by Jessie Burton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
”you could cut off my head, and still not end the myth.”
This is divine! It is Jessie Burton’s inspirational story written for all women. We are given not only redemption for both Medusa herself, but for every woman living in today’s world, and throughout the ages.
This is not the Medusa story you know. Although, as one can assume with any story in which there is a hero with a sword and a gaze of snakes that turns men into stone, it does not end well for everyone.
Easily read over an evening, afternoon, or weekend this short novel packs a punch in its retelling of the stories for both Perseus and Medusa. My absolute favourite parts are when Medusa talks to her snakes (who have names!). As a snake owner I can tell you I talk to them all the time! I talk to my dog and husband too, but my discourse with my big boa is different as the narrative is distinctly one sided. Burton shows us the catharsis of speaking about traumatic events, and that having a listener is often all someone needs.
This brilliantly put together story should be in the hands of every woman in the world. It is a reminder that our beauty is not there to be exploited by others, that we can break free of constraints and make our own fate, and that ultimately us ladies belong to no one but ourselves. We can leave enduring stories behind, and while the matriarchy may twist those stories to make them more favourable to the ‘hero’, there will always be someone, like Burton, who can reclaim the story for what it should be and remind us all that women are neither weak, nor property to be owned.
This is a brilliantly twisted story that reinforces women’s strength and endurance. Burton is saying, and allowing her reader to say, I am woman hear me HISS!
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My rating: 5 of 5 stars
”you could cut off my head, and still not end the myth.”
This is divine! It is Jessie Burton’s inspirational story written for all women. We are given not only redemption for both Medusa herself, but for every woman living in today’s world, and throughout the ages.
This is not the Medusa story you know. Although, as one can assume with any story in which there is a hero with a sword and a gaze of snakes that turns men into stone, it does not end well for everyone.
Easily read over an evening, afternoon, or weekend this short novel packs a punch in its retelling of the stories for both Perseus and Medusa. My absolute favourite parts are when Medusa talks to her snakes (who have names!). As a snake owner I can tell you I talk to them all the time! I talk to my dog and husband too, but my discourse with my big boa is different as the narrative is distinctly one sided. Burton shows us the catharsis of speaking about traumatic events, and that having a listener is often all someone needs.
This brilliantly put together story should be in the hands of every woman in the world. It is a reminder that our beauty is not there to be exploited by others, that we can break free of constraints and make our own fate, and that ultimately us ladies belong to no one but ourselves. We can leave enduring stories behind, and while the matriarchy may twist those stories to make them more favourable to the ‘hero’, there will always be someone, like Burton, who can reclaim the story for what it should be and remind us all that women are neither weak, nor property to be owned.
This is a brilliantly twisted story that reinforces women’s strength and endurance. Burton is saying, and allowing her reader to say, I am woman hear me HISS!
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1 comment:
I just recently learned aout the symbolic meaning od Medusa and her connection to trauma and survival. This might be just the right story to enforce my new found knowledge.
Also, did you mean to write 'matriarchy' in that second-to-last sentence, or was that a Freudian slip of sorts? ;)
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