Even though I suppose it is a bit uncreative, I do like books that rewrite other books from the perspective of a different character - like Gregory Maguire's Wicked (The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West); Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea (featuring Rochester's wife from Jane Eyre); and of course, Stoppard's Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead (from Hamlet), so when I read a review of Lavinia, I was intrigued. For those who remember their classics, Lavinia is Aeneas's wife, from Virgil's The Aeniad. In the poet's version, Lavinia appears only briefly and never speaks. LeGuin writes her novel from Lavinia's perspective - growing up as the daughter of the king who faces the biggest decision of her life: who will she choose to marry and what will her choice mean for the fate of her people? Throughout the book, LeGuin retells parts of both The Illiad and The Aeneid - which I found useful as a reminder, but also distracting. Through Lavinia, I realized that the trouble with books that retell stories from a different perspective is that you pretty much already know what's going to happen. This problem is compounded in Lavinia because Lavinia speaks with the poet/oracle who lays out her future in uncanny detail - then all we need to do is sit back and watch it all unfold. It makes everything so anti-climactic. LeGuin's writing, however, is beautiful - and in some ways it was nice to pretty much know the story so I could just enjoy her lyrical prose - which I also found interesting - she chose to write this book in prose, despite the fact that The Aeniad is in verse, yet her style evoked much of the same emotion. The other aspect of this book I found intriguing was Lavinia's very forward-thinking even feminist perspective on everything. Imposing this persona on Lavinia seemed too unrealistic given the period she is from, but upon further reflection I decided that if I were going to augment some of the famous women in literary history (Eve, Penelope, Ophelia as just a few examples that spring to mind), I'd give them independence and fire too. That LeGuin is able to do this while still paying tribute to Virgil's genius is a reflection of her talent as a writer and storyteller.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Lavinia - Ursula K. LeGuin
Even though I suppose it is a bit uncreative, I do like books that rewrite other books from the perspective of a different character - like Gregory Maguire's Wicked (The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West); Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea (featuring Rochester's wife from Jane Eyre); and of course, Stoppard's Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead (from Hamlet), so when I read a review of Lavinia, I was intrigued. For those who remember their classics, Lavinia is Aeneas's wife, from Virgil's The Aeniad. In the poet's version, Lavinia appears only briefly and never speaks. LeGuin writes her novel from Lavinia's perspective - growing up as the daughter of the king who faces the biggest decision of her life: who will she choose to marry and what will her choice mean for the fate of her people? Throughout the book, LeGuin retells parts of both The Illiad and The Aeneid - which I found useful as a reminder, but also distracting. Through Lavinia, I realized that the trouble with books that retell stories from a different perspective is that you pretty much already know what's going to happen. This problem is compounded in Lavinia because Lavinia speaks with the poet/oracle who lays out her future in uncanny detail - then all we need to do is sit back and watch it all unfold. It makes everything so anti-climactic. LeGuin's writing, however, is beautiful - and in some ways it was nice to pretty much know the story so I could just enjoy her lyrical prose - which I also found interesting - she chose to write this book in prose, despite the fact that The Aeniad is in verse, yet her style evoked much of the same emotion. The other aspect of this book I found intriguing was Lavinia's very forward-thinking even feminist perspective on everything. Imposing this persona on Lavinia seemed too unrealistic given the period she is from, but upon further reflection I decided that if I were going to augment some of the famous women in literary history (Eve, Penelope, Ophelia as just a few examples that spring to mind), I'd give them independence and fire too. That LeGuin is able to do this while still paying tribute to Virgil's genius is a reflection of her talent as a writer and storyteller.
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