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| Plot Summary of Autobiography of Red |
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""AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED", a novel in verse, based on a Hercules myth, in which the epic hero destroys a red-winged "monster" and his little red dog tending red cattle on a Greek volcanic island,becomes the story of a boy, Geryon,growing up in today'w world, with an adolescent crush on an older boy, Herakles.
Later, as an adult,Geryon meets Herakles again, and although drawn to him erotically, eventually finds him repugnant.
Moving from various locales, including Buenos Aires and Peru, the novel meditates on the interwoven themes of identity, memory,and eternity.
Geryon's wings, a metaphor for freedom from constraints of time, are hidden as he pursues his adult voacation of photography in which fleeting moments are frozen into eternity.
But the final flight of Geryon into the volcano is a "photograph he never took", entitiled,"The Only Secret People Keep".
The magical way Anne Carson uses words, including the manner in which she infuses the color red throughout the novel in verse, makes this the most spell-binding work in English, since perhaps, T.s. Eliot's poem, "The Wasteland"."
Betty-Jeanne Korson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Autobiography of Red |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Kind of romance:
- GENERAL--no other subplots apply
- seduction (yum!)
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Life of a profession:
- artist
Kind of sex:
- incest
- rape
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story
Yes
Taboo sex story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- can fly
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers
- is very quick
- super strength
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- bulging muscles
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 8 ()
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Greece
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- South
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Air?
Yes
Air:
- passenger plane
Island?
Yes
Island:
- food/shelter preoccupation
- stranded
- Atlantic Ocean Island
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
Small town?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- touching of anatomy
- descript. of nude males (the big P)
- male homosexuals doing their thing
Unusual Style:
- a lot of play on words
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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