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speechisanexperiment's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I enjoyed this much more than I expected for a book of its time. I read this specifically for the story of Pyche and Cupid as research for a song I was writing. This section of the book exceeded my expectations, and the overall story of Lucius was quite captivating. However, the book turns into a 2000 year gossip rag, and while the anacdotes of smut and treachery were entertaining, they slowed the narrative to a crawl. I understand this is the style of the time, so I was anticipating this.
Content Warnings
This is as smutty and violent as you should expect from ancient Rome.
clairclairmarie's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
amandar9fa2f's review
4.0
Picaresque, bawdy and fun.
Curious Lucius manages to turn himself into an ass, setting off an adventure in which characters met along the way tell their own tales of metamorphosis.
Includes the tale of Cupid and Psyche.
Curious Lucius manages to turn himself into an ass, setting off an adventure in which characters met along the way tell their own tales of metamorphosis.
Includes the tale of Cupid and Psyche.
katiemoten's review
3.0
Rating 3/5
Apuleius' outlandish tale of a man transformed into an ass is racy and funny in parts, but also repetitive. It's the repetitiveness, especially after the Cupid and Psyche interlude, that becomes tedious after a while. There's only so many times you can hear about an adulterous wife getting her comeuppance before it gets annoying. Why is it always the women who get the blame?
Aside from the repetition. Apuleius' sympathy is clearly with the common workers. Once he becomes an ass, Lucius sees life from their perspective. I could have done with more of that focus than hearing the tale of the adulterous wife told six different ways. I also felt the end of the tale came out of left field and the very end was rather abrupt.
Thomas Taylor's translation was dramatic and entertaining, and I very much enjoyed the Cupid and Psyche tale, which reminded me a lot of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
Apuleius' outlandish tale of a man transformed into an ass is racy and funny in parts, but also repetitive. It's the repetitiveness, especially after the Cupid and Psyche interlude, that becomes tedious after a while. There's only so many times you can hear about an adulterous wife getting her comeuppance before it gets annoying. Why is it always the women who get the blame?
Aside from the repetition. Apuleius' sympathy is clearly with the common workers. Once he becomes an ass, Lucius sees life from their perspective. I could have done with more of that focus than hearing the tale of the adulterous wife told six different ways. I also felt the end of the tale came out of left field and the very end was rather abrupt.
Thomas Taylor's translation was dramatic and entertaining, and I very much enjoyed the Cupid and Psyche tale, which reminded me a lot of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
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