The F-word discussion

We will be kicking off the new year with our first fiction read, Circe by Madeline Miller.
From Goodreads:

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

I found this book to be so captivating and it told such an interesting story. Miller's book will also be adapted by HBO for a mini series which I think could be really wonderful. Hope everyone enjoys the book!

Just got my copy. Realized it was already on my to-read list.

i always liked reading mythology stories when i was in school, so i never felt like it was torture reading any of them as opposed to a lot of the other stuff we were forced to read. i definitely remember reading the odyssey, about the minotaur, icarus, and many other stories, and although i dont remember hearing much about circe, i do remember the name so she mustve been mentioned at some point. it was interesting seeing stories i already kind of had some familiarity with from her perspective and to learn more about her story. ordinarily i may not have bothered to read this because it is almost like something i would have been required to read back when i was in school, but being that more than one book club i am in chose it i decided to give it a shot and have to say i did enjoy it so i may look into reading more mythology type books in the future.

I finally received a copy from the library and read it in one day- so yes, it was captivating. But, I wonder, did anyone else feel disappointed by how much space individual men take up in her story? (view spoiler)[ Moreover, with her history of being rejected and disappointed many times over, her longing for uncomplicated acceptance/love might be understandable, but don’t you think a woman with her powers might think of something more than “travel, found a happy family, be a doting wife who dies alongside her husband” (which to me appears to be the standard plot for the mainstream “modern woman”) ? (hide spoiler)]

I enjoyed it, but I was surprised by all the hype that's been around this book. It seemed like an enjoyable beach-read. Some of the prose was very pretty, and I thought it did a good job of evoking the feel of Aegean Islands.

Jo, I agree, the plot is fine for what it is. There's plenty of comfort reading to be had from (view spoiler)[girl has a shitty family and a bad childhood by grows up to accept herself and find love and happiness and start her own family (hide spoiler)] but it's hardly ambitious!

I've had a glance at the reviews of this book on Goodreads, and it's interesting that, if the reviewer cares much about feminism, they seem to be divided into:

'This is good feminism because it shows how horrible patriarchal families are, and that you can leave them eventually.'

and

'This is bad feminism because it's really just a story about a woman getting bullied, not doing much on an island, having relationships with men. Where's the power and politics?'