The Descent of Alette
The Decent Of Alette is a rich odyssey of transformation in the tradition of The Inferno. Alice Notley presents a feminist epic: a bold journey into the deeper realms. Alette, the narrator, finds herself underground, deep beneath the city, where spirits and people ride endlessly on subways, not allowed to live in the world above. Traveling deeper and deeper, she is on a journey of continual transformation, encountering a series of figures and undergoing fragmentations and metamorphoses as she seeks to confront the Tyrant and heal the world. Using a new measure, with rhythmic units indicated by quotations marks, Notley has created a "spoken" text, a rich and mesmerizing work of imagination, mystery, and power.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0140587640
ISBN13:9780140587647
Release Date:April 1996
Publisher:Penguin Books
Length:160 Pages
Weight:0.50 lbs.
Dimensions:0.5" x 5.9" x 8.9"
Age Range:18 years and up
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Related Subjects
Literary Literary Criticism Literary Criticism & Collections Literature & Fiction PoetryCustomer Reviews
3 ratings
Easily a new favorite
Published by KSB , 4 years ago
Exceptionally potent and chillingly relevant to our current struggles. Simply a must-read FFO the darkly feminine, revenge poetry, and surrealist dreamscapes.
Women's Epics Everywhere!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
This book is so engaging I had to read it all in one sitting. Notley uses parentheticals to offset her narrative. It's an interesting experiment that challenges how we traditionally read linear works and how we perceive tales of exploration of the self. Part Dante in its underworld motif, part shamanistic in its vision and all feminine in its discourse with the history of the epic; it recalls the ancient Inanna myth while also employing contemporary imagery that keeps the reader engaged in this current experiment with poety and the role of the poet as visionary.
Una Selva Selvaggia e Aspra e Forte
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
A model for tomorrow's epic. Narrative with no loss of sensibility, the former augmenting the latter, so particularly difficult in this age. The Descent of Alette is an inspiration.
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