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A review by xider
Metamorphoses by Ovid
2.0
Like so many other examples of collections of a lot of stories (250+ in this one even), some stories were very interesting, others less so. Only after reading did I realise, however, that so many of these stories are the earliest extant versions of them, e.g., there aren't any older texts describing the fate of Arachne or Pyramus and Thisbe, the OG Romeo & Juliet!! That was really cool to realise.
However, that doesn't change the fact that it just wasn't that enjoyable to read, even though the narrator of my audio book, Barry Kraft, is commendable in his performance. It's just a long list of stories that is only sometimes amusing in its subversion of epic form, but mostly it's a slog to get through. A lot of these stories I've read before, and yes, that's the worst kind of review when someone says that the original content that inspired so much is "cliché" even though, again, it was the original, but I still expected something unique from these stories that goes beyond playing with storytelling forms. I fully proclaim that my lack of enjoyment is my own fault as I was expecting plot from a magnum opus that I shouldn't have expected it from.
However, that doesn't change the fact that it just wasn't that enjoyable to read, even though the narrator of my audio book, Barry Kraft, is commendable in his performance. It's just a long list of stories that is only sometimes amusing in its subversion of epic form, but mostly it's a slog to get through. A lot of these stories I've read before, and yes, that's the worst kind of review when someone says that the original content that inspired so much is "cliché" even though, again, it was the original, but I still expected something unique from these stories that goes beyond playing with storytelling forms. I fully proclaim that my lack of enjoyment is my own fault as I was expecting plot from a magnum opus that I shouldn't have expected it from.