This book was read as part of a themed vlog - to see more thoughts, check it out here!Rated 4.5/5 stars!I adored this book. I'm a huge fan of greek myth retellings, so there was a good chance it would go well anyway. But Jeanette Winterson managed to make the myth of Atlas and Heracles more human, infuse it with emotion but also keep the sense of wayward arrogance that comes with most mythological characters. I didn't initially know how well the book would work, with there not being much to go a...

I think the history of Atlas is already known to those who are interested in mythology. I also thought that the comment section of the story was pretty weak.

I felt that this book started off slow and that perhaps it was just Winterson's style that wasn't engaging me. But the story picked up when Heracles came into the picture; and I liked the meditations on fate versus choice, that perhaps we pick our own burdens and 'punishments', that they are not fated, that we can walk away from them when we feel we are 'home.' She even brings her own story into the book, which I liked, though as she'd already used first-person for Atlas' voice, it was a bit con...

This was very beautifully written. I’m a sucker for any story about Hercules, and he was a bit of a frat boy in this version, but.... accurately, I must admit. Definitely one of my favorites from the Myth series so far!

One third of the way through this book and I'm discarding it. This is not the intelligent read I thought it would be and that's all I'm prepared to say about it.

I'll begin with stating that I am a die-hard Winterson fan, so I suppose I'm a little biased in my reviews, but to be honest, I have good reason to be this way as personally, I think Winterson is eloquent in the way she writes. She is unique, and she has definitely left her mark upon my soul. This particular book is her retelling of the myth of Atlas. Atlas is portrayed as being calm and patient, and our other main character, Heracles, is the complete opposite. He always wants to be in the actio...

Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Hercules, Jeanette Winterson. New York: Cannongate, 2005. Hardcover, $18.00 ISBN 1-84195-718-6Have you ever read someone you're a fan of and thought; there's no way to do it better than this? For me it's Jeanette Winterson, her lyricism, her wide flung knowledge of mythology and science, and humanness and above all else, her risk taking. At the end of each of her books I walk away feeling like she’s left everything on the page the way an athlete leaves everything on...

What a disappointing book. Almost masturbatory in some areas, and I don't just mean the extended bits where Heracles strums his own trumpet - you can actually imagine Winterson writing this and thinking to herself 'oh yeah, that's for the academics, that's the stuff'. Winterson clearly fancies herself up there with the greatest philosophers of all eras, and the texts she produces just don't merit that belief. This book pertains to discuss Atlas' burden as being not a physical burden, but more a

Now one of my favorite books of all time. If I could somehow shrink this down into a miniature size, I would wear it as a necklace and keep it near me always. I'm not ready to leave it's universe. For the rest of you not yet sucked into it's orbit, here are a couple points that may draw you in. It's a quick read, but it is in no way diminished by its easy readability. And when I say it's a quick read, I mean really quick. I'm about the slowest reader on the planet and I read it in 3 1/2 hrs. It'...

This book is a disease-ridden hooker in a business suit. It's a sand pail made of tissue paper. All pretense and no heart, this retelling of centuries old myths features heaping spoonfuls of stereotypes, cliched metaphors, sexist commentary, baseless pomp, and comically bad dialogue. Who tells a person that 'you're my fate...drop dead gorgeous'? Anyone in their right mind would have maniacally cackled in his face rather than let him ejaculate all over them. She's Hera, for fucksake. HERA. She kn...

3.5 stars. Book 2 of my 2016 Booktube Recommends project - thanks to Jean at BookishThoughts for recommending me this one (and gifting it for my birthday ;D)!I wasn't very aware of the figure of Atlas in mythology, or in general - I had an image of a man holding up a globe on his back, but that was literally it. And Heracles? Well, I'd seen the 90s Disney film! (psst, it's one of my favourites) So this was definitely one of the Canongate Myths series that I knew I wanted to get to.After reading

Very different types Atlas and Heracles.Heracles is more the type to go out and lop of heads and then think about it later, if at all. Atlas on the other hand is the thinking type, for him actions and consequences are a thing. Both had burdens, Heracles seemed to shrug his off quite easily whilst still paying a price for rushing heedlessly into things. But Atlas oh, he carried his burdens with care.But where there is nothing and everything is a story, do burdens really exist? We must admit that

Jeanette Winterson is a marvellous writer. There is a delicate, intricate lyricism in her words; a force strong enough to carve out trains of favouritism in the most objective of readers. Her prose is deeply meditative and effortlessly fluid — often and infinitely more poetic than most poets can manage. One can not approach Winterson's works with pre-conceived ideas and still manage to successfully penetrate the field of her works; which, all in their own significant ways, subvert the very conc...

Real Rating: 3.75* of fiveAutobiography is not important. Authenticity is important. The writer must fire herself through the text, be the molten stuff that welds together disparate elements. I believe there is always exposure, vulnerability, in the writing process, which is not to say it is either confessional or memoir. Simply, it is real.No one can ever say Jeannette Winterson lacks authorial chops. Self-aware aphoristic ones. That is a beautiful distillation of the purpose of becoming an aut...

Atlas is perhaps the forgotten Titan, the afterthough. He's not as well known as his brother Prometheus but his punishment for rising up against the Gods is no less severe. To carry the weight of the world upon his shoulders forever. A lonely and unforgiving job. This starts with the concept of Atlas between the earth and the sea, and the visual imagery is a wonder to read. To combine nature with lust and love, exploring sexuality in this extremely sensual and carnal way is cleverly done and set...

*5000/5 stars This book is the definition of perfection. I went into this book, basically only knowing that my favourite author Jeanette Winterson wrote it, and that it had something to do with greek mythology. Since it's Jeanette Winterson, I should probably have been prepared for this mind-blowing "my-life-will-never-be-the-same-again" feeling that I now have in my body, but still I'm amazed and shocked. Where shall I even begin? Okay, let's start with saying that this is a retelling of the gr...

I read this book with some trepidation since most remakes of the classics are forgettable, if not insufferable. This is the exception.Atlas and Heracles are two of the most compelling figures in classic Greek Mythology and this modern re-telling of their stories only makes them more so, although you really need to know their stories before reading this to appreciate what the author has accomplished. She cleverly weaves a scientific thread into their stories to help make them both more modern and...

As always, with Jeannette Winterson's work, there are parts of this that caught at me -- phrases, quotable bites, a scene here and there -- but for the most part I was underwhelmed. More underwhelmed than usual, perhaps. It had a very light, dismissive tone that just didn't work for me, and the characterisation of Heracles as a big idiot just... isn't anything new. That exact character has been given so many names.Also, weird sex-stuff between Heracles and Hera. Just, what? And weird interludes

I very much enjoyed the re-working of the myth of Atlas (and a dumb Heracles was a refreshing change) but did Winterson really have to include the auto-biographical bit? It does nothing to enhance the tale, and anyway if the reader wants to know more about her life, I'm sure there are better places to look...

I never really liked Jeanette Winterson but after her re-telling of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, I was curious to read her re-telling of Hercules and Atlas' encounter.It is excellent - Hercules is portrayed as a sex crazed yob, Atlas as a misunderstood Titan. There's a lot of laughs, something rare in Winterson's novels and the ending took me by surprise. It is tender and delicate and puts our universe, and in a way the whole concept of Atlas, in perspective: It's nothing. (you'll get what I