Orpheus

Mikolaycak, Charles

ISBN 10: 0152588043 ISBN 13: 9780152588045

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1969

Synopsis

A retelling of the tragic myth of Orpheus and his eternal love for the doomed Eurydice

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 9-12-- A masterly tribute to a timeless myth, this book is both visually stunning and undeniably problematic. There is nothing con troversial about the text, which employs opera lyrics and rises to poetic expression itself in places. Mikolaycak focuses on the poignant rather than the tragic possibilities of the story: this Orpheus loses Eurydice again through misjudgment rather than doubt, and his death is almost accidental, rather than the revenge of the gods. (Other interpretations are touched on in an instructive two-page note, followed by a bibliography and discography.) The volume is a triumph of art and design. Dusky matte pages set off white type and white-edged illustra tions. Both Maxfield Parrish and Caravaggio provide artistic precedents, while some uncon ventional color and composition underscore originality even in the allusions. The pictures are romantically beautiful, but also bold and striking. As befits the textual and artistic sources, however, the realistically rendered figures are all nude. While the warmly toned bodies are idealized and the nudity is ``taste ful,'' doubtless the presence of breasts and but tocks (not to mention the bloody death-scene) will banish the book from some shelves. That would be a shame: at the very least these mag nificent pictures might lure young adult read ers into the depth and resonance of Greek myth. --Patricia Dooley, University of Wash ington, Seattle
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1969
• ISBN 10: 0152588043
• ISBN 13: 9780152588045
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1