A review by dragonlilly
The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

Anne Carson's poem was interesting, and consistently embedded with a sorrowful and lonely feeling. There's no doubt that there was meaning to each chapter, but for some reason it did not feel as compelling as I had hoped. Herackles became more irritating over time, which I suppose was the point, and even seemed to further Geryon's trauma. Ancash is the best and most reasonable character, even wanting to help Geryon, while at the same time it seems like Ancash is a bit jealous of Geryon's past relationship with Herakles. The choice of setting surprised me, but I understand it and thought it was used well. For a moment I did not like the way Carson's verse story ended, mainly because it felt sudden, but I do see it as somewhat hopeful. 

Overall, I liked Anne Carson's sort of semi-retelling of another work that retells a story from another perspective. However, I preferred her translation of the poet Stesichorus' poem Geryoneis to her own work, as I just found it to affect me so much more, and felt even more tragic yet beautiful. Anne Carson does discuss Stesichorus' use of description and adjectives, and she replicates it very well in her story. However, nothing in this story affected me more than Stesichorus' last chapter (which I am sure Carson made it sound more beautiful and I heavily credit her with that): 
XVI. Geryon's End
The red world And corresponding red breezes
Went on Geryon did not
Expand filter menu Content Warnings