Medusa: The Girl Behind the Myth (Illustrated Gift Edition)

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Higgins’s own volume is illustrated by the Turner prize-winning Chris Ofili, whose drawings are charming and airy, suggestive in spirit of Matisse’s pencil sketches. What is relatively new is the way in which female mythological characters are now being placed at the centre of narratives in which they’ve traditionally been peripheral. Medusa appears in Stone Blind as something as a minor character, and in the brief interludes we are privy to her perspective, she doesn’t have much agency or complexity. With each day affection grows on both sides, with Perseus declaring that he thinks he loves Medusa, Medusa realizes that she feels the same.

I mostly prefer Greek mythology over the Roman versions of the same stories, in spite of studying Latin at school. Burton’s interpretation of Medusa is not the stereotypical fixation of a monster deployed as an opponent in a hero’s golden quest. I feel like I wanted more from this - both the story of Medusa herself instead of a recounted history, but also in the retelling (not to give too much away) I was a little disappointed in how it left the original story behind.WMC Fbomb is an intersectional teen feminist media platform created by and for socially conscious youth. And it takes Medusa to point out to Perseus just how awful Danaë's life was, and the terrible choices put in front of her. I also appreciate a well-illustrated novel or novella, so this book was enticing on all counts, though I suspect it would work even better in print than it does as in electronic formats. A long-form poem of poignant motifs which recur throughout, the poem is a mythic puzzle, an epic for ordinary girls, and a love letter to the sea. Overall a very good quality service from this seller and I would not hesitate to recommend this seller.

The Greek myths are some of the most lasting tales—often because the stories contain themes that still ring true today as social metaphors—though, as Natalie Hayne’s novel Stone Blind observes, how much of the tales of great heroes are sanitized towards glory due to their status as victors over what we’ve been told are monsters. It highlighted the diametric opposites of beauty and monstrosity in her story and the fact that she is punished for her beauty. Seller has stated it will dispatch the item within 1 working day upon receipt of cleared payment - opens in a new window or tab . A story that is magical yet tragic and beautiful yet disturbing in its evocative themes, and poignant messaging.there’s not a lot of showing and, this is definitely due to my expectations, i was disappointed to find out it was just the myth as we know it but with feminism. Eighteen-year-old Medusa has been exiled to an isolated, rocky island by Athena, who cursed her and turned her hair into a crown of snakes after Poseidon raped her and desecrated Athena’s temple. In April 2013 her first novel, The Miniaturist, was sold at an 11-publisher auction at the London Book Fair, and went on to sell in 29 other countries around the world. So often, the woman or feminine model is a static vessel for the male evolution, and that’s something I wanted to counter in this version. And that path is retelling these ancient myths from the perspective of, not minor characters, but characters who do not shine in the spotlight.

She has written the story in a way that makes it very related to the world we live in today; a world of impossible beauty standards, where a lot of a woman's worth is dependent on how attractive she is, a world where being too beautiful can lead to jealousy and abuse. We read literary fiction, non-fiction, classics and children’s books, all genres and styles embraced in our aim to share the love.Athena becomes her best friend and first crush, and together they form a duo which is ripped apart by circumstance, leaving Nuala unprotected, unable to save herself. However, I think Burton did a great job of blending the various interpretations in hers, both from the Greek original as well as from Ovid’s more popularised Roman retelling.