The Greek Mythology Book Tag

Flip That Page has created the Greek Mythology Book Tag, and since this is a popular type of posts on wordpress.com, I also thought I would give it a go. I also slightly re-worked the original tag framework. 

• Zeus (Jupiter): God of the Sky and Thunder / King of the Gods

Favourite book: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 

Richard Yates has created a fascinating, heart-breaking account of one couple – the Wheelers who simply want “to live” by deciding to go Paris and settle there permanently, breaking from the culture of conformity that pervaded the 1950s US. This marvellous novel is beautiful, a bit traumatic, but always moving. 

• Poseidon (Neptune): God of the Seas and Earthquakes

Book that drowned you in feels: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 

There is something emotional, evanescent and indeterminate about Kazuo Ishiguro novels, but The Remains of the Day has got to be one of his most moving novels. While reading this novel, one cannot but feel about the whole situation of opportunities lost and never recovered, and think deeply about the nature of duty, responsibilities and how the tiniest and most mundane details/attention can sometimes mean the world to some people, and everything should be seen in its context. 

• Hades (Pluto): God of the Underworld

Favourite book with a dark / ominous plot: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane 

Being a Scorpio, I associate myself with this God and his aura closely, and what book can define better such a dark plot that one set on an island that hosts an asylum for criminally insane? Dennis Lehane’s book is now known also because of the film shot by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but it is still a good and enjoyable read.

• Ares (Mars): God of War and Bloodshed

Most violent book you’ve ever read: Perfume by Patrick Suskind 

Perfume is not overtly violent, but there is something so inhumane and frightening at its core when it tells of a person having an unusually acute sense of smell and then going on a serial killer rampage. Besides, the book is set in the beautiful perfume town of France – Grasse, so the grisly contrast becomes even more pronounced.

• Aphrodite (Venus): Goddess of Love and Beauty

Favourite beautiful character: Esmeralda from Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

This novel by Victor Hugo is not so black and white about morality and the presentation of “evil”, and the character of Frollo, in particular, is more complicated and interesting than first meets the eye, but Esmeralda has to be a ravishing beauty, as the novel tells: “around her, all eyes were fixed and all mouths agape…and as she danced…she was indeed a supernatural creature“.

• Artemis (Diana): Goddess of the Moon, Hunt and Childbirth 

Favourite kick-ass heroine: Harriet Cleve Dufresnes from Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend 

In The Little Friend, Donna Tartt has created a very memorable character, which is not unlike those created by Mark Twain himself. Harriet maybe the youngest in her family, but she is a very courageous young girl who is not afraid to take revanche on the members of the dark underworld of a Mississippi town. Fighting is also sometimes an internal affair, and one’s worst enemy is sometimes oneself, and, thus, her inner belief in herself is also worthy of praise.

• Hestia (Vesta): Goddess of the Hearth and Home

Favourite “homely” or relatable character: Esther Summerson from Charles Dickens’s Bleak House 

As a character, Esther Summerson is so selfless and self-deprecating that it is very easy to like her and identify with her. There is also inner courage, faith and belief inside of this character, which is admirable. Although Esther is an unassumingly quiet character, she can stand up for herself, and is a loyal and dear friend. 

• Hermes (Mercury): Messenger God of Thieves and Commerce

Book with the best message: The Cave by Jose Saramago 

There are many books with valuable messages, but Saramago’s novel The Cave has an inspiring imbedded message about not giving up, standing up for one’s inner beliefs, and not following others if it does not feel right. In some ways, this is a novel of hope and seeing brighter future even when everything seems grim and dreams look unreachable. 

• Dionysus (Bacchus): God of Wine and Celebration

Favourite book that includes any celebration-setting: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

There will not be any major revelations here, but the Christmas-setting in Little Women is very memorable, especially given the fact that some people in the novel cannot afford to have any special food on that day, and there are attempts to ensure that they do.