Cassandra by Christa WolfHouse of Names by Colm Toibin |
Cassandra by Christa Wolf
Cassandra is a novel written by Christa Wolf, and provides a voice for women. This reimagined myth give another perspective on the story of the house of Agamemnon. It provides an outsider's perspective of the family who has been cursed by violence and murder. It provides a woman's voice from a Greek myth, which back when the myth was written women were silenced. The novel is an anti-war novel that uses the myth of the house of Atreus to show the horrible things that follow war. It also speaks out against patriarchy by providing a silence woman with a voice.
Resources on Cassandra:
Provides a definition of Cassandra's name as well as who she is in the context of mythology.
Provides background knowledge Cassandra in Greek mythology and give links to others who are involved in her story.
Provides background knowledge of the relationships in Cassandra's life, whether to people or places. It also provides a modern connection to her and her myth.
Resources on Christa Wolf
Provides a great deal of Wolf's background story. Gives a little bit of information about her childhood and tells about her different works.
Gives great detail about her young life in Nazi Germany. It also provides a background of how Nazi Germany had it's impact on those involved in the war.
House of Names by Colm Toibin
This novel provides multiple perspectives from those who were cursed by the blood curse. It provides Clytemnestra's, Electra's, and Oretes' perspectives. These new perspectives give a new depth to the story, by not only providing the emotions of the only son of Agamemnon, but also providing the thoughts and emotions of Clytemnestra and Electra who were originally silent. This reimagining focuses on the feelings and thoughts of Clytemnestra and Electra that highlights the plot of murder.
Resources on Colm Toibin:
Colm Toibin's website, which provides a little bit of background to Tobin. It also gives a long list of all of his works. Along with these things, it gives links to his events, books, twitter, and essays.
Provides a very small amount of background on Toibin, but provides a link to a conversation he had with Carlo Gebler. It also provides links to his different pieces of work.
Provides a great deal of background information on Toibin, while also providing deeper detail on different aspects of his life as you continue to scroll.
Resources on House of Names:
Provides a very short summary of the book and also provides people's opinions and ratings of the book.
Provides a book review on House of Names, which gives a little bit of a peak inside of the book.
Gives a review on the book and draws connections between Toibin and his book.
|
the lost books of the odyssey by Zachary MasonCirce by Madeline MillerThe Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood |
The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason
The reimagined tale of Homer's original work of the Odyssey. This new retelling of the story of Odysseus gives a whole different perspective of who Odysseus is. It provides a new lense to view Odysseus, and different stories portray him as a hero and some as an anti-hero. This book also provides a different story to Odysseus' homecoming, which is rather shocking to him.
Resources for The Lost Books of the Odyssey
Provides a lovely review on the book. It gives examples of how Mason reimaged the tale of Odysseus. Also it provides a deeper dive into the book.
The New York Times gives an incredible introduction to Mason's book. Provides references to different chapters of the book from the original story, by comparing the two.
Fiction Advocate provides a nice review of Zachary Mason's book. It tells how each chapter is based upon what if's from the original story.
Resources on Zachary Mason
This website provides a very small question and answer by Mason. It gives some of his favorites involving foods and music.
This provides a lovely link of a fifteen minute podcast clip from the Leonard Lopate Show. The clip highlights a conversation with Zachary Mason about his book The Lost Books of The Odyssey.
This website provides an extremely short biography on who Zachary Mason is. Telling a very small amount about his upbringing and his current occupation.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller gives a new perspective on the amazing stories of Odysseus' journey back home. In the original texts Circe is just a side character that not much depth is given to; however, Miller has felt compelled to tell Circe's story and give the depth to her she deserves.
Resources on Madeline Miller
This website provides great details about Miller's work and Miller's life. Madeline Miller grew up in Philadelphia and New York City, and went on to attend Brown University for her BA and MA in Classics.
This link will take you to Madeline Miller's Instagram page, which gives a more intimate view of Miller's life. Her page is used to bring attention to new works and her personal life.
This provides a link to a video of Madeline Miller talking about her book Circe. It gives an in depth look of her writing process of Circe.
Resources on Circe
This provides a good amount of background knowledge of Circe in the context of Greek Mythology. It also provides pages to characters that are involved in Circe's myth.
This link provides Circe's family tree, including her offspring. The page also gives details about interactions between Circe and Odysseus. There is also a video linked in at the bottom of the page.
NPR provides a lovely synopsis of Circe. It also provides an incredible review of the book by Madeline Miller.
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Penelopiad is a book that provides Penelope and the twelve hung maids a voice. This gives a new, different perspective of the Odyssey. Most of the story is told by Penelope, but there are a few interjections made by the hung maids. This book is important to continuing the contribution of women's voices in Greek Mythology.
Penelopiad Resources
The Poetry Foundations gives a very vague and short summary of Atwood's work that pulls you in to want more.
Britannica provides great background knowledge on who Penelope is. It includes her connections to other characters.
This provides a lovely review of Atwood's work, which helps to enlighten the book. It also provides more information on other characters in the book.
Margaret Atwood Resources
This website provides lovely background to who Atwood is. It also provides information about her younger life.
The resource provides a more comprehensive understanding of who Atwood is. It also provides information about different pieces of work.
This provides a link to a website that contains some of Atwood's poetry. It also provides a short biography about her and her accomplishments.
|