Welcome to Litsy!

It's Ali Smith so, as far as Classical retellings go, there was a little more going on than the standard fare.
I enjoyed revisiting Ovid's gender-fluid tale of Iphis and Ianthe: kind of wish I could've had Ali Smith's take on it during my teens.

#mythologyretelling #booked2022 @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @alisiakae
This novel abt 2 sisters is a retelling of the ovid metamorphosis tale of iphis, a mother prays to the gods to hide her daughter from a husband who will her the child if it is not a boy. Touching on corporations who monetise water, environmental protest, and fluid sexuality this is told with Ali Smith's usual style that I love + was an interesting introduction the myth.

Pausing my other current reads for this slim volume.... Unbelievably I've never read any Ali Smith before!

Some #ARC targets for August

(She liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
(But so did I. I liked it too. And it had those girls in it who were both female homosexuals and they were portrayed as very sweet, and it was okay because it was Willow, and she was clever, and we knew to like her and everything, and her friend Tara was very sweet, and I remember one episode where they kissed and their feet came off the ground and they levitated because of the kiss

Can we just take a moment to look at this stunning cover? That‘s why I bought this edition of the book

I‘m not sure what to say about the book without giving to much away, but for me this is about two sisters

This book reminds me how much I love Ali Smith and her writing.

Another square done for #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

#WeeklyForcast

📚 Finish Girl Meets Boy
📚 Jane Austen at Home, this one is a bit slower to read than I imagined so I‘m just going to take my time with it
📚 Read Proust
📚 Then ??? But my guess is something light and easy to read

🎧 Continue Victim 2117

Way back in the Celtic tribes, our grandmother says, women had the franchise. You always have to fight to get the thing you‘ve lost. Even though you maybe don‘t know you ever had it in the first place. She turns back to the television. Christ . Six nil, she says. She shakes her head.

A day late #Under250pages

Actually I had to check and they‘re both under 150p and still on my tbr.

#GratefulReads

I absolutely adore this beautiful book. It's full of playful references and evocative language. It's difficult to describe the plot- you're better off just diving straight in. The last section is joyful and exhilarating in a way that reminds me of how I felt reading Molly's soliloquy in Ulysses for the first time. I'll revisit this, and I can't wait to read more of Ali Smith's work. If you're looking for a pick-me-up, I highly recommend it!

This is such a gorgeous read 💜

"... the story of nature itself, ever-inventive, making one thing out of another, and one thing into another, and nothing lasts, and nothing's lost and nothing ever perishes, and things can always change, because things will always change, and things will always be different, because things can always be different."

My 1st experience of Ali Smith but certainly not my last. Utterly blown away by this all too brief refiguring of the Greek myth of Iphis & Ianthe. The language, the symbolism, the layers, the nuances create a piece of writing that is simply quality with a big Q. Themes of gender identity, same sex love, smashing the patriarchy, water rights. 2 stream-of-consciousness passages that knocked my socks off. Just gorgeous.

3/5⭐ I often loved the truly beautiful, poetic writing that conveyed the character development and themes (family, love, rebellion, access to water, feminism, patriarchy, identity, etc). But that flowing, abstract writing often turned into more stream-of-consciousness passages (page-long sentences, really?) that were incredibly annoying to get through. Overall though I enjoyed what the book had to say and how it said it. #contemporaryathon

So you looked out across the deep waters, Robin said. And you decided, by yourself, and with the help of a clear night and some stars, which way was north and which was south and which way was east and which was west. Yes?
Yes, I said.
Then I said it again. Yes.

#contemporaryathon

A retelling of the myth of Iphis by the brilliant Ali Smith. The myth is woven into the story in multiple layers, starting with the opening line - “Let me tell you about when I was a girl, my grandfather says” - and Smith uses the myth to make a powerful statement about the ways in which gender still factors so much into our lives today. #LitsyAtoZ

Ali Smith is wonderful in every way possible. This little book (a part of the Canongate Myths series) is a retelling of the Iphis and Ianthe myth, in which Smith uses her lyrical and beautiful style to tell a story about love and the different shapes it can take. It‘s a lovely book and I‘d recommend it to everyone I know.

Thank you to #netgalley for letting me review this. Loved it. Such great characters, a great retelling and a brilliantly executed central message. I just wanted more though! 4🌟
(Also this is the second Ali Smith I have enjoyed. I need more.)

1. Anthea and Robin (Girl Meets Boy)
2. Jane Eyre and Rochester, Hazel and Augustus #unpopularopinion
3. Either Jim and Pam or Angela and Dwight
4. Does Justin and Sydnee McElroy count as a famous couple?
#manicmonday @JoScho

Found it in a charity shop. Sounds promising.

#AndItsAug Day 2 - Girlfriends

A retelling of the gender-bending Iphis myth, this story explores the relationship between two sisters, Midge and Anthea, and Anthea's romantic relationship with eco activist Robin.

Look, we're spending time together! He has his games, and I have my book! This was recommended to me by a library science school friend, and I bought it just based on her recommendation (and loving Ali Smith in general).

#FeistyFeb Day 23 - "Boy" in the Title

Interestingly enough, this is the only "boy" titled book on my shelves. Part of the Canongate Myth series, this book reimagines Ovid's myth of Iphis. It explores sex and gender through the lives of two Scottish sisters.

Ali Smith rewrites the myth of Iphis as part of Canongate's Myth Series and, as ever, crafts a multilayered take that abounds with intertextual references, sly humour, social commentary and her signature word-smithery. Here she tackles homophobia, mysogeny, peer pressure, corporate greed and acts of resistance, and love. Gorgeous prose. #LRC6 ❤❤

Every time I read a new Ali Smith I fall a little bit more in love with her writing 💖

This is my first Ali Smith books and I loved it. Her words flow eloquently as she paints vivid. I'll be going on to read more Ali Smith and more from the Canongate Mystery Series

I really liked this little book. It packs a powerful punch in its 160 pages. Feminist and forward thinking, anti-capitalist even. But, oh-so-lyrical. I loved so much within it. Perfect prose. The chapters vary in first person narration between two sisters, Imogen and Anthea. Very different people but the way their stories merge was beautiful. My only small issue was the over-use of parentheses in Imogen's chapters. I loved the ending.

I really liked this little book. It packs a powerful punch in its 160 pages. Feminist and forward thinking, anti-capitalist even. But, oh-so-lyrical. I loved so much within it. Perfect prose. The chapters vary in first person narration between two sisters, Imogen and Anthea. Very different people but the way their stories merge was beautiful. My only small issue was the over-use of parentheses in Imogen's chapters. I loved the ending.

Ness I said Ness I will Ness

This was my first Ali Smith book, and all my expectations were met wonderfully. Ali Smith is an amazing wordsmith and has created an enchanting modern retelling if the classic Ovid myth of Iphis. A seminal feminist book of this century!