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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't really see the point to this retelling. It flattens each story and robs them of their complexity and intrigue. The illustrations are beautiful though. I would not recommend it.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was my first time reading Ovid's Metamorphoses and I'm delighted to have it be with this translation. My challenges in making my way through this are certainly not the fault of the translator; her translation and footnotes were impeccable. I wish that I had read this more "in one sitting". I read about half of it over a weekend of camping and found it so much easier to remember all of the references to what I had just read, compared with references to the first few books that I had read slowly months ago. I suppose I also wish I had an opportunity to read this particular translation in the context of a class with a professor telling me what to pay attention to and discussion. I found myself getting lost particularly early on with which parts were the story and which were the "story within the story". Overall I'm really glad I read this and feel a pretty big sense of accomplishment for having made it through. It's got some pretty gruesome moments!
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Diana looks so sweet. Just don't let her catch you looking, or she'll give you antlers and set your own dogs on you.
Between the ages of 8 and 10 I was obsessed with all things Roman & Greek. I had these water-color illustrated books of classic myths and knew them all by heart, even if DID pronounce Eurydice like Yuri-dies. (and still do, apparently). I did eventually move on to other obsessions but it was a joy to revisit some of my favorite stories, even if (or because?) Ovid's versions have not been sanitized of the violence, sex and all sorts of "alternate lifestyles" that I'm pretty sure I would have remembered had they been illustrated in watercolor in my childhood books.
Seriously, Ovid's version is way more intense than...well, this.
For the most part, these stories were just as riveting all over again, although there are so many names flying at you at once, and stories within stories within stories, that it can get confusing at times. I'd like to go back again someday with a paper copy of this book, and take my time with it. And yet, I think the average modern reader could would get something out of this. It's not so unfamiliar now, is it? I know Game of Thrones is popular these days because it pushes the envelope with all the incest and the killing off of favorite characters and deadly weddings and dragon queens...well all that was written down by Ovid (and other storytellers before him)--these elements are as old as civilization itself.
Red wedding? Yeah, Ovid did that a few millennia ago.
There may be no original stories, but if the old ones don't get old, who cares?
Ovid’s excellence in plotting dramatic, mythological scenarios with patos and details of brutality is a definition of divinity to me. Perfect in every verse.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes