Weight: Atlas and Heracles

Weight was an interesting retelling of the Atlas and Heracles myth. Jeanette Winterson evokes real sympathy for the plight of Atlas. Did he really deserve his fate? Or was he a victim of circumstance? Of the gods' whim? Heracles isn't the benevolent hero that many think. He is crass and selfish. Some may think that he deserves his fate.

Though they each are descended from gods, they are not gods. Are they even immortal? They are not infallible. Each makes mistakes. Are they victims of circumstance? Do they really have free will? The "weight" that Atlas carries, is it merely symbolic? I think it is the weight of his worries, his concern for the earth, his daughters, his overgrown garden. To put aside the weight on your shoulders and walk away, the freedom.

Jeanette Winterson's short novel (it was barely over 150 pages) makes you think about all these questions, while providing a fantastic story. I think this, like The Penlopliad not only makes you question the interpretation of the myth, but the life around you. I've enjoyed these two books in the myth series; I can't wait to read more. I'm also thinking about picking up another of Winterson's books. I'm eager to see what comes next.

Bought and read this yesterday on my way home from work. Winterson takes the Atlas and the Heracles myth and re-writes it into a novella very much about duty, responsibility, and our own frustrations with what we might consider "fate." As always, her touch with the characters had me smiling, and her portrayal of Heracles, especially, made me smirk. The guy is a jerk, which, really, when you think about all the things he did, suits just fine.

Atlas is touching, and his position as the bearer of the weight of the Kosmos is poignant. His mental confusions and wonderings while he does so is just staggering. And when Heracles offers him a break - to bear the weight while Atlas leaves - if he'll go gather the three golden apples, Atlas' short-lived freedom is sure to change everything.

Funny, witty, and a little bit sad. Worth the read - but maybe not the price. Why a 140-page book is ever crafted in hardcover is beyond me.

Now on to much weightier matters. Winterson takes a much different approach than Atwood. She tells this tale as herself telling her tale retelling a tale. Confusing? No not really. She begins with herself, tells the story of Heracles ad Atlas and then returns to her own life and lessons learnt.

Unlike the Penelopiad, this book Weight is very dark and brooding and leaves one with a feeling of unease as if we missed something, or even that in reading this book, like Pandora, we have opened a box and cannot now close it and will be forever different. Though we are not sure how.

How does Winterson accomplish this? In this deep brooding book she touches something primal inside. Much as Heracles is awoken and bothered by the question "Why? Why? Why?" this question arises and will not let him go.

So too, this book will awaken questions in your mind and your spirit, and maybe, just maybe, if we are lucky, in this book we will find the questions to lift our weight. If we can learn from it to tell our story we can be freed, and step out from under the burden on our shoulders, as Atlas so desperately desired.