother found out about the murder attempt and threatened the dad into stopping. However, that doesn’t really fit in very well with Penelope’s characterisation of her mother- as her mother is portrayed as someone that doesn’t like direct confrontation, but instead patiently manipulates things over time.

Ignoring that greek mythology mess. The relationship between Penelope and her parents was really interesting. The way that her father treats her after the attempt is really sad, and how Penelope shows her contempt for him by not arguing with Odysseus about moving out of the castle is interesting. However, a lot of the affection he shows towards her is just told to us by the author and never shown to us, so a lot of the potential impact is reduced as it feels like I am just being told about the relationship instead of experiencing it.
With Penelope’s mother on the other hand, I am very interested. Penelope’s mother is portrayed as very distant but tempered, this results in us knowing very little about her. However, the author successfully paints her as a very interesting character that I wished to know more about.

The final thing I want to mention in regards to her childhood is the ducks saving Penelope. It was stated originally that she was saved by them because of her affiliation with water due to being a naiad, however the author seems to forget this and seems to move on and present other scenarios for why even though they presented the naiad ability reason as fact originally. If the author wasn’t sure about the water affiliation being the reason they should’ve presented the idea differently originally.

Moving on to Penelope and Odysseus. Odysseus vying for Penelope over Helene is interesting. In other things I read it seemed that Odysseus thought of Penelope as an underrated gem that was better than Helen. However, the characterisation in this is very different. In here it comes across as he made a deal with Helen’s uncle for Penelope as he knew he wouldn’t get Helen, so as a result he settled for second best (which made me feel really bad for Penelope). Odysseus manages to get the 15 year old Penelope infatuated with him of the bat, even though Penelope herself isn’t sure if he even likes her or not (even though he behaves like he does). However, the further on you get into the book the less valid his feelings for her seem to be. He gets back from allegedly fucking goddesses and instead of sticking around he paints it like he has to leave (which she accepts) and moves on to probably do more. So her original prognosis of him not really being that fond of her seems to be true.
One thing I do want to say though is Penelope herself seems to not even be sure if his feelings are genuine, which at points doesn’t feel right. Penelope is cast as very intelligent, but even after seeing everything unfold is unsure about this. This would make sense due to the presentation of the relationships as abusive. However, as this story is told retrospectively by Penelope criticising Odysseus but also not- it ends up taking away from the story in my opinion as it ends up making the character of Penelope being unclear to the reader.

Penelope and Helen. Penelope’s dislike of Helen seems to stem from jealousy of not being her. It comes across as really petty as even when she is dead she is still really jealous of Helen. It would’ve been really nice for the author to do some character development in this regard with Penelope, it comes across like a missed opportunity.

Penelope’s intelligence. We are told from the get go that she is really smart. But, this characterisation ends up falling flat as at the beginning we are just told this with not evidence. About 100 pages later we are given some, but by the time this happens it feels way too late. It would’ve hit harder if we were shown and earlier example of her intelligence, therefore through the book it would’ve felt more genuine, instead of coming across like we were just being told this. It is resolved in the end, however it still doesn’t solve the issue with why people thought she was smart originally when we are given no evidence until much later.

Penelope and her time alone. Penelope at the start (before the suitors arrive) really seems to like being in control of the house and the new responsibility as previously she felt useless. This was really nice to see being resolved (even if it is later ruined by the arrival of the suitors). Her not remarrying because she enjoys being in control and like her own life is one of my favourite interpretations of Penelope’s story (even if this doesn’t go all the way in doing that). One of the reasons Penelope seems to want this to go well so much is to impress Odysseus, so it isn’t just for her but for her uncaring husband. However, this makes it even more sad in my eyes due to how young she way and how emotionally manipulated.

Penelope and loneliness. Penelope throughout the book is presented as a relatively lonely character. This stays mostly true throughout the book. She adopts the maid in a way but her that is quickly ruined by her husband.

Penelope’s alleged trust issues. One big complaint I had about this book was the fact that we are told that she has trust issues. However, she quickly trusts

Odysseus and the maids.

So it yet again comes across as something we are being told whilst being shown no evidence. It would’ve been really interesting to see Penelope struggle to

warm up to Odysseus and everyone due to her childhood,

but we are shown no evidence of a struggle (in fact she seems to warm up very quickly).

The lyrical prose throughout the book is really good mostly. Even though sometimes the rhythm is broken which does feel really unnatural and it doesn’t seem like there is much structural reason for this to happen.

Penelope and moving on. When beyond the grave she seems unable to move on by her past (which is really sad). The one complaint I have with this is originally it comes across like she has which really messes with the overall characterisation of her.

All in all it was alright, but had quite a few problems with it.

Content Warnings

meg_elyse's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

The Penelopiad should be required reading right alongside The Iliad and The Odyssey. Margaret Atwood has so skillfully mirrored sparse, Homeric storytelling in this saga. However, this isn't the sort of feminist retelling that gives Penelope a fascinating or redemptive arc. Rather, just as in the original stories, Penelope spends the book being the waiting wife. That's not to say that she's at all happy to wait, though. Penelope is tragically resigned to her lonesome fate. Given her equally lonely childhood described in the earlier parts of The Penelopiad, her forced self-reliance makes sense as her default state. That's what makes this book so well done - The Penelopiad feels like an incredibly realistic portrayal of Penelope's life. In reality, people don't necessarily get to become heroes of their own stories.

The absolute best part of The Penelopiad is the chorus of maids. In the chorus-narrated sections of the book, Atwood plays with form in the most delightful ways. There's a shanty, a courtroom drama, poems, and more! It was thrilling to see what the maids would say next, and how they would say it. Furthermore, the maids' very presence in this story is key to the feminist bend of this retelling. The maids are mentioned so off-handedly in the original stories - despite the devastatingly misogynistic nature of their slaughter.

Lastly, the segments featuring Penelope speaking from the underworld reveal her innate snarky and dry sense of humor. One can almost imagine the heroine she could have been having she ever been afforded more agency when she was among the living.

Content Warnings

dracksp's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

More...