Customer Reviews

Joanna and Ulysses

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Unhappy and tightly wound Joanna goes to the beautiful island of Santorini for a much-needed vacation. She needs to heal after the war and her mother's death and finds the seclusion and lovely vistas of Santorini just what she needs to fill part of the void she feels in her heart. Despite her father's disapproval, she has turned to painting as her only outlet. But lovely Santorini, her self-imposed seclusion and the healing stokes of her craft are not enough. . . until she meets Ulysses, a little donkey that has been mistreated by his owners and finds the perfect outlet to begin feeling again. Sad little Ulysses helps her find her way back to being human and renews her hope for a future that otherwise seemed bleak. As Ulysses heals with Joanna's love and kindness, Joanna finds her compassion a balm that works on herself; suddenly she feels alive and necessary again. Recommended to all who love the Greek Isles, admire the fierce pride of the Greeks and above all know that a love of animals can help you brook many difficulties. A lovely story told within 125 pages.

My mother introduced me to this classic; I have given it to several people as gifts over the years, people heading to Greece for a vacation or people who love animals. I first read this book as a teen-ager, and have re-read it many times since. I love the simple, sweet story of how Joanna -- badly needing a vcation -- heads to Greece, where she meets Ulysses, an abused donkey. She nurses the donkey -- and herself -- back to health as they eat tomatoes and bread under the hot Greek sun, and Ulysses watches Joanna try to capture the Greek landscape with her paintings. Now and forever, whenever I think of Greece, I think of Joanna and Ulysses.

In "Joanna and Ulysses" May Sarton has achieved something of remarkable depth in what is a relatively short novel. It is the story of a thirty year old Athenian woman who ventures to the island of Santorini for a month. She has come for a holiday, although it is more for the purpose of escaping some painful aspects of her past and discovering her "true" self through her love of painting. We learn of the tragedy that befell Joanna's mother during the second world war, and the strained relationship she now shares with her aged father in Athens. In Joanna, May Sarton renders a character of considerable depth; she is a mixture of pathos and middle-aged sobriety comingled with a youthful naivete that manifests most immediately in her inheritance of "Ulysses" the donkey. Joanna rescues Ulysses from a pitiful fate upon her arrival in Santorini, and embarks upon a spiritual journey during the month that follows. Her relationship with the donkey and a couple of other characters on the island becomes symbolic of her life at large and in a large sense Joanna does indeed discover more of herself as a result of this curious sojourn.

May Sarton has captured not only a richness of character in her protagonists, but she as an author has painted a splendidly vivid and authentic picture of life in this very special Greek Island. Its energy, its culture and its natural charms are unique in real life, and it was a pleasure to read a tale that portrays this with the paradox of simplicity and depth that Santorini itself possesses. "Joanna and Ulysses" is a litle gem.

Another book bought for a friend that loves to read anything by May Sarton. I was told it was a good read. Arrived well packaged and in good condition. Recommend the seller.

Ahh the classic tale: Young poor but artistically endowed girl meets and falls in love with dirty scabby little donkey. Young poor but artistically endowed girl looses dirty slightly less scabby little donkey. The happy couple are reunited to heal young poor artistcally endowed girl's broken family. It's nice, but a little on the sappy side (don't tell my Mom I said that, May Sarton is her favorite author) an interesting counterpart to her rather pensive journals and poetry.