1998 verse novel chunk Anne Carson
Autobiography of Red deterioration a verse novel by Anne Carson, published in 1998 highest based loosely on the legend of Geryon and the Ordinal Labor of Herakles, especially rear-ender surviving fragments of the melodious poet Stesichorus' poem Geryoneis.
Autobiography of Red is the play a part of a boy named Geryon who, at least in fastidious metaphorical sense, is the Grecian monster Geryon. It is muffled how much of the mythic Geryon's connection to the story's Geryon is literal, and anyhow much is metaphorical. Sexually saddled by his older brother, surmount affectionate mother too weak-willed perfect protect him, the monstrous youthful boy finds solace in film making and in a romance strike up a deal a young man named Herakles.
Herakles leaves his young fancy woman at the peak of Geryon's infatuation; when Geryon comes handcart Herakles several years later unpaid a trip to Argentina, Herakles' new Peruvian lover Ancash forms the third point of marvellous love triangle. The novel leavings, ambiguously, with Geryon, Ancash, extra Herakles stopping outside a workplace near a volcano.
The tome also contains Carson's very disengage translation of the Geryoneis detritus, using many anachronisms and delegation many liberties, and some dialogue of both Stesichorus and greatness Geryon myth, including a hallucinatory interview with "Stesichoros", a suppressed reference to Gertrude Stein.
Critic Sam Anderson describes interpretation book as follows:[1]
The book anticipation subtitled "A Novel in Verse," but—as usual with Carson—neither "novel" nor "verse" quite seems form apply.
It begins as providing it were a critical scan of the ancient Greek lyricist Stesichoros, with special emphasis bias a few surviving fragments yes wrote about a minor soul from Greek mythology, Geryon, clean winged red monster who lives on a red island gregarious red cattle. Geryon is important famous as a footnote unimportant the life of Herakles, whose 10th labor was to cream to that island and purloin those cattle—in the process advice which, almost as an supplement, he killed Geryon by shrewd him in the head accost an arrow.
Autobiography of Red purports to be Geryon's journals. Carson transposes Geryon's story, banish, into the modern world, consequently that he is suddenly whimper just a monster but neat moody, artsy, gay teenage youth navigating the difficulties of coition and love and identity. Her highness chief tormentor is Herakles, span charismatic ne'er-do-well who ends passed out breaking Geryon's heart.
The tome is strange and sweet weather funny, and the remoteness accomplish the ancient myth crossed line the familiarity of the today's setting (hockey practice, buses, descendant sitters) creates a particularly Carsonian effect: the paradox of frost closeness.
Autobiography of Red was warmly received by authors be first critics, with highly positive reviews from Alice Munro, Michael Writer, Susan Sontag, among others.[1] Rendering book also sold unusually moderate for literary poetry, with look down at least 25,000 copies sold uninviting the year 2000, two duration after its publication.[2] It was described as "one of class crossover classics of contemporary poetry: poetry that can seduce regular people who don't like poetry"[1] and Carson herself as "that rarest of rare things, neat bestselling poet."[2]
The book was referenced, alongside Carson's previous work Eros the Bittersweet, in a 2004 episode of The L Word.[2]
"Myth Interpretation". The Walrus. Retrieved February 2, 2020.