Customer Reviews

The Rage of Achilles

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To the extent that I enjoy seeing how authors handle adaptations of the Iliad, I approached The Rage of Achilles with significant interest. However, while it has its strong points, Hawkins makes significant miscalculations in his treatment of the story - and thus it falls far short of its potential.

First the positive: Hawkins has a tremendous gift for description. He takes great care to make his scenes feel vivid and real, drawing on nuanced details to help us experience what his characters see, feel, smell, and hear. His command over the battlefield is great. With a lot going on during battle scenes, he proves himself quite deft at choosing what to include and what to leave out, so that we experience the sights and sounds of the battle without losing the strategic and dramatic flow of events. In this regard, I was surprised to see such talent in an obscure book like this one.

The rest of the book more or less falls apart, however, mostly due to a single miscalculation on the part of the author. Hawkins sets out with the goal of de-glorifying the story. He wants to knock both the characters and the subject matter off their pedestals, strip the story of its polite veneer, and give us a gritty, no-holds-barred look at flawed humans in a harsh world. He rightly realizes that presenting us a sanitized Iliad, filled with perfectly noble heroes, would be a fatal oversimplification; however, his mistake is in his belief that the more violent, sexual, and nasty the story is, the more profound it is. While it's possible to make a story simplistic in its pure idealism, it's equally possible to, as a reaction, make a story simplistic in its pure depravity - and Hawkins does just that. Without discussing in gross detail, I'll say that he goes beyond taking an "unflinching" look at the story and presents us gratuitous scenes that are nothing but ugliness for the sake of ugliness.

Sex and gore aside, perhaps the ugliest thing about this book is its characters. Hawkins wants to show us an angry Achilles, so he thinks the thing to do is make Achilles as thoroughly nasty as possible. But the problem is that this doesn't make him any more human. Rather than being broadly painted as a one-dimensional paragon of virtue, he becomes a one-dimensional study in all the ways a person can be violent, arrogant, mean, and yes, stupid - and that's no better. Is it good to show a complex character who is full of flaws? Yes. But Achilles is nothing but flaws, and without a feeling for his underlying humanity, we have nothing but a name with a mess of horrid acts attributed to it.

The rest of the characters are no better. Hawkins' treatment of the Greek "heroes" is so patronizing that it descends to the level of parody. He goes to great lengths to pound into our heads the fact that Agamemnon is comically arrogant and that poor Menelaus lives in his shadow. Other than that, however, most of the others are lumped together into a homogeneous mass of middle-aged morons distinguishable only by their names. If they're not drunk or hung over, they're standing around like idiots waiting for the "penecostal fire" to fall while Agamemnon feels the "move of the spirit." Their moods turn on a dime, and they're so susceptible to manipulation that I found myself wondering how these guys managed to run an army. And since the Trojans are just as bad, we find that the story has only two half-intelligent characters. I won't give you their names, but I'll say that one is a Greek hero you'll identify within his first appearance or two, and the other is a made-up Trojan character who's not named Napolieono or Hindenibergo. They serve primarily as "voices of reason" by showing how men with 21st century sensibilities would interact with all the stupid people who lived in ancient times.

The dialogue in this book is a mixed bag. Hawkins often writes conversations in short, fast moving snippets that can be brisk and enjoyably glib at times, but that too often become choppy. Where it fails the most is at the end, where it is certainly not up to task at showing us that Hawkins' brutish Achilles had a plausible change of heart. His climactic decision is thus abrupt and unconvincing.

Other than that, there are a few inexplicable things that left me shaking my head as I read. I have no idea why Hawkins portrayed the Trojans as vastly outnumbering the Greeks; there's no reason for that reversal, and it makes the siege completely implausible. Equally inexplicable is his decision to show the Greeks winning in Achilles' absence. Why? It serves no purpose other than to force the author to contrive a half-hearted explanation for why Agamemnon would want to beg Achilles to return.

If the story as I described it appeals to you, then by all means buy this book. But don't use it as your tool for learning what the Iliad is about. Aside from the fact that it is dripping with irony from start to finish, Hawkins changes so much of the story that you'll walk away from his book with more misconceptions than knowledge. How much of this is deliberate on his part and how much is simple mistakes is hard to say (when I hear him talk about the Iliad in interviews, I squirm with embarrassment for his sake - so fundamentally lacking is his knowledge of the source material).

Either way, The Rage of Achilles is not the Iliad. And forget this notion that it's more complex or profound than its source. Homer's characters are far more rounded and fleshed out than the yahoos in this story... And the way the Iliad juggles the complexities of war is much more insightful than the blunt "war is bad/people are all jerks/the ancients are stupid" message presented in this novel.

I appreciate Hawkins as an aspiring writer, especially as one who decided to base a story (however loosely) on the Iliad. However, this one didn't work for me. I would advise readers to skip this and read a good modern translation of the Iliad.

A very modern twist to the classic Iliad tale. This is usually not my genre of books, but I found it to be a page turner, finishing it in just over a day. The author paid great detail to the historical integrity of the tale, but wrote in a modern language that will entices readers into the characters lives and emotions. Definately an adult read. I can't wait to see what Terrence Hawkins comes up with for his next book writing adventure. 5 stars and many kudos!!!

A wonderful timeless classic is trashed.

Achilles' temper is introduced by him killng a young girl as a result of a violent rape where he uses her mouth - not part of the origical story and added for reasons only the author would know. Moving along a few pages, there is Paris admiring his body, mentioning the beautiful Helen has a lisp (!), a gorgeous rack (described as I would expect in certain men's magazines) and on and on it goes about sex in the morning where Paris has a 'snake' - not a cock, not a penis, a snake! A few pages later, there is a group discussion about Helen and what a 'slut' she is. The writing is atrocious and travesty to the real story. Never mind the feeble excuse of making this story modern, it didn't. It made it petty, superficial, the language a combination of coy Mills and Boon variety (Paris' 'snake) to the type of words used when men really hate women - Helen is a 'slut'. Not any insight in this book. So badly written, it was placed where it is most suited - in my rubbish bin. AVOID this crappy novel.

If Hunter S. Thompson and Quentin Tarantino teamed up to write an Aegean Bronze Age war novel, the result might come close to Terence Hawkins excellent book "The Rage of Achilles". This is a re-telling or re-imagining of Homer's "Iliad" in a language and style that has a visceral and unforgettable impact. Too often, Homer's epic poem is read primarily as poetry. But the enduring appeal of the Iliad as literature derives precisely from its power as a STORY - and that story has been too often buried under archaic language and slavish adherence to literal translation.
Terence Hawkins takes a meat cleaver to this barrier and brings the characters of the Iliad back to life - Agamemnon, Priam, Hector, Paris, Helen of Troy, Odysseus, and Achilles himself. The Iliad, as we know, focuses on the crucial turning point in the Trojan War, when Achilles, the leading warrior for the Achaean Greeks, first withdraws from the battle due to a quarrel with Agamemnon, and then returns to fight with a vengeance after a chain of events leads to the death of his lover Patroclus at the hands of the Trojans and their champion Hector. Achilles' slaughter of Hector in front of the gates of Troy has a brutal inevitability from which we simply cannot avert our eyes.
"The Rage of Achilles" recreates these characters as tough, cunning, fornicating, murderous, and totally believable people. Re-imagined in modern vocabulary, the dialog is by turns hilarious and appalling, and rings true. The language is modern, but the characters are so believable that it never seems anachronistic.
Above all, Hawkins' novel forces us to face the brutality of this war, how its participants rationalize it in terms of their own beliefs, and why they are able to carry out acts of almost unimaginable violence.
This book is not for the squeamish, and it is definitely an "adult" version of the Iliad - but it is written with an immediacy and intensity that draws you in and won't let go. I recommend it in the strongest terms.

I just finished reading "The Rage of Achilles" by Terence Hawkins. It is a wonderfully done book that is definitely worth the purchase price and more. I gave it five stars. However, the book departs from the "historical record" contained in "The Iliad" in several significant ways that, in my opinion, detracts from the original story described in "The Iliad." First the good: extremely descriptive and compelling writing. The prose is fast-paced and brings the horror and even humor of war to life. The author gets many of the characters dead on perfect: Odysseus, Agamemnon, Menelaus and Diomedes. He also does a great job with Achilles and Patroclus. But Mr. Hawkins gets it so wrong in his characterization of Hector. Ironically, it's one of the things that the movie "Troy" got right. It's Hector that is held up historically as the ideal warrior who fights for his country. Did he have fear? Of course he did, he was just a man. BUT, he conquered that fear and fought and he died like a man. Hector did NOT die in the way the author describes. For readers interested in a version of the story more faithful to "The Iliad" check out Gustav Schwab's "Gods and Heroes."

You don't have to be a classical scholar to enjoy Terence Hawkins' interpretation of the Iliad--but it doesn't hurt. That is to say, having carefully studied Homer's version of this age-old tale shouldn't prevent you from becoming engrossed by Hawkins' vivid re-telling. The uninitiated reader will be at no loss for not having read the Iliad; nor will the overeducated find themselves lost in nit-picking. Hawkins' human characters are three-dimensional, and his descriptions of their divine encounters are strikingly imaginative. Even the gore--of which I'm not usually a fan--is pitch-perfect. I recommend this book just as enthusiatically to one who loved the Iliad as to one who doesn't even remember it. Though it's not at all clear that Terence Hawkins intends to compose a volume based on the Odyssey, The Rage of Achilles will leave readers wishing for a sequel!

Sex? Check. Violence? Check. Timeless characters in a truly modern version of a classic text? Double check. Terence Hawkins has stormed onto the writing scene with a fast-paced read which will keep you turning the pages and leave you wanting more! For those who are unfamiliar with the story of the Trojan War, you will enjoy this very readable version which delves deep into the minds of Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, etc. during the latter days of the battle for Troy. And for those who have read Homer's original, or have seen the movie, you will thoroughly enjoy this new original. I strongly recommend this novel and urge you to give it a read!

Terence Hawkin's The Rage of Achilles is a fast-paced, moving novelization of The Iliad. Written in lean, muscular prose, Rage makes the horror, chaos, and travesty of an ancient war relevant to our own age. Then as now, war does not favor women or the weak, and Hawkins is not afraid to show this in his novel.

That said, this novel was a pleasure to read--it is well written, humorous, and fast paced. I loved how Hawkins treated the Greek Gods in his novelization--are they real (most think so) or are they merely an imaginative construct that provides order and justification in a chaotic world (Odysseus' belief). Hawkins leaves both possibilities open, which provides an interesting tension in the novel.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Iliad or who wants to read a less reverent (and more realistic) depiction of war which shows how man's own pride and power are his inevitable undoing.

Terence Hawkins's "The Rage of Achilles" is a modern adaptation of Homer's "Iliad," centering on the latter portion of the lengthy Trojan War. True to its source material, the cast of characters remains the same, ultimately culminating in the meeting of Achaean elite Achilles and Troy's favorite son Hector. Hawkins's version gets a lot right--impeccable characterization, realistic and witty dialogue, strong descriptive passages, and just about everything else. Still, if there's a complaint that warrants mention, it's the absence of a character worth rooting for as most come across as self-centered, though that does say something about the duality of man and how petty man can be. And while the novel ends without complete resolution, it doesn't necessarily have to, because the original tale has already been told. For a refresher on Homer's classic, look no further than Hawkins's "The Rage of Achilles," but good luck not picturing Brad Pitt as Achilles and Eric Bana as Hector. You can thank Wolfgang Petersen's mediocre film "Troy" (2004) for that disservice.

In Rage of Achilles, lust and wrath are closely intertwined in the psyche of Hawkins' vividly-depicted protagonist. The direct inclusion of sexuality, while possibly objectionable to some, is actually more period-authentic than either Classicists or prim academicians might like to acknowledge, since sexuality is an integral part of recognized mythological narratives. While the popular imagination may hold antiquity to a sublime ideal--with its influential rhetorical strategies, momentous architecture, and definitive dramatic models, it cannot purge the more untidy stories, like Io, a nymph seduced by Zeus and subsequently turned into a heifer, or Leda and the Swan, which (regardless of 16th century artistic depictions) was a forced rather than consensual encounter perpetrated by Zeus. From Leda and Zeus's union came Helen of Troy, who contributed to the outbreak of the Trojan War.

With his depictions, with his sharp attention to detail, Hawkins gets to the heart of Greek mythology. At its center is an unremitting cycle of sexuality and wrath that defines Classical history.

Hawkins prose is perceptive and powerful, offering penetrating glimpses into each character's ambitions and darker motivations. His characters are far more believable, far more tangible than the original men and women described by Homer, who are as two-dimensional and ascetically profiled as any red-figure pottery painting. (And I certainly don't intend this as negative commentary on Homer's work. Just indicating that the styles differ, and Hawkins' vivid detail facilitates our understanding of their deeper nature). Hawkins' images are vividly observed, and his characters are cinematic in their actions. His scenes are brilliantly defined. Here, the heroic figures--even gods--of antiquity are defined by baser, more authentic human considerations, while still being bound by pre-determined fates they cannot escape.

While it does contain adult material, Rage of Achilles is a highly absorbing, character illuminating read that reflects the complicated nature of a period from which popular understanding now expects only transcendent abstractions and heartening philosophies.