Bull, A Novel - David Elliott



Minos thought he could
Pull a fast one
On me,
Poseidon!
God of the Sea!
But I’m the last one
On whom you
Should try such a thing.
The nerve of that guy.
The balls. The audacity.
I AM THE OCEAN!
I got capacity!
Depths! Darkness! Delphic power!
So his sweet little plan
Went big-time sour
And his wife had a son
Born with horns and a muzzle
Who ended up
In an underground puzzle.
What is it with you mortals?
You just can’t seem to learn:
If you play with fire, babies,
You’re gonna get burned.



I love my Greek mythology, and I love a good novel in verse, and I really appreciate it when an author plays with narrative and perspective! In the case of BULL, David Elliott manages to turn the story of the Minotaur onto its head by giving readers the opportunity to understand what went down, through the eyes of deliciously twisted Poseidon. Elliott employs humour, sexual references, double entendre, and many other delightful turns of phrase in this fast-paced retelling of a disturbing and tragic tale. Poseidon's narrative reads like a drag-queen's banter on stage, with his poetic voice alternating between rhyme and free-verse, and other forms throughout the book. Each character is given his or her own poetic style as well, and the reasons are explained by Elliott himself in the back of the book. It's a wonderfully inventive little book!

Recommended

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius - Stacey Matson

Image
My name is Arthur Aaron Bean, but I normally just go by Arthur. I spent the summer at my grandparents' house in Balzac. It was a long summer. I actually live in one of the apartment buildings pretty close to the school. I like to knit and watch movies, sometimes at the same time. I'm a very good multi-tasker. I like creating writing, so I hope that we will do that and that I didn't miss it. I was probably the best writer in my elementary school, and I plan on getting rich as a novelist when I'm a grown-up. I don't have any siblings, but my cousin Luke is kind of like my twin brother. And thus begins the story of Arthur Bean, a wonderfully honest (if not slightly delusional) young boy writing a letter to his new teacher before attending school after being away for a time. Though really (and it's not just because I know her) the true genius in this book is the author herself. Arthur Aaron Bean is a totally real kid. He is multi-dimensional, full of exaggerat
Read more

The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

Image
Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm WAAAY behind on reviewing this title. But now that I've had a chance to get to some books that I want  to read as opposed to those that I have  to read, I had the chance to read this gorgeous book! In case you haven't heard about it everywhere (it just won this little award called the Newbery!), here's a synopsis, courtesy of the interwebz: "With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I'm delivering," announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood.   Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart
Read more

The Living - Matt De La Peña

Image
The Living  recently received an Honor from the Pura Belpré committee. The award recognizes of a work which best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. As I was at the awards announcements, and having known people who served on the committee in the past, I was intrigued. I had read the winning title and the other honor titles, and was impressed with the choices. So here's my review of The Living : The novel begins with Shy, a young guy working for a snazzy cruise line, offering water to people on the Lido Deck of the ship to combat the heat. Everything is going pretty well until an older gentleman comes out and starts spouting of weird, disconcerting phrases: "You have seen the face of evil."Shy doesn't quite know what to think, so he moves on to a couple of ladies on the other side of the deck. Just as he's handing them their water bottles, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and realizes the old guy h
Read more