Micro Review 14

 

Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes (Pan Macmillan)

Regular readers will have hopefully picked up on my love of mythology and Haynes' writing style and will thus be unsurprised that I though this book simply wonderful.

Pandora's Jar is a non fiction book taking a critical look at many of the females in classical literature and then their portrayal in art and literature through the centuries since. Fans of Haynes' previous work will not be surprised to find that the original tales were often very different to the tales we know today.

That Pandora had a jar not a box is just the start of this look at the original stories and their subsequent retellings and the reasons for the alterations. The classic Harryhausen film Jason and the Argonauts would have been quite different if the original source material had been used too...

Looking into the retelling, simplifying and reworking of 'classics' fascinates me - to the extent that I wrote my MA dissertation on the topic. This book reminded me of the research I found so enthralling whilst also making me laughing out loud (and snorting in disgust) at the points Haynes, in her inimitable way, makes.

Another book that I know I will dip in and out of in the future.