Customer Reviews

The Memoirs of Helen of Troy: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This novel fails at every level. Let's begin with the facts. It's easier to count the few things right than to enumerate the multitude of mistakes. To take just one example, when Helen is thinking of her old home in Sparta, she says, "There were days when my heart ached for the familiar scent of eucalyptus. How I longed to revisit the sacred grove." Since eucalyptus grew only in Australia, which was thousands of years away from being discovered, this is quite a feat of memory on her part. The author is unaware that only in the 19th century was eucalyptus exported and planted all over the world. Other 'facts' are just as haywire.

The information on the gods is incorrect and muddled, starting with the premise that Helen, being a daughter of Zeus, is immortal and cannot die, when everyone knows the offspring of a god and a mortal is always mortal. Otherwise Achilles could not die. But this does not bother the author, who wants to have it both ways. She also contends that the gods are just made up by humans, as if this did not negate the possibility that Helen was the daughter of Zeus, and...you see the problem.

Then, there is the anachronistic thinking and the numerous tired old cliche/tropes, the foremost being the women worshipping the Great Goddess (in secret) while being repressed by the Male Establishment, who promote Male God (here called 'the sky gods') worship. This was a new idea back in the early 1980s in "The Mists of Avalon" but since then has gotten moldy and is trotted out tiresomely in books such as "The Red Tent" and even the recent laughable Hercules miniseries. Enough already with this---for which serious historians admit there isn't a shred of evidence.

Another silly trope is that Paris is a Sensitive New Age Guy. He doesn't like to kill, see, except for food. This makes everyone look down on him and he don't get no respect.

All this might be forgiven if it worked as a novel, but it flunks this test, too. Helen is a conceited airhead, who by my count tells the reader 80 times how beautiful she is (about once every three pages, in case you forget). When she isn't trumpeting her charms, ("I had always known that no woman could compete with my immortal beauty and my desirability"), she's wallowing in self-pity. Everyone is jealous of her. Her family in Sparta is mean to her. The Trojan women don't like her---and you can certainly see why. A really repulsive character, except that she's so unreal she's just a cartoon. In spite of the feminist trappings, she has no life of her own and is totally passive and dependent on men for all her emotions, although the men are interchangable to her, like a teenager with serial crushes. Her many children are only names and she seems unaware of them.

Paris is a sort of lounge lizard (in spite of being a SNAG) and he and Helen make love every night for 15 years (!) and that's the extent of their relationship.

The Trojan War is made boring, and the author paints no picture of any landscapes or settings, so you have no sense of time or place. Since this is what a historical novel is supposed to do, this is a massive failure. The rest of the famous cast of characters---Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, and Priam---fare even worse than Helen and Paris in depiction.

So, missing factual and entertainment value, what does this novel offer? The one thing this Romance novel has in abundance is the usual generic array of props for this genre: lots of alabaster bottles of perfume, ("Then I anointed my body and hair with fragrant oils, perfuming my skin with an irresistably aromatic elixir and artfully applying my cosmetics"---she does this a lot), silken gowns of every color, 'exquisite' jewelry, padded gilded couches, heaps of sensuous food on bejeweled platters---in short, you have a 'Sex and Shopping' novel transported to the ancient world.

Stay away from this mess, or Zeus will punish you!

One reviewer referred to this book as "luminously intelligent", and it's easy to see why. Amanda Elyot gives one of history's most celebrated women a voice that is not only aptly passionate but distinctively perceptive as well. Her Helen is keenly aware of both her mortality and the divinity she feels in her blood, and Elyot narrates her loves and adventures with a deft, entertaining writing style and a powerful sense of both irony and desire. The author's deep respect for the historical universe she evokes is palpable and impressive; both the tone and the content of the research reflect a love of her subject and a desire to share it with vivacious pleasure. Those who are familiar with classic historical fiction (such as that of Mary Renault and others) about the heroes and heroines of Greek myth will welcome this witty, sexy entry into those Aegean literary waters. Those who may be slower to recognize how beautifully observed are the nuanced details of this mythic period are likely to enjoy this fascinating feminist account in any case, both because the story itself is as sensational as ever after all these centuries, and because this particular telling of it has such verve and style.

As the daughter of a mother enamored of Greek mythology, history and literature I was immediately attracted to this stunning new book, The Memoirs of Helen of Troy by Amanda Elyot. Ms. Elyot has captured not only Helen's beauty and passion -but has given her a most elegant, eloquent voice. It is clear that she is a devotee of all things Greek as she recreates the total ambience and lifestyle of Helen's era. She truly makes you feel a part of the action -whether it's the ravages of war or the intimacy of the bedroom. I have always known the story of Helen of Troy -my mother named me after Helen's mother because of her interest in mythology. My name is immediately associated with the Swan. So I just had to read this newest version of the age old tale to see how Amanda Elyot fit all the pieces together. I'm so glad I did. It is a rich and wonderfully woven tapestry of words and images. A perfect holiday gift book.

I was really excited about this book. I thought she did a good job on the research and painted the story very well. But the writing was pretty bad in some places, either stilted with a lot of parentheticals or just awkward. She also has Helen making wordplay on English words while she speaks ancient Greek. A good story, but I think could have been made a lot more readable with a few more rounds of editing.

that seems to be the overridding theme of Helen's story - she is not a particularly likable protaganist and at times (especially during the battle at Troy) the story dragged. I did like howver, the deft way the author pulled together so much other mythology and merged it into the story seamlessly. I think with a more interesting hero or heroine at the forefront she could write a much better book, but Paris and Helen came across as self-absorbed "high schoolers in love" -Hector and Clytemenestra were much more interesting!

considering the weight of the subject - the Trojan War - I thought this book was light and kept me reading. Helen came across a bit arrogant and self centered, so, I had to keep reminding myself that she was a "God" and would have thought of herself this way....I thought the story was well told, and brought some ancient Greek mythology to life in a colorful way, told from a unique perspective. The author's depictions of both love and battle scenes were very well done, and I came away with a better understanding of this great story, as well as a thirst to learn more...

This was a very clever (if not necessarily seamless) weaving of classical myth into a new legend of the infamous Helen. The first person narrative worked for me, because the main thing Helen had going for her was her incomparable beauty. Now, how are you going to capture that in words? I'm not sure you can, but the author did something even more intriguing--she put us in Helen's mind. There, we were able to detect that this was no woman of great ethics and wisdom and compassion. How could the reader expect Helen of Troy to reach the level of, for instance, Jane Austen? The very way the book was written was an insight into Helen's character. And the character is woefully self-centered? Well of course, she's Helen of Troy. What can we expect?

This novel is like fictional popcorn, rather tasty, but neither filling or nutritious. For a quick weekend read, it's okay, but doesn't do well under close interspection.

My first issue plotwise came with having Theseus claiming, "Men do not wage war over an abducted woman.", when the Amazons and their Allies waged war and devestated Athens over the abuduction of Antiope - which he mentions later...so, he certainly knew well that yes, wars are waged over women.

The self-involvment of Helen is hard to take at times, but since she is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, I can cut some slack there. Aphrodite said she was beautiful, not necessarily wise or strong. However, the author seems undecided which way she wants to take the character - whether to follow the demi-goddess of Olympian Myth, or the last Queen of the Pre-Hellenic Goddesses. So, she tries to write her as both, but the sensiblities of both don't blend well, as the natures of the Gods in all cases is underexplored. The Olympians are not treated with the respect and influence as they should have, and the pre-Hellenistic Goddess religion is hinted at, with a few mysterious older women who know 'the ways' but Helen doesn't become their advocate or embrace it as her own. She sees herself as one with the Gods, rather than being in service or devoted to them.

Helen comes across as arrogant and presumptive, lauding on her beauty and immortality but never using her graced gifts for good of her original people or her adopted home. This not only makes her unlikable, but makes the love story fall flat. This is a hard stumble for the book to recover from, since it is their love for each other that brings sympathy for Helen and Paris. Sex comes more easily to the author's pen than love does, but it is not the same thing and doesn't build the same regard for the couple, since she gives more devotion with Helen's affaire with Theseus, and their child Ephegina, than with any of the descriptions of Helen's marriage to Paris. This is a mistake. The audience needs to understand why Paris chose her to be his bride and hopefully, his queen.

The redemption, if we can call it that, of Menelaus happens so much out of the audiences sight that it is simply unbelievable. Agamemnon, our villian is so broad that all needed was a snidly whiplash moustache to complete the effect. All the Trojans come across as flat characitures, unworthy of depth or attention due seemingly because of their lack of love or empathy for our heroine. (The fact she brought war to their doorstep, notwithstanding.)

For richer retellings of Troy, I recommend Firebrand, by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Troy by Adele Geras.

This book was truly a great book. The storyline followed the Iliad with some creative twists and turns added in by the author. The Romance aspect was played out perfectly, so it didn't seem like a love story the whole time. The action was good, and the author was very descriptive. Over all its an interesting story that will leave wanting more.

Sooo wished this was offered in audio CD's. It's a keeper for all time.

FANTASTIC!! Romantic, adventurous, heartfelt, great to be adapted to a movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't believe the average review is ONLY 3 stars, this is a 5 star book!!! Not only did I enjoy it, but my mother did as well, and she's not into the 'romance' stories.

Helen really came to life in this book. She's well written and seems like a real person w/ pain, sadness, joy, lust, adventure and romance. Helen was such a tender soul, I felt, and when dealing w/ the conflicts in her life, truly weighed on her heavy heart.

Really was a poignant book, and brought me to tears many times. Not only for the pain and sadness Helen encountered, but at times the humor she mustered in very trying times.

After seeing the movie "Troy" and other "Helen of Troy" movies, I feel this book could be adapted into a fantastic movie, if they stay true to the book story.

Thank you Amanda Elyot, for such a wonderful story.