Book #64

The Fall of Icarus by Ovid

Enduring myths of vengeful gods and tragically flawed mortals from ancient Rome’s great poet. Ovid tells the tales of Theseus and the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, the Calydonian Boar-Hunt, and many other famous myths.

I do wonder what Penguin are smoking sometimes when I read these. The Fall of Icarus is a collection of mythologies completely crammed together without logical breaks, and no clear indication of how they link.

To name this instalment in the way they have, and for then to allow the story of Icarus to span a mere two pages, is travesty. Surely to god there must be someone in Penguin with the creativity to think of a title which better fits the collection.

I didn’t enjoy this one. It was too illogical in its structure, stories were tacked on one after another and it all felt jumbled and rushed. It’s definitely a taster, but not tasty enough. You need to be wide awake here; the voice will change, a name will be dropped, or you may miss the entire paragraph about the minotaur in the labyrinth.