Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Book Review
Stone Blind is an effortless retelling of the ever complex, ever entwined and ever twisting Greek myths. The storyline centres around the gorgon Medusa and Hayne’s interpretation of Medusa gives her the depth, motivation and relatability often so difficult to unpick in the stories of the women in Greek myths. By the end of this book you are cheering for Medusa and you may just have a very different opinion of Perseus, one of the most infamous heroes of these tales - or not as you may discover.
Here’s the blurb:
Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt. When Poseidon commits an unforgivable act against Medusa in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can: on his victim.
Medusa is changed forever - writhing snakes for hair and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone.
She can look at nothing without destroying it. Desperate to protect her beloved sisters, Medusa condemns herself to a life of shadows.
Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .
I’ve visited Florence and I’ve seen that statue but if I ever have the opportunity to visit again, I will now view it - Perseus holding Medusa’s head high for the world to see his conquest - in an entirely different way.
Haynes approaches the myth of Medusa from the perspective of a woman, a strong powerful woman, who has not asked for the path she has been given but neither does she ask for a different one, she just keeps on, one foot in front of the other.
The story, told from this perspective, turns the portrayal of women in Greek myth as wives and lovers using emotional manipulation and taking revenge on each other for the Gods crimes rather than the Gods themselves, on its head, instead offering the perspective of the abused, the trauma that lives within her and the coping mechanisms she employs.
It also presents the truth in the arrogant hubristic hero that is Perseus. He does little for himself as you will see and is gifted much of what he needs to succeed simply because of who his father is: Zeus.
Perhaps this is how the myth should really have been told. Perhaps our modern western, and face it, patriarchal society has remembered it this way instead of as an example of how we really should not behave towards one another for it will surely end in us all becoming stone blind.
In case you hadn’t gleaned from my rather rambling thoughts, this is an absolutely excellent book and completely lives up to expectations. Natalie Haynes does not disappoint and is as insightful, witty and clever as she is in her Radio 4 programme: Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics . The dialogue between Perseus, Hermes and Athene had me very literally laughing out loud.
If you read but one book that reimagines the Greek Myths, let it be this one.
You can buy Natalie Hayne’s , ‘Stone Blind’ in all good bookshops. If you would like to buy a copy online, please consider visiting my page on Bookshop.org where I have gathered some of the books I read and recommend. Here you will find a plethora of myth, legend and folktale.
And don’t forget to support your local library too and see if they have a copy to borrow.
