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A review by suzemo
Helen of Troy by Margaret George
2.0
Meh? Margaret George, clearly did her research and chose what portions of different myths to use for her story (I mean, it's not like this was a "historical" figure strictly speaking, and there were always multiple myths for just about any personage/event from Classical Greco/Roman mythology).
This book was fairly bland, which Helen, herself being fairly bland. The story was told in Helen's first person voice, but as a disinterested bystander instead of the woman involved. Helen is also really passive, everything just happens to her (run off with Paris? It's because Aphrodite made it happen, loveless marriage, it's also Aphrodite's fault, other bad things, some other god's fault, even though the gods only appeared sporadically to actually do something).
I felt like George couldn't decide whether she wanted to go full on fantasy and kept hedging her bets where she could (Oh look! A god is speaking to her, but is he/she? Zeus totally favors Helen is a daughter, but does he?, just make up your mind already).
It was decent, but nothing exciting. I don't hate myself for making my way through this behemoth, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
This book was fairly bland, which Helen, herself being fairly bland. The story was told in Helen's first person voice, but as a disinterested bystander instead of the woman involved. Helen is also really passive, everything just happens to her (run off with Paris? It's because Aphrodite made it happen, loveless marriage, it's also Aphrodite's fault, other bad things, some other god's fault, even though the gods only appeared sporadically to actually do something).
I felt like George couldn't decide whether she wanted to go full on fantasy and kept hedging her bets where she could (Oh look! A god is speaking to her, but is he/she? Zeus totally favors Helen is a daughter, but does he?, just make up your mind already).
It was decent, but nothing exciting. I don't hate myself for making my way through this behemoth, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.