Retellings and widened imagingation
Octobers theme and recommendations
As a child I was always taken with Greek mythology. One summer we went to Corfu and my dad had picked up a small Greek myth book from a tiny gift shop, I still have this book to this day. I loved reading the stories and finding the same tales being told again and again each with different details, contextual backstories.
Obviously no story is a new story and you can find so many retellings and reimaginings if you look hard enough. When my daughter wants me to make up a story before bed I tend to tell her one of her favourite classics but from another point of view. She watches me transfixed, “why won’t they let him in” she asks about the pigs to the wolf. As we are told there are two sides to every story.
Books
I would love to restart the bookshelf bookclub again, now there are more of you here, if you have the time please feel welcome to join our small group. With the theme reimaginings and retellings I’ve turned my head to Shakespeare and have chosen to read Lady Macbethed by Isabelle Schuler.
Originally I was going to chose the newly released Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid, but after reading a few reviews where readers shared the same disappointment with the novel. From what I’ve read it’s targeted to a much younger audience and as someone who isn’t really into YA I’ve chosen to give it a miss
I chose a slightly older book Lady Macbethed. I find it really nerve racking selecting a book I’ve not yet personally read and can veto to read/recommend. But I am trying to lean into this as having an honest and unfiltered opinion. I plan to set up a group chat for us to talk by the end of the month. How it will work and finer details I’m not 100% sure!
Here are a selection of retellings that I would love to recommend.
Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler
The tagline online reads. Power. History. Love. Hate. Vengeance. She will be Queen. Whatever it takes.. I’m looking forward to reading a new and different take on Lady Macbeth.
James by Percival Everett
James is a retelling of huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. I was really taken by this retelling.I was originally worried that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it as much as if I had already read the original. But I can assure you that is not the case. I really enjoyed reading Everett’s perspective and can see why he is the front runner for so many literary prizes. His prose is easy and accessible whilst being thoughtful and clever.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Based on the Charles dickens novel David Copperfield Demon is a modern American retelling. Initially I was put off as David Copperfield isn’t my favourite novel. But this was fantastic. Barbara Kingslover is a very talented writer who managed to capture both the essence of the dickens novel whilst making it relevant and poignant. Her characters, but specifically for me Demon is someone who I think about often.
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Stone blind is a the telling of Medusa’s story. Her life before and after she was cursed. It took me a little while to find my feet with the novel but I did end up enjoying it. I have Jessie Burtons version Medusa on my bookshelf so I would love to see how they compare.
Alice (The chronicles of Alice) by Christina Henry
I read this years ago and loved the concept of Alice being told through the lens of her being mentally insane. I remember reading it when I was home alone and sleeping with the light on! It was a really great reimagining, however I do remember feeling that the sexual violence was particularly bad, and unnecessary. I enjoyed the book, but it scared me too much to want to read the others in the series!
The Girls by Emma Cline
When I was stood in the queue in the airport the year this was released I had no idea wha this book was about and it wasn’t until I got to the til and the cashier said to me in detail about Charles manston and what he did. My blank expression obviously conveyed I had no idea why she was talking about it. “That’s what the book is about dear” she said.
Thankfully it didn’t ruin the book, despite loving reading books that I know nothing about I was still able to become utterly fixated. I managed to finish the whole book on the flight to NYC and have picked up every single Cline book since. This one still remains to be my favourite of Clines novels.
Movie/Tv
10 Things I hate about you - Adapted from taming of the shrew. This is one of the most nostalgic movies for me. I remember when it came out at the cinema and my mum deemed it too mature for me to go see. My sisters went into screen 5 and instead I went into screen 7 to watch some star wars movie. I’m not quite over missing out! I love this movie, its feel good, great sound track and capsulates the 90s so perfectly.
Warm Bodies a zombie take on Romeo and Juliet. I love a cheesy movie. The acting and story is questionable. But it’s also nostalgic. so if you like a bad movie that’s pretty good. this is where it is at!
Clueless watch Paul Rudd at his best in Clueless the modern adaptation of Emma. I love the satire, I love the fashion. I am yet to read Emma but I’m interested to see how it is linked.
Retellings On my Radar
Private Rites by Julia Armfield - King Lear
Beautiful little fools by Jillian Cantor - Great Gatsby
Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Car Roberts - Moby Dick
Medusa by Nataly Gruender - Medusa
Lady Macbeth - Ava Reid - Macbeth