Readcommendations

by David Elliot

Much like this book, my review will be short and sweet. With studying insanity, I have’t have much time to read, but when a book in verse showed up about the myth of the minotaur, I knew I had found my latest obsession.

Summary

SEE THE STORY OF THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR
IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT
 
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.
  
Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, the New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have readers reevaluating one of mythology’s most infamous monsters.   

Musings

This is definitely a different view of the classic story thank you’ve ever seen before: the tale of the minotaur, from every character’s point of view, narrated by Poseidon, all entirely through verse. A musical minotaur bonanza. Boo-yeah!

I was laughing out loud as I read this book, which was short and probably took me no more than an hour to get through. I’m planning on going back through it again, combing it for details I missed the first time. So many little allusions to other classic myths!

Every character had a different voice and perspective. It was interesting reading the author’s note after the fact, describing each characters’ person verse. The author played not only with the poetic styles, but also with the form, and even took advantage of the page itself! Let me explain: as the minotaur’s character loses himself more to the bull, the pages become darker and darker until they’re entirely black. His verse will form a jagged line on the page. As his mother Pasiphae starts losing her mind, her lines become hectic, nonsensical.

My gosh, it was so clever! I think this is going to thrill english teachers everywhere, because this is a book you can seriously enjoy tearing into the details of. Lots of fun, very funny, with darkness too. Would be awesome to see performed on stage.