I’m relishing a captivating read that has generated a bit of book buzz in the last few months. Published in April, Circe is the story of the infamous sorceress with whom Odysseus matches wits in The Odyssey. A re-imagining of her life as an outcast goddess and the circumstances that led her to an island exile. It was the connection to the Odyssey which hooked me into reading, but thus far, it’s impressed beyond my expectations.
TEASER TUESDAY is a weekly book meme hosted by The Purple Booker. Anyone can join, just open your current read to a random page and choose two ‘teaser’ sentences (no spoilers, just enticing bait to lure would-be readers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments. As always, I add an extra line or two of text, if needed, to complete the thought.
Circe | Madeline Miller, 385 pgs.
The worst of my cowardice had been sweated out. In its place was a giddy spark. I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. I stepped into those woods and my life began. –p. 81
More a conniving of the Titans than a clash of them, Circe is fiercely told with all of the rivalries, intrigue, and strange and unusual tales recounted from cherished myths and ancient legends. Miller employs stunningly beautiful language, but also embraces the demented accounts of these gods and monsters with gusto. If an offhanded comment told without remorse, about a god swallowing it’s babies whole so as to never be challenged by an heir might trouble your sensibility, Circe may be too twisted for you. Once I abandoned thoughts of the characters as humans, I embraced the debauchery.
What has you turning the pages this week?
The Scented Library 
Ooh, I love a good banishment tale. Romeo and Juliet’s probably the go-to on account of lover boy’s banishment from Verona, but I prefer real OG styles – Paradise Lost. Have you ever read it (or maybe been forced to read it; I’ve run across it in numerous English classes over my education)? Milton paints such an incredibly sympathetic portrait of Satan. I actually suspected that a classmate dropped the second year English lit class we were taking because we were lingering just a bit too long – and with too much relish – on Paradise Lost. I *might* just have to reread it. And this one as well.
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I guess I enjoy a banishing tale myself. It would be an interesting world if banishment was a legitimate punishment today. I don’t think I’m up for Paradise Lost, however. I tend to be careful of just how dark I submerge my psyche when reading, I have created visceral images based on texts I’ve read that I wish I could banish from my mind, but can’t.
Romeo & Juliet, though, laughable in some ways, gorgeous in others<3
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Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? By Holly Bourne
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Hi, thanks for linking, I need to do that more often. Loving your blog design, very pretty😊
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Thank youuu! You have a beautiful blog too!
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