Customer Reviews

Medea

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4 star:		(2)
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Ever since James Frazer and Joseph Campbell, but moreso Robert Graves, I've been waiting for the 'real' story of mythological characters like Hera, say, or the Medusa; Crista Wolf's "Cassandra" and now "Medea" take me happily in that direction. I know Ms Wolf has a personal and political agenda. Admittedly, I had trouble getting started, largely because of similarities of voice in the early chapters, but once the plot begins I had no trouble following it and Medea herself down it's dark labyrinths. And I felt thoroughly gratified with her and at her sentiments at the end. Who hasn't reached that point, where the only gesture meaningful and appropriate is a raised middle digit--figuaratively speaking, of course? And who more than Medea has better cause? Except maybe the Medusa. What about it Ms Wolf?

How can anyone call this novel flat, I cannot understand. In less than 200 pages, Wolf has brilliantly captured the utter depravity than mankind can sink to through its own bigotry, hypocrisy, lying, selfishness and sense of self-preservation. Wolf has taken Darwin's survival of the fittest theory to its immoral extreme and has exploited the Lacanian objet art to its most devastating use. A society so enveloped in its own sense of emptiness and vileness, leading them to sacrifice a woman as an expiation of its evil, can only be beautifully and tragically rendered by a mistress story teller as Wolf. Atwood's introduction tells no lies, and I highly recommend this reading to anyone who is into the classics, contemporary culture, social studies and philosophy. This is Wolf's first novel that I have read and it most definitely will not be the last.

As a devout fan of the Medea story, I was a little doubtful as I opened the book. At first, the heightened language struck me as being counterproductive to the humanity that Wolfe seemed to strive for in the protagonist, but, as the story progressed, I found myself lured in by the characters, the basic approach, and the added details. I thought the chapter by Princess Glauce, a character often avoided or even mistreated in many versions, was particularly insightful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves this tale or interpretive approaches to traditional mythology.

Are you kidding? This is a fabulous retelling of the Medea story. I thought about it for days after. It might have been a little tricky getting into it, but it was well worth it. I loved the fact that, in this version, it is easy to believe Medea got a bum rap. The writing was evocative, the characters came to life, the story grabbed me. An admirable piece of work!

This book is one of the best if not the best Christa Wolf has ever written. It tells the story of Medea in a new uncommon way. It is not only Medea who appears in a different light then known from the myth. What makes me love this book is the way it is told. Nearly every chapter is told by a new person and gives a new point of view. Nevertheless, the story goes on, very smooth. I don't think that the language is difficult you just have to take your time to enjoy it. Of course is it possible to read this novel in one evening but then you would probably miss the atmosphere Christa Wolf created.

Margaret Atwood's brief introduction to this novel leads one to expect a feminist revision of the Medea story. Unfortunately, Wolf does not really do anything with the story except resurrect the characters. The story is supposed to be presented from the different perspectives of several of the characters. Chapter titles indicate who is speaking. If we were not told that the fictional narrator had changed, however, we would not know from anything presented in the story. They all have the same petulant, nagging tone. A writer must do something radical with such a story to justify a modern retelling, such as Joyce did with Ulysses. So often, modern writers assume that it is enough to diminish the characters and have them speak in an informal idiom. Wolf presents Jason as simply stupid, and Medea as a carping divorcée. The only twist Wolf gives to the story is to make Medea the innocent victim of false accusations. I guess that is supposed to be the feminist slant! ! . Yawn. Medea is so wonderfully horrific; we do not need this whining, watered-down contemporary version.