Helen of Troy Kindle Edition

"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.

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.

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.

This book is very long (the hardback version is 606 pages). All of Ms. George's other books are equally long. Her books on Henry VIII, Cleopatra and Mary Queen of Scots had (roughly) 600 pages of interesting, well-flowing reading. But this book - as well as her book on Mary Magdalene - feels as if she truly only had 300-400 pages of worthwhile information, and spread the action and dialogue more thinly in order to be able to publish a "thick novel."It's a very quick read until Paris and Helen arrive in Troy. Then it nearly grinds to a halt with minor details of Helen's new life and the Trojan War. The central part of the book focuses on the war, which is expected, but it is simply drawn out too much. Once the war is over, the remaining years of Helen's life have been compressed into a very small number of pages - as an example, seven years spent in Egypt passes in only 3-1/2 pages. It began to seem like Ms. George was just hurrying to complete the book at this point, and although the story came to good closure, it was quick and sketchy after the fall of Troy.I am waiting for her next book, whatever that may be, in the hopes it is back to the high quality of her first three books.

The reader is swept up in descriptive narrative placing them amongst the characters and the storyline.

トロイア戦争の原因とされる伝説の美女「トロイアのヘレネ」の物語。スパルタの王女として生まれ育ち、夫を迎え、母親となり、トロイアに出奔し、長く惨い戦争を生き延びて再び故郷に還る波乱万丈の生涯がヘレネの一人称で綴られます。『イリアス』他トロイア戦争神話をベースにして展開するその劇的な人生ドラマとは裏腹に、ここに描き出されるヘレネは意外にも知的（本来、Helenの語義は「賢い人」ですが）で生真面目な常識人です。神の娘、絶世の美女として崇められても、本人が望んだわけではなく、他者に利用されるだけなら、それはいわば「呪い」のようなもの。本書のヘレネの生涯はこの「呪い」を自覚し、苦闘し、折り合いをつけていく過程に他ならず、全編に流れる静かな怒りと悲しみと誇りが胸に迫ります。また、他ではあまり触れられていない終戦後のエピソード−スパルタに帰国してからの後半生が詳細に描かれる終盤で、夫メネラウスとの和解、娘ヘルミオネの許しと理解を経て、ヘレネが至った穏やかな諦観と自ら選んだ人生の幕引きに深い感動を覚えました。ギリシアとトロイアのどちらかに過度に肩入れする翻案作品が多い中で、本書の人物像や事件の解釈の公平さには好感が持てます。たとえ1000隻の大船団を出航させるほどの情熱は感じられないとしても。

Vivid detail with thoughtful and articulate language/vocabulary while staying true to the very essence to the era in which the story was “written”. A Captivating love story with all the ferocity and heartbreak one would feel as if they themselves bared witness to the fall of an ancient beautiful civilization; The Kingdom of Troy.

先にDan　Simmons　の ”ILIUM”と”OLYMPOS”を読んで過去と未来と宇宙が一緒になったような話で内容について行けない感じがしていましたが、ホーマーの「イリヤッド」への興味を呼びたてられたところへ、この本と出合いました。トロイのヘレンはスパルタの王女で、スパルタを訪れたトロイの王子に魅せられて、夫と娘をスパルタに置いてトロイに去り、これが原因でスパルタとトロイの戦争が起こり、例の有名なトロイの木馬が登場し、トロイが滅びる・・という物語です。７５０ページを超える本ですが、波乱万丈の物語で、長さを感じないで読むことが出来ました。

A fantastic read!