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    Alcestis: A Novel
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    Alcestis: A Novel
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    Alcestis: A Novel
    Ebook348 pages

    Alcestis: A Novel

    By Katharine Beutner

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    “[A]n engaging, subversive reimagining of the tale of the eponymous Greek heroine who is upheld as a shining example of the dutiful wife” (Jacqueline Carey).
     
    In Greek mythology, Alcestis is known as the good wife; she loved her husband so much that she died and went to the underworld in his place.
     
    This compelling new take on the classic story gives voice to the woman behind the ideal: What were her true motivations? And what happened to Alcestis in the three days she spent in the afterlife?
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateFeb 1, 2010
    ISBN9781569478431
    Author

    Katharine Beutner

    Katharine Beutner is an assistant professor of English at the College of Wooster in Ohio; previously, she taught at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Her first novel, Alcestis (Soho Press, 2010), won the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award in 2011 and was a finalist for other awards, including the Lambda Literary Association's Lesbian Debut Fiction Award. Her writing has appeared in Tinfish, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, The Toast, TriQuarterly, Humanities, and other publications. Recently, she received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. She is the editor in chief of The Dodge, a magazine of eco-writing and translation, and lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

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    Reviews for Alcestis

    3.5/5

    43 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book really takes a turn in the last third, a very interesting, subversive turn. I really liked it; it definitely stretched my mind. I am sure some will be grossed out or hate it, or disturbed. The heroine's evolution isn't wholly believable and I was often felt the author was confused as her charactar in certain scenes. The live in the stultifying world she must return to. Would she look Admetus inthe eye and say, " No, i don't agree. That's stupid" Would she still subsume her own needs for his attention? How would he handle this new wife? How would her sacrifice affect the balance of power inher marriage? With the people of the city/state? Alas, those questios are not answered. But there is plenty to ponder on in this book. I read it in the store. I will probably buy it at some point for my own slow and thorough reading in the future.
    • 4/5
      A curious book, beautifully written with elegant prose and a very vivid visual sense of the scenes being described, which nevertheless feels rather empty at times. There was much I liked about it: the evocation of the archaic social world of Greece; the description of the haunting, shifting quality of the underworld (tricky to pull off well but which Beutner managed with Dantesque flair); and the nuanced handling of relationships between the characters, particularly Alcestis and her sister, and then between Alcestis and Admetus. I also liked the way that Beutner made the gods real in a simple, matter-of-fact way that made them seem like a natural part of life.The take on Hades and Persephone was intriguing and I wished we'd seen a little more of it: Persephone, capricious, dazzling and captivating, is far from being a victim here. She's rather different from the mental image I'd always had of her, as was the quiet, eerie, watchful Hades. Beutner's take on what happens to Alcestis is unusual, cleverly subverting the myth of the woman who sacrifices herself through love for her husband. However Alcestis is a slightly uneven character: she doesn't really come into her own until she enters the underworld; and then in a not entirely convincing way... I couldn't quite settle her character in my mind, though I found her engaging and sympathetic - but her spark into self-awareness wasn't completely convincing considering her placid acceptance of a rather miserable fate earlier in the book.As I said, it's a curious synthesis. When I began the book, I thought it was going to be a straightforward four stars, but it wasn't, quite. And yet, for all that, the writing is beautiful - even if the characterisation isn't always rock-solid - and it's a really interesting, haunting reworking of a familiar story. I liked it a lot - but there was something not quite fully-formed at its heart. Still one of the most convincing attempts to rework a Greek myth into fiction, and certainly worth picking up if you enjoy historical fiction set in the ancient world.
    • 3/5
      I'm torn on this one. It was spellbinding, but in a soft, dusty way -- Alcestis as a character is too obedient for most of her life to have any colour to her. The bit in the Underworld is still quite colourless, quite literally, except for Persephone. I was actually more interested in the relationship between Hades and Persephone than that between Persephone and Alcestis. I wanted to understand them, what made them tick, what made them volatile.I understand that there's actually a degree of historical accuracy here to way a real Alcestis would've lived, just with the gods treated as a rational part of everyday life as well, but she seems so meek and resigned -- until she's in the Underworld. I can appreciate the liberation of a female character from a stifling traditional role that must have been so flattering to the men in that male dominated world, and it makes sense it could happen in the Underworld, where the rules of life don't apply.I guess in summary, I just didn't fall for it. There were some lovely sections, gorgeous imagery, and there was some interesting interplay between characters, but all in all it didn't work for me.
    • 1/5
      Started out great, giving Alcestis' backstory while growing up and was good through her marriage, but I lost her when we got to Hades and her adventures there. I skimmed most of it set in Hades, then finished up. Her dealings with Persephone were not believable and made me uncomfortable. I enjoyed most the author's comments at the back. Cover misled me; such an atmospheric cover made me eager to read the story.
    • 4/5
      This falls into the fantasy genre, I think. I normally read historical fiction, but my interest in Greek mythology caused me to pick this up. I have kept my personal tastes in mind while writing this review. The first half of this novel is wonderful. Readers meet Alcestis, grand daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea. Alcestis's mother died birthing her and her father is a cruel man who really has nothing to do with his daughters. Therefore, Alcestis grows attached to her sisters, and one in particular, Hippothoe. When Hippothoe dies of what nowdays would be called an asthma attack, Alcestis must overcome her grief and while doing so, she comes of age for marriage. A persistant suitor wins her hand thanks to the god Apollo. Alcestis marries and discovers her husband and Apollo, the sun god, have more than a mere god and mortal relationship. An even bigger surprise is in store for her tho when Hermes comes to take her husband to the Underworld (land of the dead) and Alcestis goes in his place. The second half takes place in the Underworld, the land of three headed dogs and gates with minds of the their own. Here, Alcestis begins a cat and mouse game with Persophone, goddess of the Underworld. They begin a lusty and often hateful relationship. What I did not like about the last half of the book is everyone begins speaking in riddles. It takes poor Alcestis forever to find her dead sister. Or will she find her at all? A good debut.
    • 3/5
      Greek mythology has been a major interest of mine since childhood, and I was always fascinated by the figure of Persephone. I feel that Beutner did a wonderful job of portraying this most complex of goddesses in a totally new manner. Alcestis herself, however, steadily lost interest for me. Perhaps this was because women in that place and time were such non-entities to begin with (because that's all they were allowed to be). I was eager to get this book, and initially loved the poetic quality of the writing, and the attention to historical detail. Of course I realize that seeing Alcestis as essentially lifeless may have been the intention of the author... but I don't want to give too much away. Lovers of Greek literature and mythology should not let my lukewarm review dissuade them; I did feel it was a worthwhile read.