This is the first book (short novella is actually far more descriptive) that I have read by A.S. Byatt and I have to be honest, I am not sure what she wants to say with it.I found it extremely uninteresting, boring even, but granted I also had other expectations to it: I thought that this would be either a modern retelling of the ancient Norse myths (what else are you supposed to think when the title is “Ragnarok” and read the blurb on my copy of it?) or an allegory. Sadly I was mistaken.
I know what it wants to be: it wants to be a retelling of a specific myth, it wants to be a retelling of the end of days, the end of the Gods, according to Norse mythology, and while doing so it is trying to draw some parallels with Christianity (or rather how a WWII child tries might compare the Norse myths with the myths she knows from the bible with the reality that she’s experiencing). But honestly this myth telling attempt ends up being quite repetitive, flat and two-dimensional in my humble opinion.
Could somebody give me my 5 hours and €10.95 back, please?
