gilda_elise

A fresh take on the story of Medusa, the original monstered woman.

They will fear you and flee you and call you a monster.

The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene's temple, the goddess is enraged. Furious by the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge--on the young woman. Punished for Poseidon's actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Writhing snakes replace her hair and her gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude.

Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon...

In Stone Blind, classicist and comedian Natalie Haynes turns our understanding of this legendary myth on its head, bringing empathy and nuance to one of the earliest stories in which a woman--injured by a powerful man--is blamed, punished, and monstered for the assault. Delving into the origins of this mythic tale, Haynes revitalizes and reconstructs Medusa's story with her passion and fierce wit, offering a timely retelling of this classic myth that speaks to us today.

I seem to be on a roller coaster ride with these reimagined Greek myths. Some are excellent. Others not so much. This one is in the second column.

Probably the biggest problem is that the character of Perseus is twisted totally out of shape, so that he bears no resemblance to that of the Perseus of the myths. The same is done to Medusa, but in a way that the original story still fits. Well, somewhat.

That said, I really came to care for this Medusa, making her ultimate fate that much sadder. She is a victim of fate in the harsh hands of the gods. Which makes the author’s use of humor rather glaring.

I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author, so this one may be something of an outlier. I hope that’s the case.

Mount TBR 2025 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
2. The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy #1) by Pat Barker
3. Withered + Sere (Immemorial Year #1) by T.J. Klune
4. The Traitor's Son by Wendy Johnson
5. All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson by Mark Griffin
6. You Like It Darker by Stephen King, Thomas Hayman (Illustrations)
7. The Fireman by Joe Hill
8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
9. Lark Ascending by Silas House
10. Memorials by Richard Chizmar
11. The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History by Serhii Plokhy
12. Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
13. The Border by Robert McCammon
14. The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell
15. Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

Reading Challenges beta

This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have waited long enough for their turn . . .

This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all . . .

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world’s great tale ever told.

Women are so often given short shrift when it comes to book about war, so this book was a refreshing change of pace. It is the women, not the men, whose stories are told. And even though their stories have been covered by the Greek tragedians, those stories are little read or known by the modern audience.

Both sides of the conflict are covered, along with the goddesses whose actions began the whole thing. Told in short chapters, the story moves from side to side, forward and backward, yet never loses the thread of the narrative. Their stories mostly follow the ancient texts, but often with a surprising twist. The women come alive, and even though their fate is already ordained, I couldn’t help but wish for different outcomes.

Especially captivating are the letter from Penelope to Odysseus, and Hector’s wife, Andromache’s, tragic tale.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

( Mount TBR 2023 Book Links 1-25 )

26. Bethany's Sin by Robert McCammon
27. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
28. The Tea Party by Charles L. Grant
29. Seeker (Alex Benedict #3) by Jack McDevitt
30. Jizzle by John Wyndham
31. The Taking by Dean Koontz
32. Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
33. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Goodreads 33

JUNE- Take the Plunge
“Read a book from any genre that is set on or near a body of water- lake, ocean, pool, river, etc.”

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

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Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

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