Galatea A Short Story by Madeline Miller
‘Madeline Millers’ Galatea A Short Story is a modern take on Ovid’s tale of Pygmalion and how he created his wife from marble and then prayed to the god Venus to give her life. Miller does something completely new with the tale by showing it from Galatea’s perspective instead of Pygmalion and uses this unique narrative to give us a compelling, tragic and at times humorous story.
I already love Madeline Miller, Song of Achilles being my favorite book, so when I saw this beautiful little book pop up on Books & Company’s Instagram I knew I had to ask them to save me a copy. This short page turner took me about half an hour to read and I was already ready to re-read it as soon as I finished the last page.
The reason I loved this book so much is because of Miller’s writing style. She manages to give extensive detail without making the story too heavy. She also starts in medias res which makes me as a reader quickly invested in the story, which is a great tool to use when the story is so short. We get all we need to know about the characters from the way they interact with each other, no need for lengthy descriptions of their personalities. Miller also manages to bring humor to the story with Galatea’s matter-of-factness which can be found when she contemplates on how to describe her existence. Was she born, no that didn’t feel right. Woken, no. Hatched, no because she was not an egg.
The book also includes an afterword, something I actually rarely read. But since Madeline Miller’s books are based on stories from the ancient world I decided to read it and I’m very happy I did considering the fact that she calls Pygmalion a prototype for the term incel, which made me laugh out loud.
This book is 10/10, I would definitely recommend it. It’s beautifully written with detailed, flowery descriptions and witty quips. Also it’s short, like really short, so why not?’
Reviewed by Daniela Gram
Happy Reading everyone!