The Penelopiad cover art

The Penelopiad

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The Penelopiad

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Margaret Atwood
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About this listen
WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR

Now that all the others have run out of air, it’s my turn to do a little story-making . . . So I’ll spin my own thread.

Penelope . . . immortalised in legend and Greek myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband’s return from the Trojan war.

Now, in Atwood's wise and witty retelling of the myth, Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story – a tale of lust, greed and murder.©2005 O.W. Toad Ltd. (P)2012 Canongate Books Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magic Marriage Funny Thought-Provoking Witty Ancient History Ancient Greece

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All stars
Most relevant
If you have read the Odyssey and know your mythology there's not a lot more here to engage a reader. The concept of telling the story from a different angle is interesting but could have been expanded more. I didn't really feel any emotion for Penelope, just absorbed her story. having said that, portraying the maids as a Chorus was very clever and the narration very good. Interesting listen.

Interesting concept, not enough depth

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Pure genius once again, Atwood never fails to open my eyes. I wish this book was about when I did Latin and Greek at school!

Witty and brilliant.

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It made a change to hear from Penelope - the world's most famous wife...about time

intriguing and engaging

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Good story, well written, well read, apart from the chorus rendition, which I didn’t like.

Interesting point of view

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As current retelling of Greek mythology keep downplaying the systematic rape and murder of women, it is refreshing to have Penelope's tale retold. and to see her own ambiguity in her relation to the maids and Helen of Troy. Truly masterful. Wonderful narration.

Essential

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This was a brutally honest, feminist retelling of the Odyssey. It didn't hide from the darkness of the story, it called the bluffs of the hero worship and idolising of the main male characters and showed us a glimpse of what they got up to in the shadows. Excellently crafted and researched, I just wish there had been more of it.

Brilliantly written, but wanted more

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A great take on an old story. Gets in your head when you listen. Chorus grates at first but then works very well. I'm teaching the Odyssey so it helps me offer alternative interpretation. I love the end in particular and it offered great theories about the moon goddesses /maids. I also loved the court room idea. Margaret Atwood as ever makes you think again!

Mindblowing

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It takes a lot to make me stop an Atwood, but someone cheaped out on recording the important chorus parts and it's just awful for immersion.

Awful production stopped me listening

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I didn't really enjoy this one that much. A nice idea but never really developed into anything.

On the general quality of this audiobook however: awful. The woman's voice was irritating enough before they put the horrendous treatment on to turn her into the chorus. That was so uncomfortable to listen to, I tried to skip through whenever "they" were speaking!

Alright I suppose

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Any additional comments?

I thought this was a solid novella, which was both funny and moving. I felt a lot of unexpected sympathy for characters, and felt the narrator, as well as Atwood, really drew on Penelope's negative emotions well, in a way that didn't make her seem whinging or unlikeable.

Short but sweet exploration of Penelope

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