Medusa
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Description
_______________
'A beautiful and profound retelling' - Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe
'Gives the serpent-headed monster of myth a powerful and haunting humanity' - Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Elektra
_______________
If I told you that I'd killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest? The why, the how, what happened next?
Monster. Man-hater. Murderess. Forget everything you've been told about Medusa.
Internationally bestselling author Jessie Burton flips the script in this astonishing retelling of Greek myth, illuminating the woman behind the legend at last.
Exiled to a far-flung island after being abused by powerful Gods, Medusa has little company other than the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. Haunted by the memories of a life before everything was stolen from her, she has no choice but to make peace with her present: Medusa the Monster. But when the charmed and beautiful Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is blown apart, unleashing desire, love... and betrayal.
Adapted from the hardback illustrated by Olivia Lomenech-Gill, this paperback edition is perfect for readers who loved Circe and Ariadne, as Medusa comes alive in a new version of the story that history set in stone long ago.
_________________
'. a must-read for women of all ages' - Red magazine
'Utterly transporting' - Guardian Books of the Year
'. an impressive addition to the shelves of feminist retellings, balancing rage with beautiful storytelling' - Irish Times
Book Information
Posts
Good Book, easy read
It's a really good book, and a very fast read. It's very easy to understand and you can just inhale it. But because it's so easy and short the story feels very surface level. Even though I loved it, I wish the story would have gone more in depth with it. But overall very good book: 3,5/5
Schöne, kurze Geschichte über Medusa mit einem anderen Ende, als man es kennt!
Es lies sich einfach lesen und da es etwa 170 Seiten Inhalt hat, kommt man da auch in kurzer Zeit durch. Ich mochte diese etwas andere Sichtweise der Geschichte und fand die Fragen im Anhang, die man mit anderen durchgehen kann (Buchclub oder Freunden die auch lesen) ne wahnsinnig tolle Idee! Ich ziehe einen Stern ab, da ich mir gerne paar Seiten mehr und das Ende insgesamt auch nochmal ausgeschmückter und vielleicht sogar in Perseus Sicht gewünscht hätte. Im ganzen Verlauf der Geschichte verstand man nun endlich auch mal die Seite des Mannes und wie man so schön sagt „Es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt“, trifft hier sehr gut ein. Seine Gedanken und Befürchtungen haben mir aber gerade zum Ende hin etwas gefehlt, um das Ganze noch abzurunden
Mhm…no.
So…it wasn’t the the worst book I’ve ever read in my life but it certainly wasn’t that great either. The poetic structure felt forced and those random “modern snippets” of wording were just odd? It felt like reading a fan fiction author trying to be all fancy pants while occasionally slipping. Why did they have dogs? (I love dogs) Wh were her snakes basically the rainbow? I assume to have that… “how can you think of a monster while it’s so colorful and beautiful?” - idk! I did think that overall the interactions were nice, if though the conversations felt a bit always at times and Yippie!! that Medusa managed to not get her head chopped off re-telling! It just…I just can’t see Miller and Saint be so star-struck by this book unless I’m completely dumb and lost. Maybe they’re also just very nice and I’m not getting the artistic finesse behind this book, who knows! But yeah…thank god I didn’t buy this book for its full price but got it from a buddy hahaha
That… was not a good book. Maybe i am the wrong person for it but i don’t think so. The book tries to be modern and the used language is very modern. But the story is „old“ and it just doesn’t feel good reading it. I don’t think Medusa and Perseus would have talked about „cologne“. The whole book feels like an introduction to a bigger story but when finally something happens (except for just sitting and talking about old stories that i would have loved to experience in the book as normal stories and not a retelling from the characters in the book) the book is already over. I also hate absolutely every person in this book. Everyone is just stupid and annoying. Even the characters we are supposed to like (i think we are supposed to like some of them) I still think it has some good moments and i still like the idea of a new interpretation of the Medusa Story with her not being the villain. It is also a short book which was good because i finished it that way. But sadly it disappointed me a lot
Medusas story, a tale as old as time. A story that probably everyone has heard of at some point. Although this one comes with a little twist in faith. This short novel carried some amazing messages and as someone who can identify deeply with Medusas story due to past struggles I found that this story was tackeling the delicate themes it wanted to portray quiet well. The only thing I'll have to critisize is that the writing style of this book really bugged me sometimes. It was either a flood of too many comparisons and metaphors that was being thrown at you or Medusas repeated thoughts and dialogues that at times seemed shallow written and almost too modern compared to the rest of the writing style. All in all a quick and solid read.
But when put together, the ache of loneliness and the bitter soup of boredom are more dangerous than any snake venom. This was a really beautiful book. The writing was amazing, I was constantly highlightning passages. The story, however, was short. I don't know a lot about Medusa and I don't think I've ever heard of Perseues, so it was all really new to me. Unfortunately, I wasn't really immersed in it. The plot only consists of Medusa and Perseus telling each other their story of how they ended up on the island. As beautiful as the prose was, the book itself was a bit bland. Retellings aren't really my cup of tea but this one was nice enough, but only because it's rather short and has nice illustrations.
Description
_______________
'A beautiful and profound retelling' - Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe
'Gives the serpent-headed monster of myth a powerful and haunting humanity' - Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Elektra
_______________
If I told you that I'd killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest? The why, the how, what happened next?
Monster. Man-hater. Murderess. Forget everything you've been told about Medusa.
Internationally bestselling author Jessie Burton flips the script in this astonishing retelling of Greek myth, illuminating the woman behind the legend at last.
Exiled to a far-flung island after being abused by powerful Gods, Medusa has little company other than the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. Haunted by the memories of a life before everything was stolen from her, she has no choice but to make peace with her present: Medusa the Monster. But when the charmed and beautiful Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is blown apart, unleashing desire, love... and betrayal.
Adapted from the hardback illustrated by Olivia Lomenech-Gill, this paperback edition is perfect for readers who loved Circe and Ariadne, as Medusa comes alive in a new version of the story that history set in stone long ago.
_________________
'. a must-read for women of all ages' - Red magazine
'Utterly transporting' - Guardian Books of the Year
'. an impressive addition to the shelves of feminist retellings, balancing rage with beautiful storytelling' - Irish Times
Book Information
Posts
Good Book, easy read
It's a really good book, and a very fast read. It's very easy to understand and you can just inhale it. But because it's so easy and short the story feels very surface level. Even though I loved it, I wish the story would have gone more in depth with it. But overall very good book: 3,5/5
Schöne, kurze Geschichte über Medusa mit einem anderen Ende, als man es kennt!
Es lies sich einfach lesen und da es etwa 170 Seiten Inhalt hat, kommt man da auch in kurzer Zeit durch. Ich mochte diese etwas andere Sichtweise der Geschichte und fand die Fragen im Anhang, die man mit anderen durchgehen kann (Buchclub oder Freunden die auch lesen) ne wahnsinnig tolle Idee! Ich ziehe einen Stern ab, da ich mir gerne paar Seiten mehr und das Ende insgesamt auch nochmal ausgeschmückter und vielleicht sogar in Perseus Sicht gewünscht hätte. Im ganzen Verlauf der Geschichte verstand man nun endlich auch mal die Seite des Mannes und wie man so schön sagt „Es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt“, trifft hier sehr gut ein. Seine Gedanken und Befürchtungen haben mir aber gerade zum Ende hin etwas gefehlt, um das Ganze noch abzurunden
Mhm…no.
So…it wasn’t the the worst book I’ve ever read in my life but it certainly wasn’t that great either. The poetic structure felt forced and those random “modern snippets” of wording were just odd? It felt like reading a fan fiction author trying to be all fancy pants while occasionally slipping. Why did they have dogs? (I love dogs) Wh were her snakes basically the rainbow? I assume to have that… “how can you think of a monster while it’s so colorful and beautiful?” - idk! I did think that overall the interactions were nice, if though the conversations felt a bit always at times and Yippie!! that Medusa managed to not get her head chopped off re-telling! It just…I just can’t see Miller and Saint be so star-struck by this book unless I’m completely dumb and lost. Maybe they’re also just very nice and I’m not getting the artistic finesse behind this book, who knows! But yeah…thank god I didn’t buy this book for its full price but got it from a buddy hahaha
That… was not a good book. Maybe i am the wrong person for it but i don’t think so. The book tries to be modern and the used language is very modern. But the story is „old“ and it just doesn’t feel good reading it. I don’t think Medusa and Perseus would have talked about „cologne“. The whole book feels like an introduction to a bigger story but when finally something happens (except for just sitting and talking about old stories that i would have loved to experience in the book as normal stories and not a retelling from the characters in the book) the book is already over. I also hate absolutely every person in this book. Everyone is just stupid and annoying. Even the characters we are supposed to like (i think we are supposed to like some of them) I still think it has some good moments and i still like the idea of a new interpretation of the Medusa Story with her not being the villain. It is also a short book which was good because i finished it that way. But sadly it disappointed me a lot
Medusas story, a tale as old as time. A story that probably everyone has heard of at some point. Although this one comes with a little twist in faith. This short novel carried some amazing messages and as someone who can identify deeply with Medusas story due to past struggles I found that this story was tackeling the delicate themes it wanted to portray quiet well. The only thing I'll have to critisize is that the writing style of this book really bugged me sometimes. It was either a flood of too many comparisons and metaphors that was being thrown at you or Medusas repeated thoughts and dialogues that at times seemed shallow written and almost too modern compared to the rest of the writing style. All in all a quick and solid read.
But when put together, the ache of loneliness and the bitter soup of boredom are more dangerous than any snake venom. This was a really beautiful book. The writing was amazing, I was constantly highlightning passages. The story, however, was short. I don't know a lot about Medusa and I don't think I've ever heard of Perseues, so it was all really new to me. Unfortunately, I wasn't really immersed in it. The plot only consists of Medusa and Perseus telling each other their story of how they ended up on the island. As beautiful as the prose was, the book itself was a bit bland. Retellings aren't really my cup of tea but this one was nice enough, but only because it's rather short and has nice illustrations.