From the fragmentary remains of the sixth-century B.C. Greek poet
Stesichoros, Carson (a McGill classics professor) fashions a
contemporary tale of "identity memory eternity," a postmodern
extrapolation that blurs the distinction between the figural and
literal. If Stesichoros's mostly lost narrative about a red-winged
monster reads like an experiment by Gertrude Stein, Carson's
deliberately fractured epic reimagines the Greek poet's Geryon as a
confused and lonely young man, who nevertheless still sports wings,
which seem to be an objective correlative of his differences,
especially his homosexuality. Surprisingly readable, this verse
novel evolves into a fairly straight-forward story about Geryon's
travels in South America, where he runs into the great love of his
life, Herakles, who, in Carson's version, is not Geryon's killer,
but his emotional slayer, and also shares with Geryon a love of
volcanoes. As enigmatic as it may sound, this mock epic peroration
on the color red seems to differ little from Kermit the Frog
lamenting the difficulties of being green. Fans of Guy Davenport's
dense fictions will appreciate Carson's innovative style, which
shouldn't be confused with, say, Vikram Seth's more formal and
transparent verse novel. (Kirkus Reviews)
In this extraordinary epic poem, Anne Carson bridges the gap
between classicism and the modern, poetry and prose, with a
volcanic journey into the soul of a winged red monster named
Geryon. There is a strong mixture of whimsy and sadness in Geryon's
story. He is tormented as a boy by his brother, escapes to a
parallel world of photography, and falls in love with Herakles - a
golden young man who leaves Geryon at the peak of infatuation.
Geryon retreats ever further into the world created by his camera,
until that glass house is suddenly and irrevocably shattered by
Herakles' return. Running throughout is Geryon's fascination with
his wings, the colour red, and the fantastic accident of who he is.
Autobiography of Red is a deceptively simple narrative layered with
currents of meaning, emotion, and the truth about what it's like to
be red. It is a powerful and unsettling story that moves, disturbs,
and delights.
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