Reading Journal

In which time period is Louise Gluck’s Averno set? What is the tone of this book? Describe the narrator(s) and what is of value to them? What kind of relationship does the Persephone narrator have with the earth in Gluck’s work? Cite at least one passage to back up your argument. To what does the final verse on page 16 refer? Cite a passage in the text where the narrator second guesses her own voice by reconsidering the way in which to describe something. Why would an author show such a thing? What are some key differences between Part I and II of the book; how is Persephone the Wander figured differently in each? How do you understand the ancient myth differently after reading Gluck’s interpretation?


I believe the Averno is set in modern times because some of the passages refer to things in the 1900’s such as subways. The tone of the book is more like a life lesson to learn from and grow because it is a retelling of a story from one woman’s point of view. The narrator is a woman who has been robbed on her innocence and childhood because she is a victim of a rape. She also is telling the story of Persephone in the third person point of view. The type of relationship that Persephone narrator has is with earth is almost like a love/hate relationship. She loves it for its beauty and the innocence it possesses but she hates it because it is where her childish body was forced to become a woman. “The sun seems, in the water, very close. That’s my uncle spying again, she thinks—everything in nature is in some way her relative. I am never alone, she thinks, turning the thought into a prayer. Then death appears, like the answer to a prayer.” I think the final verse on page 16 refers to Persephone being stained with the red juice meaning that she is soaked with her own blood and suffering from the rape. I believe the “red juice” is both mental and physical pain and scarring from the rape.

An example in the text that the author second guesses herself is on page 35, “I was the man because I was taller. But I wasn’t tall—didn’t I ever look in a mirror.” I believe that she would show such a thing because she wants the reader to understand the character is learning and thinking about their life as if they are living it in present times. As if the character is going through these hard times at the same time as the reader is reading about them. It gives a stronger emotional attachment to the character.

There are quite a few key differences between Part I and Part II of the book. In part I it is telling the story of Persephone’s rape but debating what happened and the reasons for it. It focuses more on how nature played a key role in the actions of Persephone. In part II, it is the story of Persephone’s mother telling her story about her child from a different angle because the daughter is now dead.

I think this book really helped me understand the myth in a different light and I really like the modern interpretation Louise Gluck wrote about. I think it was easier to understand and I could relate it to current issues happening today.