by Madeline Miller
I started this one last night and I'm already 24% in. Madeline Miller can weave words into a story you just don't want to put down.
I read The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer a couple of weeks ago (loved it) and it really got me wanting to read more feminist books...non-ficion books on feminism and novels with feminist themes. Circe, at least so far, fits the bill perfectly. It's a rich and lush retelling of the Greek myth of the Goddess Circe, daughter of Helios, the Sun God (and inspiration for numerous works of art.)
What I Love
The Story....I only have a basic, passing knowledge of Greek mythology, the names are familiar, but I don't know all the details. Madeline Miller brings the names to vivid life, especially Circe. She's young and unsure of herself and her place in the world, but gradually she discovers her power and what her heart and soul are drawn to. What woman can't relate to that? I know I can!
The Words...Rarely do I have to stop and use the dictionary function on my Kindle, but I've had to a couple of times during this read...and I love that!The words aren't pretentious or meant to impress, they're actually quite perfect in the context they're used. And the prose! SO many passages are worth going back and reading twice, they are THAT lovely. Take this one for example, "For a hundred generations, I had walked the world drowsy and dull, idle and at my ease. I left no prints, I did no deeds. Even those who had loved me a little did not care to stay. Then I learned that I could bend the world to my will, as a bow is bent for an arrow. I would have done that toil a thousand times to keep such power in my hands. I thought: this is how Zeus felt when he first lifted the thunderbolt."
Wow! How powerful is that?
Off to dive back into this one. I'll post my thoughts when I'm done, but I'm already madly in love with this one.
