Jocasta: Wife and Mother

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/jocasta-by-brian-aldiss/

This was one of the books I got Brian Aldiss to autograph in Forbidden Planet in 2015, a year before he died, published in 2004. It’s a retelling of the Theban Plays, but told largely from the point of view of Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife and mother, as her family and her world disintegrate. It also includes a short story relating the Antigone narrative to political oppression today.

I really enjoyed both parts. The Jocasta story is particularly strong, the title character dealing with supernatural creatures loose in the palace, her aged grandmother communing with the old powers, her teenage children being brats, appearances from Sophocles and other voices from the future, and the show more claws of destiny slowly closing around her husband. Long long ago I saw Pasolini’s Edipo Re (a very unsuccessful first date), and I’m sure that Aldiss was familiar with it too, as I am sure I detected echoes of it. The Antigone postscript takes a different approach with mixed timelines, but I enjoyed it too. show less

As Sophocles spoke about Oedipus so Aldiss speaks of Jocasta, the mother and wife of Oedipus, and make her the protagonist of her own destiny. Makes her speak and vibrating whyle Oedipus is a slave of his male mind so, because of his inability to be flexible, easy prey of events. The final part of the novel, which concerns Antigone, however, is perhaps the most amazing and authentically science fictional part of the entire novel.
So what, Aldiss is Aldiss, nothing can rely on his writing and his ability to handle the narrative material.
Thanks to HarperCollins UK, and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Come Sofocle parlò di Edipo così Aldiss parla di Giocasta, madre e moglie di Edipo, e la rende show more protagonista del suo destino. La fa parlare e vibrare laddove Edipo è schiavo della sua mente maschile e quindi facile, a causa della sua incapacità di essere flessibile, preda degli eventi. La parte finale del romanzo, che riguarda Antigone, è forse però la parte più sorprendente e autenticamente fantascientifica dell'intero romanzo.
Che dire, Aldiss è Aldiss, nulla si può eccepire sulla sua scrittura e sulla sua capacità di maneggiare la materia narrativa.
Grazie a HarperCollins UK, e Netgalley per avermi concesso una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta. show less