|
Helen of Troy | 
 enlarge | Author: Margaret George
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $0.91
You Save: $15.09 (94%)
New (29) Used (75) Collectible (1) from $0.91
Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 218851
Media: Paperback
Pages: 656
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.6
ISBN: 0143038990
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780143038993
ASIN: 0143038990
Publication Date: May 29, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: FEW BENT CORNERS Used - Good Default Text
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The New York Times bestseller from Margaret George, author of Mary, Called Magdalene
With her amazing ability to summon the voices of historical characters, Margaret George in Helen of Troy tells the story of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships. Laden with doom, yet surprising in its moments of innocence and beauty, this is a beautifully told story of a legendary woman and her times. An exquisite page-turner with a cast of irresistible characters Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, as well as Helen and Paris themselves and a wealth of material that reproduces the Age of Bronze in all its glory, Helen of Troy brings to life a war that we have all learned about but never before experienced.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
This book won't launch a thousand ships-but it's still good August 8, 2006
Lilly Flora (Portland, OR)
45 out of 50 found this review helpful
"Helen of Troy" is the latest offering of the amazing historical novelist Margaret George. She writes very long books encompassing the whole life of a real person, bumps and all. Her work on Henry VIII is the ultimate for Tudor fans, her novel on Cleopatra was beyond compare and now we have this-a very good book, but not her best work.
Unlike her past novels "Helen of Troy" feels more like a story and less like a total life history of the narrator. Not that this is bad, but even though some scenes are included this book has very little of Helen's early life or later life, focusing mainly on the war of Troy. Some of the mythological info on Helen's early life, such as her abduction by Theseus, is even left out of this novel, which acts to give it a more normal feel and make Helen an unusual, but not extraordinary woman of her time. Thus it is more of a story novel, and a bit unlike her past works.
When I read earlier this year "The Memoirs of Helen of Troy" by Amanda Elyot I said that Helen was a poor choice of narrator for her own life story. Ms. George proved me wrong in this. While Ms. Elyot's Helen was conceited and selfish, Helen in Ms. George's book is a normal woman of the time-and for all that she's beautiful, she may not be the most beautiful woman in the world. There is even doubt in this novel as to Zeus being her real father. Thus as a narrator, Helen does a great job of bringing the tragedy and beauty of Troy to life. She's a real person that it's pretty easy to identify with.
I also liked how Ms. George handled the Greek gods in this book. They were real, but elusive, changeable and not understandable by humans. They could be terribly mean and see it as kindness and acting to placate them was a large part of daily life. Ms. George strikes a good balance between fantasy and religion in her handling of them.
I would give this book a solid four stars. Not five because unlike her earlier works (such as her novel on Cleopatra) this novel is not mesmerizing-it does not sieze your attention in and hold in it place. Still though, it is a good novel and by far the best retelling of the Troy story I have read.
 AN EXCEPTIONAL LISTENING EXPERIENCE September 19, 2006
Gail Cooke (TX, USA)
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
Throughout the ages there is one story that continues to intrigue us, losing none of its fascination despite the passage of time, and that is the myth of Helen of Troy. She was, as we know, an incomparable beauty, the woman whose "face launched a thousand ships" and she was also a woman in love whose elopement led to the Trojan War, which is found in Homer's Iliad.
A daughter of Leda, Queen of Sparta, Helen is said to be fathered by none other than Zeus. Still in her teens she is wed to her brother-in-law, Menelaus, which was a politically advantageous arrangement. He probably would not have been her choice, although she did give him a daughter. Nonetheless, it was a loveless marriage.
When Helen first saw the handsome Trojan prince, Paris, the course of history was changed. Before long the two became lovers and fled to Troy. (Depending upon the source, Helen either gladly left Menelaus and her daughter to go with Paris or she was abducted by him.)
Whatever the case, Paris lost his life in the Trojan War and Helen married his brother, Deiphobus, who was later killed by Menelaus. At one time Menelaus had sworn to kill the wife who had forsaken him, but upon seeing Helen again he could not bring himself to do so.
Esteemed author Margaret George (The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scotland) has given us a remarkable work by telling the story in Helen's voice. We are treated to a seldom found immediacy and view of life in Helen's day.
Speaking of voices, classically trained actress Justine Eyre delivers a stunning performance as Helen. Her voice is young, distinct, with just a touch of an accent, very much the way we would expect Helen to sound. At times, she brings a wistfulness to Helen, especially in the Prologue as we hear "I flew back to Troy, no it was more like floating...."
Truly an exceptional listening experience - enjoy!
- Gail Cooke
Who is Helen: a romantic enigma December 24, 2006
J. Cameron-Smith (ACT, Australia)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
One of the challenges in reading a novel such as this is to try to separate your own views, preferences and interpretations from those presented by the author. Not because one is 'right' and the other is 'wrong' but simply because the quality of fiction really should rest on the story as presented.
I enjoyed this novel: all 600+ pages of it. I never really formed a clear picture of Helen but I certainly obtained a number of different views of her. Helen as daughter, wife, lover, ruler and mother are each covered. Helen as a woman is less accessible, at least to me. The narrative descriptions of life in Sparta and Troy appealed to me, as did the relationship between mankind and the Gods.
'The age of heroes had truly passed' but memories of them will live on forever.
Recommended to those who both enjoy George's narrative style and those who want to read well-written fiction about Helen of Troy.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Gripping and Heart-Wrenching June 13, 2007
Tamela Mccann (Nashville, TN USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Make no mistake: Margaret George's Helen of Troy is indeed a doorstopper of a book, coming in at over 600 pages, and it could very easily have become bogged down in endless unpronounceable names and illogical storylines. Happily for the reader, the author pulls you in early on and builds the story layer by layer until you realize you've been entrapped in her words that will not let go until the final pages...and probably not until long after that.
This is, of course, the legendary story of Helen of Troy, the "face that launched a thousand ships", and her lover Paris, with whom she leaves all she's known, including a husband, a child, and a kingdom. George has fleshed her characters out well; she's given Helen enough conscience that her guilt feelings seem real, yet we understand why she chose to leave with the god-like Paris. Upon entering Troy, Helen begins to realize the fall-out of her actions will reach much further than simply destroying her family. George gives us the tension leading up to the warfare between the Greeks and the Trojans and though we know the ultimate outcome, it is still heart-wrenching and exhausting.
I really enjoyed this novel. Having been a long-time fan of George's, I found this novel to be a better written and more fascinating glimpse into an historical figure (real or not) than Mary Called Magdalene. Helen, with all her faults, comes through as a woman tortured by both love and loss. George is particularly good at bringing all the warring factions and heroes to life and she keeps them separated by their actions and personalities. I found this to be a credible, fascinating look into an era of history I knew relatively little about. Recommended.
Story telling at its finest August 7, 2006
CC reader
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
I have long been a fan of Margaret George. She consistently has found a way to provide her readers with fresh and, sometimes, novel insights into the lives of historical figures whose life stories most everyone is already well acquainted with. Helen of Troy is no exception. The known facts of Helen's story are in the book to be sure - her questionable parentage, her uncomparable beauty, her obsession for Paris and his for her, the greed and war lust of Aegememnon and, finally, the 20 year war. However, George delves beneath the surface and provides a glimpse of the human side of all of the related events of this story subtly offering a look into the motivations and imperfections of those figures who featured prominently in the story. George sets the stage well, even for Helen's desertion of Sparta, so that the reader is able to sympathize with the selfish actions that caused such a tragedy. For those who like some color woven into their historical fiction, I highly recommend this richly written and very satisfying epic.
|
|
|
|
| |
