The Penelopiad

De: Margaret Atwood

Narrado por: Laural Merlington

For Penelope, wife of Odysseus, maintaining a kingdom while her husband was off fighting the Trojan War was not a simple business. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, Penelope must bring up her wayward son, face down scandalous rumours, and keep over 100 lustful, greedy, and bloodthirsty suitors at bay....

And then, when Odysseus finally returns and slaughters the murderous suitors, he brutally hangs Penelope's 12 beloved maids. What were his motives? And what was Penelope really up to?

©2005 O.W. Toad Ltd. (P)2012 Canongate Books

The chanting of maidens is distracting

The story is good, and interesting, but it is hard to continue with the book because of the chanting from the maidens. Especially the frequency of it.

A fantastic read with excellent narration!

I was so impressed with this book. It absolutely stands as an outstanding contribution to the mythologically-based fiction genre. The pacing keeps you engaged, and the story Atwood chooses to tell is refreshing and enticing. The narrator does an amazing job at capturing the tone and attitude of Penelope, and the Chorus of Maids segments were haunting and immersive.

(There are two editing errors in the audiobook, both where a paragraph is read twice, and there is also classical music playing during these errors? Not a big deal, but worth mentioning!)

Great story, narration—not so good

I love Atwood. Her work is always interesting, insightful, and beautifully crafted, and if what you want is an Atwood novel, this is a good. That said, the sound effects and narration style made me deeply consider returning the book, specifically the effects for the maidens voices was just poorly done. The main narrator is otherwise ok.

Interesting take on an old tale

Creative and curious- almost makes we want to re read the stories of greek and Roman gods.

Witty Reimagining of a Classic Greek Tale

It was a solid retelling of one of my favorite Greek poems. Penelope gets overlooked in Homer’s original work, but Atwood brings her to the forefront. As a character, Penelope doesn’t feel untouchable. In fact, she feels relatable in every way. From her average appearance to her lack of luck, she the common person. I enjoyed how she told her side of The Odyssey and her cleverness and feistiness is appreciated.

Chapter xxiv

Atwood’s epic tale as told by Penelope gives us an honest look. Note the anthropology lecture!

Great story

Quite enjoyed hearing about this famous story from Penelope’s view and the maids. There were some odd things about the audio. It was hard to get through the maids’ chapters without also having the book in front of me to read along. The chapters on audible didn’t line up with the book. Some chapters started in the middle. A few paragraphs were repeated. Just some bad editing. But the story was great!