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Girl Meets Boy
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
33 posts | 27 read | 39 to read
Another internationally acclaimed writer contributes a fascinating, compelling reinterpretation of a myth that resonates deeply today.Ligdus and Telethusa are having a child, but they cannot afford to have a girl. Ligdus informs Telethusa that she had better hope for a boy. While this decision makes them both sad, Telethusa must/obey. She prays to Isis, but births a girl and names her Iphis, a name that suited male or female/a neutral name. She convinces everyone, including Ligdus, that Iphis is a boy.Iphis matures and falls in love with another girl, Ianthe, and is engaged for marriage, yet s/he is ruled by the sexual norms of the time: [P]ossessed by love so strange . . . no female wants/a female! but no learned artcan ever make of me/a boy. She attempts to reconcile her love for Ianthe against the pressures of nature. The wedding day is near, Telethusa is desperate, and prays again to Isis. Iphis is transformed, looking like a boy.Is Ovid suggesting that what we think is nature is attitude? Does Iphis grow a penis? Or does Iphis, adopting the characteristics of a boy, remain a girl married to a girl, undermining traditional values?From the Hardcover edition.
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andrew61
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

#mythologyretelling #booked2022 @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @alisiakae
This novel abt 2 sisters is a retelling of the ovid metamorphosis tale of iphis, a mother prays to the gods to hide her daughter from a husband who will her the child if it is not a boy. Touching on corporations who monetise water, environmental protest, and fluid sexuality this is told with Ali Smith's usual style that I love + was an interesting introduction the myth.

Cinfhen Great review! 2y
34 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Balibee146
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pausing my other current reads for this slim volume.... Unbelievably I've never read any Ali Smith before!

readingjedi This was my first as well & I absolutely loved it! 2y
Sparklemn I love the cover! 2y
33 likes2 comments
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charl08
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Some #ARC targets for August

squirrelbrain I really liked Dominicana and Love After Love.... enjoy! 4y
charl08 @squirrelbrain thank you! 4y
charl08 @rockpools I'm going to give it a go! 4y
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rockpools Yay, you can do it! I‘m just going to sit here and NOT see if any of yours look interesting/are still available... I really liked Dominicana too 😊 4y
charl08 @rockpools ha! Be strong... 🤣 4y
rockpools Thankfully Square Haunting has been archived - looks great! (And yes, I did check...) 4y
42 likes6 comments
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AnneCecilie
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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(She liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
(But so did I. I liked it too. And it had those girls in it who were both female homosexuals and they were portrayed as very sweet, and it was okay because it was Willow, and she was clever, and we knew to like her and everything, and her friend Tara was very sweet, and I remember one episode where they kissed and their feet came off the ground and they levitated because of the kiss

AnneCecilie , and I remember the ting to do when we talked about it at school the next day was to make sick noises.) 4y
AnneCecilie [I love the Buffy series and any reference to it in other books.] 4y
51 likes2 comments
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AnneCecilie
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

Can we just take a moment to look at this stunning cover? That‘s why I bought this edition of the book

I‘m not sure what to say about the book without giving to much away, but for me this is about two sisters

This book reminds me how much I love Ali Smith and her writing.

Another square done for #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 4y
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AnneCecilie
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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#WeeklyForcast

📚 Finish Girl Meets Boy
📚 Jane Austen at Home, this one is a bit slower to read than I imagined so I‘m just going to take my time with it
📚 Read Proust
📚 Then ??? But my guess is something light and easy to read

🎧 Continue Victim 2117

Cinfhen Wonderful 🙌🏻Happy reading (edited) 4y
60 likes1 comment
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charl08
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith

Way back in the Celtic tribes, our grandmother says, women had the franchise. You always have to fight to get the thing you‘ve lost. Even though you maybe don‘t know you ever had it in the first place. She turns back to the television. Christ . Six nil, she says. She shakes her head.

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AnneCecilie
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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A day late #Under250pages

Actually I had to check and they‘re both under 150p and still on my tbr.

#GratefulReads

OriginalCyn620 🙌🏼📚❤️ 5y
HardcoverHearts The Return of the Soldier is remarkable. 5y
Linsy Beautiful covers! 🍃 5y
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Cweeeevs
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

I absolutely adore this beautiful book. It's full of playful references and evocative language. It's difficult to describe the plot- you're better off just diving straight in. The last section is joyful and exhilarating in a way that reminds me of how I felt reading Molly's soliloquy in Ulysses for the first time. I'll revisit this, and I can't wait to read more of Ali Smith's work. If you're looking for a pick-me-up, I highly recommend it!

CarolynM I've loved her season series so far. You've sold me on this one.🙂 5y
Cweeeevs @CarolynM I'm so excited to get started on the season series! Let me know what you think of Girl Meets Boy 😄 5y
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Cweeeevs
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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This is such a gorgeous read 💜

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kindergartenkat
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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"... the story of nature itself, ever-inventive, making one thing out of another, and one thing into another, and nothing lasts, and nothing's lost and nothing ever perishes, and things can always change, because things will always change, and things will always be different, because things can always be different."

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readingjedi
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

My 1st experience of Ali Smith but certainly not my last. Utterly blown away by this all too brief refiguring of the Greek myth of Iphis & Ianthe. The language, the symbolism, the layers, the nuances create a piece of writing that is simply quality with a big Q. Themes of gender identity, same sex love, smashing the patriarchy, water rights. 2 stream-of-consciousness passages that knocked my socks off. Just gorgeous.

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hissingpotatoes
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Mehso-so

3/5⭐ I often loved the truly beautiful, poetic writing that conveyed the character development and themes (family, love, rebellion, access to water, feminism, patriarchy, identity, etc). But that flowing, abstract writing often turned into more stream-of-consciousness passages (page-long sentences, really?) that were incredibly annoying to get through. Overall though I enjoyed what the book had to say and how it said it. #contemporaryathon

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hissingpotatoes
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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So you looked out across the deep waters, Robin said. And you decided, by yourself, and with the help of a clear night and some stars, which way was north and which was south and which way was east and which was west. Yes?
Yes, I said.
Then I said it again. Yes.

#contemporaryathon

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sarahbarnes
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

A retelling of the myth of Iphis by the brilliant Ali Smith. The myth is woven into the story in multiple layers, starting with the opening line - “Let me tell you about when I was a girl, my grandfather says” - and Smith uses the myth to make a powerful statement about the ways in which gender still factors so much into our lives today. #LitsyAtoZ

Lindy I LOVE this book. 😁 6y
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TheAnitaAlvarez
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

Ali Smith is wonderful in every way possible. This little book (a part of the Canongate Myths series) is a retelling of the Iphis and Ianthe myth, in which Smith uses her lyrical and beautiful style to tell a story about love and the different shapes it can take. It‘s a lovely book and I‘d recommend it to everyone I know.

cataleya Hello anita! do you know spanish? 6y
TheAnitaAlvarez @cataleya sí, es mi lengua materna ? 6y
cataleya fabuloso asi podremos hablar mas! que libros haz leido recientemente? 6y
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laurieluna
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

Thank you to #netgalley for letting me review this. Loved it. Such great characters, a great retelling and a brilliantly executed central message. I just wanted more though! 4🌟
(Also this is the second Ali Smith I have enjoyed. I need more.)

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ImpliedNonsense
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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1. Anthea and Robin (Girl Meets Boy)
2. Jane Eyre and Rochester, Hazel and Augustus #unpopularopinion
3. Either Jim and Pam or Angela and Dwight
4. Does Justin and Sydnee McElroy count as a famous couple?
#manicmonday @JoScho

JoScho ❤️👫❤️ 6y
RaimeyGallant Welcome! 6y
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RaimeyGallant My pleasure. :) 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Welcome to Litsy!! 6y
13 likes6 comments
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Tomata
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Found it in a charity shop. Sounds promising.

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BooksForYears
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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#AndItsAug Day 2 - Girlfriends

A retelling of the gender-bending Iphis myth, this story explores the relationship between two sisters, Midge and Anthea, and Anthea's romantic relationship with eco activist Robin.

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JessReads
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Look, we're spending time together! He has his games, and I have my book! This was recommended to me by a library science school friend, and I bought it just based on her recommendation (and loving Ali Smith in general).

Hooked_on_books I love how he thinks the picture is of him. Clearly we're more interested in the book. 😂 8y
Alfoster @Hooked__on__books Haha! So true😂😂😂! 8y
JessReads 😂😂😂 haha I know! He's such a ham! @Hooked__on__books @Alfoster 8y
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Laalaleighh What is he playing? 8y
JessReads @Laalaleighh Ghost Recon something something (I stopped listening after that 😬😂). He's been playing it basically non-stop for days 8y
Laalaleighh Hahaha I love how you stopped listening after ghost recon! I would have too 😂 8y
24 likes6 comments
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BooksForYears
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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#FeistyFeb Day 23 - "Boy" in the Title

Interestingly enough, this is the only "boy" titled book on my shelves. Part of the Canongate Myth series, this book reimagines Ovid's myth of Iphis. It explores sex and gender through the lives of two Scottish sisters.

Lindy Love this one! I recommend it often. 8y
saresmoore I very much want to read this. 8y
BookThia I liked this book a lot. It's very well thought out. 8y
Laalaleighh 📚 8y
117 likes6 stack adds4 comments
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Moray_Reads
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

Ali Smith rewrites the myth of Iphis as part of Canongate's Myth Series and, as ever, crafts a multilayered take that abounds with intertextual references, sly humour, social commentary and her signature word-smithery. Here she tackles homophobia, mysogeny, peer pressure, corporate greed and acts of resistance, and love. Gorgeous prose. #LRC6 ❤❤

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Moray_Reads
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Moray_Reads
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Every time I read a new Ali Smith I fall a little bit more in love with her writing 💖

saresmoore Good grief! That's beautiful. 8y
Moray_Reads @saresmoore right? I just want to absorb everything she writes down deep and permanent 8y
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TarynUpBooks
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

This is my first Ali Smith books and I loved it. Her words flow eloquently as she paints vivid. I'll be going on to read more Ali Smith and more from the Canongate Mystery Series

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BookThia
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

I really liked this little book. It packs a powerful punch in its 160 pages. Feminist and forward thinking, anti-capitalist even. But, oh-so-lyrical. I loved so much within it. Perfect prose. The chapters vary in first person narration between two sisters, Imogen and Anthea. Very different people but the way their stories merge was beautiful. My only small issue was the over-use of parentheses in Imogen's chapters. I loved the ending.

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BookThia
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
Pickpick

I really liked this little book. It packs a powerful punch in its 160 pages. Feminist and forward thinking, anti-capitalist even. But, oh-so-lyrical. I loved so much within it. Perfect prose. The chapters vary in first person narration between two sisters, Imogen and Anthea. Very different people but the way their stories merge was beautiful. My only small issue was the over-use of parentheses in Imogen's chapters. I loved the ending.

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LinusTheWonderPup
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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3 likes1 stack add
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Yeyeyeyeyeye
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith

Ness I said Ness I will Ness

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Yeyeyeyeyeye
Girl Meets Boy | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

This was my first Ali Smith book, and all my expectations were met wonderfully. Ali Smith is an amazing wordsmith and has created an enchanting modern retelling if the classic Ovid myth of Iphis. A seminal feminist book of this century!