Reviews

The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

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moonspluvia's review against another edition

I decided pretty early into the book I wouldn’t be rating it. I’m not really sure if I can. I found this book while looking for books that are similar to Ethel Cain’s album ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ and oh boy… it sure is. Anne Carson reimagined the Greek monster Geryon into a man who we meet as a boy, going through what a boy should never go though. We follow him through the decades in fragmented stages, watching him go about his complicated life, thinking about love and time and immortality as he travels far from home (if there ever was one). He goes through horrific abuse, degrading love, life altering epiphanies: it’s very reminiscent of Ethel’s journey. Can you tell I’m grasping for words? I think this would’ve been a better experience if I read it physically, and was able to make notes while I read. To be quite honest, this book went over my head but also not really. I saw the symbolism and the meaning of it all but it hardly matters to me, and it makes me angry. I just felt a little stupid reading this, wanting to connect to it but couldn’t for whatever reason. I was looking at the page numbers almost every minute wanting to finish. I say all this, but there’s another side to it. The writing was absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching. As for the character of Geryon- I related to him in many ways. His personality is similar to mine and I was able to connect with him and his many thoughts. So yeah, I can’t really rate this because I really don’t know how to. Geryon and the writing left a big impact on me, but the overall story was something I couldn’t connect to. I’ll probably read this again physically, and take my time with the text. Also Herakles is a douche.

Oh well. I’m gonna go listen to Strangers by Ethel Cain on repeat (a very Geryon song btw)

anythinggoes's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

boucan's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

imrereads's review against another edition

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3.0

I think if you ask me what this is about, I won't really be able to tell you. Sometimes I really enjoyed the style, felt blown away by certain passages, and other times I just felt confused.