Jennifer’s review of Clytemnestra > Likes and Comments
157 likes · Like
Eagerly awaiting this review 🥳
How do you write such entertaining reviews?
I lurv a good hate review. 😊
...I find Casati's writing clunky and imprecise;...
I suspect the author was attempting to ape the ancient Greek Epic storytelling convention in the ubiquity of the unlikable female protagonist Millennial novel?
Charles wrote: "I lurv a good hate review. 😊
...I find Casati's writing clunky and imprecise;...
I suspect the author was attempting to ape the ancient Greek Epic storytelling convention in the ubiquity of the u..."
Yeah, it's possible. But I would 100% rather reread Homer in translation than this slop. That reminds me - I have Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad on my shelf. Maybe I should get to it sooner rather than later.
Joy wrote: "How do you write such entertaining reviews?"
Thanks, Joy! Hate reviews are always more entertaining to read (and write).
I was hanging on every cheap polyester word of this review the stains of my saliva covering up the stained patches where my beard should be. My heart is racing like GTO Gran Turismo and I never want it to end like.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "I was hanging on every cheap polyester word of this review the stains of my saliva covering up the stained patches where my beard should be. My heart is racing like GTO Gran Turismo and I never wan..."
😂 Thank you, Justin. I love it.
Ah, so much polyester prose and so little silk ones... Sigh
Thanks for the review, there no way I could appreciate this book!
Jennifer, I’m shamelessly borrowing stealing all these gems for future use: “to call the dialogue wooden would be an insult to trees”, “polyester writing” and “treacly sentimentality”. Your reviews make awful books worth it 😆
(Poor vitiligo warrior with grape-juice-stained beard 😆😆😆)
I am not a Miller fan, but her writing is indeed silk...
Hirondelle wrote: "I am not a Miller fan, but her writing is indeed silk..."
I've only read Circe, and somehow have yet to get around Song for Achilles (meh?), so maybe I like Miller's writing more than I like the stories she has to tell. Leagues beyond Jennifer Saint or Costanza Casati in terms of smoothness, rhythm, and interesting imagery.
Nataliya wrote: "Jennifer, I’m shamelessly borrowing stealing all these gems for future use: “to call the dialogue wooden would be an insult to trees”, “polyester writing” and “treacly sentimentality”. Your reviews..."
Steal away! But I hope you won't encounter such a stinker for a long time.
Hélène wrote: "Ah, so much polyester prose and so little silk ones... Sigh
Thanks for the review, there no way I could appreciate this book!"
Definitely, avoid the polyester prose of the world!
Song of Achilles will be a bit of the same in prose quality - not disappointing. I listed to Circe in audiobook, narrated by Perdita Weeks (so good I noted down her name and still remember it) and that prose was well, amazing outloud and in the "hands" of a good actress.
Excellent review, Jennifer! I'm now even gladder that I gave this a hard pass when it was on offer for review. :)
Marquise wrote: "Excellent review, Jennifer! I'm now even gladder that I gave this a hard pass when it was on offer for review. :)"
Thanks! Hard pass is right.
So, I tried staining my chin with dark red grapes (no black grapes available), and after peeling and macerating the skin during a very boring work meeting, the most I could manage was a very light pink. No chance would this show up on a dark beard, if you could even eat grapes messily enough to dribble. Black grapes next!
Jennifer wrote: "So, I tried staining my chin with dark red grapes (no black grapes available) ... the most I could manage was a very light pink." ...
Its the Millennial Mantra, that "If there ain't no pics, it never happened." 😉
I completely agree with your review, considering a DNF
Well Tantalus, the husband of Clytemnestra, was an actual character in an Ancient Greek play, who was killed by Agamemnon, so she didn’t make him up. However, I agree that it was poorly written. Also, Tantalus the cursed son of Zeus WAS Menelaus and Agamemnon’s great great grandfather
I've been slowly slogging through this for weeks and I'm considering a DNF at 64%. I came back to read reviews to see what everyone else liked about it, but your review summed up my experience the best.
I like the idea behind the book, but the writing has been getting in the way for me. It just seems stilted, especially in the copious use of awkward similes. They're tacked on to the ends of so many sentences that really don't need them.
Plus, while Clytemnestra is definitely given plenty of justification for revenge, she's not given a lot of character development. Throughout the book, we're told that she's strong and fiercely protective of her family, but that's about it. Since the outlines of the plot are set already, I was hoping for a more three-dimensional main character.
This was a DNF for me. Clumsy writing is correct. Using all-caps to indicate yelling is a no-no for me, and I’m laughing about the warrior with dry yellow patches on his back. My favorite part was “Odysseus grins, shaking his hands.” I doubt he was stimming but that Casati couldn’t decide between shaking his head and raising his hands.
As I sit here wondering if this book will ever end - this review gives me strength.
thank you for putting my frustration into words
While I agree that the writing can be a bit clunky, you should’ve done your research a little better because Tantalus was actually the name of Clytemnestra’s first husband who was murdered by Agamemnon in the myth. He is different than the Tantalus you are referencing.
Absolutely incredible review — 12/10, would read this review repeated over and over for 500 pages instead of the original book
it's extremely hard to take this review seriously when you start it out admitting that you are so unfamiliar with greek myth that you don't know about the version of the myth in which clytemnestra's first husband is a man called tantalus, which is a version that exists at least as far back as euripides's iphigenia at aulis (as far as i know) which dates back to the classical period.
Tantalus is present in Greek mythology, e.g Iphigenia in Aulis: "CLYTEMNESTRA: thou didst take and wed me, after slaying Tantalus, my former husband, and dashing my babe on the ground alive, when thou hadst torn him from my breast with brutal violence"
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Nataliya
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Mar 02, 2024 06:38PM
Eagerly awaiting this review 🥳
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How do you write such entertaining reviews?
I lurv a good hate review. 😊...I find Casati's writing clunky and imprecise;...
I suspect the author was attempting to ape the ancient Greek Epic storytelling convention in the ubiquity of the unlikable female protagonist Millennial novel?
Charles wrote: "I lurv a good hate review. 😊...I find Casati's writing clunky and imprecise;...
I suspect the author was attempting to ape the ancient Greek Epic storytelling convention in the ubiquity of the u..."
Yeah, it's possible. But I would 100% rather reread Homer in translation than this slop. That reminds me - I have Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad on my shelf. Maybe I should get to it sooner rather than later.
Joy wrote: "How do you write such entertaining reviews?"
Thanks, Joy! Hate reviews are always more entertaining to read (and write).
I was hanging on every cheap polyester word of this review the stains of my saliva covering up the stained patches where my beard should be. My heart is racing like GTO Gran Turismo and I never want it to end like.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "I was hanging on every cheap polyester word of this review the stains of my saliva covering up the stained patches where my beard should be. My heart is racing like GTO Gran Turismo and I never wan..."😂 Thank you, Justin. I love it.
Ah, so much polyester prose and so little silk ones... Sigh Thanks for the review, there no way I could appreciate this book!
Jennifer, I’m shamelessly (Poor vitiligo warrior with grape-juice-stained beard 😆😆😆)
I am not a Miller fan, but her writing is indeed silk...
Hirondelle wrote: "I am not a Miller fan, but her writing is indeed silk..."I've only read Circe, and somehow have yet to get around Song for Achilles (meh?), so maybe I like Miller's writing more than I like the stories she has to tell. Leagues beyond Jennifer Saint or Costanza Casati in terms of smoothness, rhythm, and interesting imagery.
Nataliya wrote: "Jennifer, I’m shamelessly borrowing stealing all these gems for future use: “to call the dialogue wooden would be an insult to trees”, “polyester writing” and “treacly sentimentality”. Your reviews..."
Steal away! But I hope you won't encounter such a stinker for a long time.
Hélène wrote: "Ah, so much polyester prose and so little silk ones... Sigh
Thanks for the review, there no way I could appreciate this book!"
Definitely, avoid the polyester prose of the world!
Song of Achilles will be a bit of the same in prose quality - not disappointing. I listed to Circe in audiobook, narrated by Perdita Weeks (so good I noted down her name and still remember it) and that prose was well, amazing outloud and in the "hands" of a good actress.
Excellent review, Jennifer! I'm now even gladder that I gave this a hard pass when it was on offer for review. :)
Marquise wrote: "Excellent review, Jennifer! I'm now even gladder that I gave this a hard pass when it was on offer for review. :)"Thanks! Hard pass is right.
So, I tried staining my chin with dark red grapes (no black grapes available), and after peeling and macerating the skin during a very boring work meeting, the most I could manage was a very light pink. No chance would this show up on a dark beard, if you could even eat grapes messily enough to dribble. Black grapes next!
Jennifer wrote: "So, I tried staining my chin with dark red grapes (no black grapes available) ... the most I could manage was a very light pink." ...Its the Millennial Mantra, that "If there ain't no pics, it never happened." 😉
I completely agree with your review, considering a DNF
Well Tantalus, the husband of Clytemnestra, was an actual character in an Ancient Greek play, who was killed by Agamemnon, so she didn’t make him up. However, I agree that it was poorly written. Also, Tantalus the cursed son of Zeus WAS Menelaus and Agamemnon’s great great grandfather
I've been slowly slogging through this for weeks and I'm considering a DNF at 64%. I came back to read reviews to see what everyone else liked about it, but your review summed up my experience the best. I like the idea behind the book, but the writing has been getting in the way for me. It just seems stilted, especially in the copious use of awkward similes. They're tacked on to the ends of so many sentences that really don't need them.
Plus, while Clytemnestra is definitely given plenty of justification for revenge, she's not given a lot of character development. Throughout the book, we're told that she's strong and fiercely protective of her family, but that's about it. Since the outlines of the plot are set already, I was hoping for a more three-dimensional main character.
This was a DNF for me. Clumsy writing is correct. Using all-caps to indicate yelling is a no-no for me, and I’m laughing about the warrior with dry yellow patches on his back. My favorite part was “Odysseus grins, shaking his hands.” I doubt he was stimming but that Casati couldn’t decide between shaking his head and raising his hands.
As I sit here wondering if this book will ever end - this review gives me strength.
thank you for putting my frustration into words
While I agree that the writing can be a bit clunky, you should’ve done your research a little better because Tantalus was actually the name of Clytemnestra’s first husband who was murdered by Agamemnon in the myth. He is different than the Tantalus you are referencing.
Absolutely incredible review — 12/10, would read this review repeated over and over for 500 pages instead of the original book
it's extremely hard to take this review seriously when you start it out admitting that you are so unfamiliar with greek myth that you don't know about the version of the myth in which clytemnestra's first husband is a man called tantalus, which is a version that exists at least as far back as euripides's iphigenia at aulis (as far as i know) which dates back to the classical period.
Tantalus is present in Greek mythology, e.g Iphigenia in Aulis: "CLYTEMNESTRA: thou didst take and wed me, after slaying Tantalus, my former husband, and dashing my babe on the ground alive, when thou hadst torn him from my breast with brutal violence"
