Review: Circe by Madeline Miller
Tia
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Clichéd pseudo-feminism. Ugh.
This has been a majorly popular book, often lauded as a feminist retelling of Greek mythology.
Well, well, well.
Here is what I have to say about that:
- Circe is consumed with admiration for the male characters whom her life revolves around. She constantly craves the love and approval of men, and is self-pitying when rejected. But does she overcome this to carve out her own identity and agency? Nah.
- Circe goes from the clumsy, unpopular, awkward, ugly duckling character into a fierce, independent, ‘strong woman’! Swinging a character between extremes like this only makes them comical and contrived, not well developed.
- The author specifically orchestrates a scene for Circe to be sexually assaulted, to provide a cheap semblance of character development. For this scene to occur, Circe’s abilities and knowledge are conveniently forgotten. That is, the author dumbed down the character so that she could be sexually assaulted.
- Circe turns the men who assaulted her into pigs, until her boyfriend comes and tells her to calm down. Circe obediently gets over it and turns all the men back into humans. Hmm..
I couldn’t find a single thread of feminism in what I read, and decided to abandon this book without finishing.
As well as the misleading marketing, it was just plain boring and lacking depth.
The writing is dribbling with sickly sweet run-on sentences. It felt like being inside the aesthetic of a dreamy perfume commercial, where youthful women wearing silk gowns frolic in slow motion through fields, caressing flowers with their fingertips. Absolutely cloying.
Things that can actually be learnt from this book:
- Calling something feminist is a great marketing strategy to boost sales.
- Retelling a story from a female perspective doesn’t in itself make your book feminist.
- General readers of this book may have a limited understanding of feminism.
ZERO out of five!
If you’re looking for a genuine feminist story, I would recommend Lolly Willowes. Lolly’s happy ending does not depend on men. Through introspective reflection she gains a sense of peace.
