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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There is no better author of fictionalized biography than Margaret George. She is able to perfectly give voice to a Helen who is both victim and victor, goddess and tease-- she humanizes the earliest know femme fatale in the western world and takes us all along for the ride.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
3.5 stars. This was a somewhat dense yet easy read. I've found myself recently drawn to Greek stories and myths, as with new narratives and nuances, they can be quite compelling. However in some way, there's not much imagination or creative room as many of these stories have already been told, for many years. So I was hoping Helen of Troy would offer a new perspective on the infamous Trojan War but it was lacking.
Helen herself, as a character, was compelling. The most beautiful women in the world, tired of hearing the same compliments, yet starved for romantic love. Her relationships with her family, Menelaus and Paris were convincing. However the influence/power of the gods is fickle, both on Helen and the story. She was forced by Aphrodite to fall in love, but did so willingly. Thus begins a 10 year conflict, leaving thousands dead. I guess because I knew the ending, it was less exciting. The sheer amount of other characters and names was a little overwhelming, considering they all nearly ended up dead.
Helen herself, as a character, was compelling. The most beautiful women in the world, tired of hearing the same compliments, yet starved for romantic love. Her relationships with her family, Menelaus and Paris were convincing. However the influence/power of the gods is fickle, both on Helen and the story. She was forced by Aphrodite to fall in love, but did so willingly. Thus begins a 10 year conflict, leaving thousands dead. I guess because I knew the ending, it was less exciting. The sheer amount of other characters and names was a little overwhelming, considering they all nearly ended up dead.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just love reading historical fiction about this period, and this story did not disappoint. Margaret George tells an interesting and plausible story about Helen of Troy the "woman with the face that sailed 1000 ships."
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love George’s characterization of Helen, who is compelled by Aphrodite to obey, but is also happy to do so. Her Helen is not perfect, but she is interesting. And she pulls in bits of different telling of Helen’s story, so pick your favorite Greek tragedian’s version and she is likely represented. This Helen is conflicted but ultimately chooses selfishly, and indulges in feeling guilty while also not regretting her choice. I found myself liking her very much.
And George also does a fantastic job of creating the feeling of desperation, realizing that no matter what anyone did to try and stop the war, it was going to proceed exactly as it did.
One of my favorites!
And George also does a fantastic job of creating the feeling of desperation, realizing that no matter what anyone did to try and stop the war, it was going to proceed exactly as it did.
One of my favorites!
I liked this book, but I didn't love it. It's well written, but I didn't find it particularly interesting or engaging. I find that the best books evoke feelings, and this one didn't provoke any feelings in particular - positive or negative. It's a well written book that folks who like Greek mythology will like, but otherwise unspectacular. As far as Trojan War fiction is concerned, I preferred Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Firebrand.
This is a re-telling of the events surrounding the Trojan War as told from the perspective of Helen of Troy herself, rather than like most of the re-tellings that concentrate on the actions of the men and the fighting. Overall, it was a good version of events, and was actually surprisingly true to how Homer's [book:The Iliad] tells things, which I wasn't really expecting.
The story picks up when Helen's just a little girl, and it's interesting to see what her early years possibly could have been like. The book goes into great detail about her life, and just the leading up to marrying Menelaus takes a surprising amount of time considering how short a time it is in comparison to the entire book. Still, it was a great way to really get into the head of Helen and I definitely got to where I sympathized with her and her actions. Really, up until listening to this book, I'd always disliked Helen of Troy as a character (she's a bit sympathetic in The Iliad/Odyssey, but only a bit), and this really turned her into a much more sympathetic character.
The war itself felt somewhat glazed over, and the only reason the reader really has a clue of what's going on is Helen's granted a kind of vision that allows her to view what's happening on the battlefield from the safety of Troy. Like Homer's original poems, the gods play a pretty big part in the novel--they don't intercede constantly like in Homer, but there's plenty of meddling on their part. Some readers might be a bit put off by the inclusion of the supernatural with the historical, but I think it worked out pretty well.
I listened to the audio version, and I definitely recommend it to fans of audiobooks. Justine Eyre's voice was great to listen to!
The story picks up when Helen's just a little girl, and it's interesting to see what her early years possibly could have been like. The book goes into great detail about her life, and just the leading up to marrying Menelaus takes a surprising amount of time considering how short a time it is in comparison to the entire book. Still, it was a great way to really get into the head of Helen and I definitely got to where I sympathized with her and her actions. Really, up until listening to this book, I'd always disliked Helen of Troy as a character (she's a bit sympathetic in The Iliad/Odyssey, but only a bit), and this really turned her into a much more sympathetic character.
The war itself felt somewhat glazed over, and the only reason the reader really has a clue of what's going on is Helen's granted a kind of vision that allows her to view what's happening on the battlefield from the safety of Troy. Like Homer's original poems, the gods play a pretty big part in the novel--they don't intercede constantly like in Homer, but there's plenty of meddling on their part. Some readers might be a bit put off by the inclusion of the supernatural with the historical, but I think it worked out pretty well.
I listened to the audio version, and I definitely recommend it to fans of audiobooks. Justine Eyre's voice was great to listen to!
I found this novel to be a poor copy of an old and familiar story. The length is epic, but nothing else is larger-than-life, extraordinary, or original.