Galatea

 

I do more of a book babble than a book review. I imagine you and I sitting down together getting coffee and catching up and you asked me what I'm reading. I say "Oh, I recently read the short story 'Galatea' by Madeline Miller". And then you say "oh! How was that one?" And then I say.... 

I've got to tell you, for such a small book, there is sooo much in this story. It's just a smidge over fifty pages, just about the right amount to read over afternoon tea and a couple freshly made snickerdoodle cookies. 

It's based on the greek myth of a statue that is brought to life and given to the man who created her as a wife. It's not a myth that I knew before I read this, and I think that's okay. But I don't know if t his is a retelling, a complete re-envision or just a sort of filling in the gaps. I'm not sure that it matters though, because in these few pages the author creates something so true, so insightful and so tragically moving that it feels like a myth for our world today. I don't want to say too much because it's so short that any detail is probably a spoiler. 

But I feel like every single page in this story is worthy of contemplation. Being locked away from the world, the love for her daughter, the ideals that women are held to, the way that society would rather have a preternaturally beautiful but unmoving frozen woman rather than a living breathing imperfect one. The lengths that we will go to to grasp some little semblance of agency in our own lives. But also the soft instinct to be pleasant and not make trouble that can become a prison of our own making. And the lengths we will go to for the love of our children. 

That is all in this short little story. I absolutely recommend it. I love short stories. I think a well constructed short story is one of the most beautiful things ever created. And this one is one of my favorites.