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Showing posts with label Canongate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canongate. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

WSwan LBC and Canongate Book 08 - Weight Write Up - GUEST

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White Swan LBC


Date:  Sunday 10th of February 2012
Time:  6:00pm
Address: Swan Street, Leeds



Discussing:

WEIGHT
JEANETTE WINTERSON

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THE BLURB (from Amazon)

Canongate Books, together with thirty great international publishing houses, is proud to announce a new series - "The Myths". 

In ancient Greek mythology Atlas, a member of the original race of gods called Titans, leads a rebellion against the new deities, the Olympians. For this he incurs divine wrath: the victorious Olympians force Atlas, guardian of the Garden of Hesperides and its golden apples of life, to bear the weight of the earth 
and the heavens for eternity.

When the hero Heracles, as one of his famous twelve labours, is tasked with stealing these apples, he seeks out Atlas, offering to shoulder the world temporarily if the Titan will bring him the fruit. Knowing that Heracles is the only person with the strength to take this burden, and enticed by the prospect of even a short-lived freedom, Atlas agrees and an uneasy partnership is born.

With her typical wit and verve, Jeanette Winterson brings Atlas into the twenty-first century. Simultaneously, she asks her own difficult questions about the nature of choice and coercion, and how we forge our own destiny, Visionary and inventive, yet completely believable and relevant to our lives today, Winterson's skill in turning the familiar on its head and showing us a different truth is once more put to dazzling effect.


About the Author
JEANETTE WINTERSON'S first novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit won the Whitbread prize for Best First Novel. Since then she has published seven other novels, including The Passion, Written on the Body and The Powerbook, a collection of short stories, The World and Other Place: A Book of Essays, Art Objects and most recently a children's picture book, The King of Capri. She has adapted her work for TV, film and stage. Her books are published in 32 countries. She lives in Oxfordshire and London.

This month's write up has been (ever-so-speedily) provided by +Helen Carr @isfromupnorth - one of the spectacularly awesome Leeds Book Club Guest Star Super Stars. 

 Thanks so much!

 This is also one of the Canongate Challenge books, so is structured more like one of those write ups. 

 FOREWORD TO WEIGHT 

“When I was asked to choose a myth to write about, I realized I had chosen already. The story of Atlas holding up the world was in my mind before the telephone call had ended. If the call had not come, perhaps I would never have written the story, but when the call did come, that story was waiting to be written. Rewritten. The recurring language motif of Weight is ‘I want to tell the story again.’ My work is full of cover versions. I like to take stories we think we know and record them differently. In the retelling comes a new emphasis or bias, and the new arrangement of the key elements demands that fresh material be injected into the existing text. Weight moves far away from the simple story of Atlas’s punishment and his temporary relief when Heracles takes the world off his shoulders. I wanted to explore loneliness, isolation, responsibility, burden, and freedom, too, because my version has a very particular end not found elsewhere.” 
Jeanette Winterson 

Jeanette Winterson is one of those writers you either love or hate. Best known for her novel Oranges are not the only fruit, she takes a well known myth and creates a story about life’s journey, betrayal, greed, freedom, responsibilities, rejection and our search for our own identities.

 We started this discussion while munching on some fabulous homemade mint brownies made by regular bookclubber Kirsty aka @kayelle5, (recipe should be on LBC website shortly) and one of the first things to be brought up was the fact this book, although beautifully written, is split in to thirds which didn’t sit well with the story although almost everyone agreed the  favourite part of the story was the introduction of the space dog, Laika. 

 As mentioned below the story is a retelling of the famous Greek myth Atlas and Heracles (also known as Hercules in Rome and the modern west). As punishment for going against Zeus, Atlas is 
forced to carry the weight of the world on his back. As stated in the book the two characters are very different we have Atlas who is a powerful man who doesn’t notice much. He doesn’t need to. Other people notice things for him’ and then there’s Heracles ‘His strength covers up his weaknesses, as he was born with rocks for muscles and rocks between his ears’. Two totally different characters yet in a way the same. 

 As humans we all want to be the best, to be important, to strive for power, and sometimes will do anything to get it. In this story Heracles is on a task and requires the Golden Apples of Hesperides which only Atlas can collect with no harm coming to him.  

 So Hercules offers to take Atlas’s burden for a short while to get what he requires. On Atlas’s return Heracles realises he is not going to take by his burden and so tricks him by saying that he needs to adjust his cloak. Atlas is then left once again holding up the world.  Heracles then goes off on his adventures, finds ‘love’ and gets killed. It then jumps to many years later and Atlas isn’t aware of time or the Gods demise and then the story jumps forward to 1957 and Laika, the dog who was blasted into space by the Russians as a prelude to manned space flight. This piece was for everyone the most beautiful part of the story and how Atlas rescued her and in a way she rescued him when he finally realised he could be freed of his burden, because the reason he was carrying it didn’t exist anymore.This comes from two quotes in the book ‘No hero can be destroyed by the world. His reward is to destroy himself. Not what you meet on the way, but what you are will destroy you.’ 

 In the end Heracles destroyed himself due to greed, Atlas came close but realised that he didn’t need to carry his burden anymore because the people who expected him to carry it were not there anymore and it is only when we realise what is expected from others and ourselves can we then let go of our worries and we can free ourselves.

 The unfortunate thing about this book that we discussed that no one seemed to like was the sudden interruption of the auto-biography piece about Jeannette being given away. It didn’t seem to fit and distracted from the main story. Nor did the short piece on Hera being a sexualised object for Heracles, for me almost turning into Fifty Shades of Gray and blushing.  Along with the need for Heracles' wife to do an infidelity spell. And I quote ‘Had She not read Harry Potter? These things don’t end well?’

 One thing from this book was to understand the stories created from these myths and try to get an idea about it’s characters, (perhaps we should have read up on them first) to know our heroes, that superheroes and Gods are only powerful because of the belief/ideas we put into and  to know that actually Thor ‘god of war’ is ‘Kim’ from Home and Away who used to date a teacher. Oh and his friend Vinnie became a vampire in True Blood - obviously needed to change the day job. 
Obviously in any book all the characters have different personalities, but all are alike in a way because they want the same thing. We didn’t like Hera we thought she came across as a bad character, but is perhaps hard done by. 
Then there’s Atlas who went against his father and then coming to realise after being punished and shouldering the world, listening to all what was going on with the world that he didn’t want to be a part of that was able to release his ‘burden’. 

 And then there’s Heracles who through pure greed and desire for being a typical bloke gets himself killed. Silly begger.

 To sum up this book is about life, lesson and the burdens we carry, and how we are a ‘self pollutant’ and it is only ourselves that can realise that we have the power to know when to let go of these things we carry around us. We are always searching for more, for better, we take ourselves too seriously and we don’t realise what we have is actually good enough and can make us happy until it’s too late.

Note for Readers - Story of Atlas - Myth Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology, Atlas was usually responsible for holding up the heavens. This marble relief from a Greek temple shows Hercules holding up the world for Atlas so that Atlas can bring him the golden apples of the Hesperides.

 Another story concerns Hercules (Heracles)!, the grandson of Perseus. One of the labors of Hercules was to obtain some of the golden apples that were guarded by the Hesperides. Hercules asked Atlas to help him get the apples. Seeing an opportunity to escape from the burden of holding up the heavens, Atlas asked Hercules to take over the task while he obtained the apples. Hercules agreed. When Atlas returned with the apples, he told Hercules that he would deliver them for him. His intention was to leave Hercules to support the heavens. However, Hercules asked Atlas to take back the heavens for just a moment so that he could adjust his burden. When Atlas did this, Hercules walked away with the apples.


Score -  
7/10



A story to relate to the myths 
Bagenders – legend becomes myth.
We also mentioned Tom Holt and Jasper Fforde.


 If this book were a cake...
We didn't get round to discussing this really. We were too busy munching on the mint-cookies!


For further details, please email me at leedsbookclub@gmail.com or tweet me @LeedsBookClub! 

The Pub can be contacted on @WhiteSwanLeeds
And feel free to let us know your thoughts using #WSwanLBC!
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WSwanLBC

17 - Jun - The Fire Gospel - Michel Faber
16 - May - The Eyre Affair - Jasper FForde
15 - Apr - The Waterproof Bible - Andrew Kaufman - GUEST
14 - Mar - The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak - GUEST
13 - Feb - Weight - Jeanette Winterson - GUEST
12 - Jan - Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates

11 - Nov - Lighthouse Keeping - Jeanette Winterson
10 - Oct - Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell
09 - Sep - The Wind Up Bird Chronicles - Haruki Murakami 
08 - Aug - The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman
07 - Jul - American Gods - Neil Gaiman
06 - Jun - The Travelling Hornplayer - Barbara Trapido
05 - May - Atomised - Michel Houellebecq - GUEST

I'm just full of good ideas...WSwanLBC  



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Guest Stars - Table of Contents

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Book Club - Table of Contents

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Sunday, 19 February 2012

MedusaLBC Book 1 Review and Canongate Book 7 - Ragnarok

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Medusa LBC

Venue: Medusa Bar in Horsforth 
Date:  Wednesday 11th January 2012
Time:  7:00pm

Discussing: Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt


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Our first ever meeting at Medusa Bar in Horsforth. The bar was kind enough to offer us HUGE platters of delicious food, so massive thanks for that!

THE BLURB (from Canongate myth website) 
Ragnarok retells the finale of Norse mythology. A story of the destruction of life on this planet and the end of the gods themselves: what more relevant myth could any modern writer choose? Just as Wagner used this dramatic and catastrophic struggle for the climax of his Ring Cycle, so AS Byatt now reinvents it in all its intensity and glory. Ragnarok is the story of the end of the world. It is a tale of destruction of life on this planet and the end of the gods themselves. What more relevant myth could any modern writer find? As the bombs rain down in the Second World War, one young girl is evacuated to the English countryside. She is struggling to make sense of her new wartime life. Then she is given a copy of Asgard and the Gods – a book of ancient Norse myths – and her inner and outer worlds are transformed. War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that A.S. Byatt weaves into this most timely of books.

This was not only our first Medusa LBC book; it was also one of the Canongate Myth series (ongoing challenge for those who aren't regular blog readers - here). As a result, I'm going to structure this a little differently than my usual book club write ups.

This was also a slightly shorter discussion that usual. A few of us hadn't had a chance to complete the book. On top of that, as our first meeting we were all getting to know each other. 

Background to the Myth
Battle of the Doomed Gods - F. W. Heine 1882
Based on the Norse myth of a series of future events. Ultimately; it is the end of the gods, featuring the deaths of several of the most prominent characters within their mythology even Odin, the father of the gods. 
More that that; it reflects on how the gods were in fact the architects of their own doom. Their conviction that there actions had no consequences blinded them to the conflict originating within their own ranks, making it feel increasingly relevant to the world today.


The Book Club Reviews
Unfortunately, a few people found reading this book similar to wading through treacle. Though the majority of us found the language to be beautiful; the lack of narrative flow (the story only seemed to kick in during the second half of the book) meant that it was difficult to form a link with any of the characters. Additionally; they were all gods, with a unique view of the world that we couldn't relate to. With all their superpowers; the reader was utterly excluded from their thought processes.

The most important contextual information for the reader wasn't provided until the end of the book - for some of us it felt like the conclusion actually read like the introduction.

Personally, I LOVED this book. Having never read an A.S. Byatt book before; I feel in love with her style, the language used, even the backwards structuring. I'm really looking forward to reading EVERYTHING else that shes EVER written. 

A few of the book clubber did find that although they might not have enjoyed this book so much; they would be inspired to look up the myths and legends that inspired it. From that perspective alone another Canongate winner! 


Score 

5/10

Soundtrack 
Listened to a lot of Loreena McKennitt while I was reading this book. There is a passion and power behind the songs that really seemed to resonate with the plot. 

Read it? What music would you pick? 


Book the Next: 

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch


Venue: Medusa Bar
Date:  Wednesday 8th February 2012
Time:  7:00pm
Address: 8-10 Town Street, Horsforth, Leeds 



For further details, please email me at leedsbookclub@gmail.com or tweet me @LeedsBookClub!

Contact the bar on @MedusaBar

And feel free to let us know your thoughts using #MedusaLBC!


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Canongate


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2012 - MedusaLBC

14 - Mar - Started Early, Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson
13 - Feb - The Black House - Peter May - Postphoned
12 - Jan - The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - GUEST

11 - Nov - Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard
10 - Oct - Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (not *that* one)
09 - Sep - Before I go to sleep - S.J. Watson
08 - Aug - 9 Lives - Clive Rusher
07 - Jul - Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
06 - Jun - A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving - GUEST
05 - May - The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
04 - Apr - Diary of a Nobody - George Grossmith 
03 - Mar - We need to talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver
01 - Jan - Ragnarok - AS Byatt
An exciting new project! - Medusa LeedsBookClub

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Book Club - Table of Contents

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Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Canongate Book 6 - Where Three Roads Meet

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Yes, you're right, this is the wrong font...
Don't worry! We don't want to confuse you even more!! This is BookElf! AR has very kindly allowed me in on her Canongate Challenge, as Salley Vickers is one of my favourite writers, so I'm barging in here and reviewing her interpretation of the Oedipus myth.





Background to the Myth - Oedipus

Laius, King of Thebes, visits the oracle at Delphi who tells him that any son born to him shall kill him. When his wife Jocasta bears him a son, he pins his ankle together so he cannot crawl and they abandon him on a mountain side. However, the servant sent to leave the baby instead gives him to a shepherd to look after. Eventually the baby is adopted by the King and Queen of Corinth, who have no children of their own, and is named Oedipus. When he is grown, Oedipus hears rumours that he adopted and goes to ask the oracle, who tells his he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus flees Corinth and the people he presumes are his real parents, and travels to Thebes. On the way he meets Laius, with whom he argues and kills in self defence, not knowing this is his natural father.
When he arrives in Thebes Oedipus defeats the Sphinx, a beast part woman, part lion, who asks all travellers the riddle 'what travels on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night', eating anyone who gets it wrong. Oedipus solves the riddle, and the Sphinx throws herself over a cliff. The grateful people of Thebes, who have no idea who Oedipus is, appoint him their king, and marry him to the widowed Jocasta. Many years later, when Jocasta and Oedipus have had many children and a happy life together, a plague comes to Thebes. Creon, Jocasta's brother, is sent to the oracle, who says that Laius' killer must be banished before the pestilence can leave the people. The blind prophet Tiresias is sent for, and reluctantly reveals that Oedipus is the killer. Then a messenger appears to tell of the death of the King of Corinth. Oedipus is momentarily relieved that the prophecy he will kill his father has not come true, when the messenger reveals that Oedipus is adopted. Jocasta, realising that Oedipus is her son, hangs herself.
After consulting with the shepherd who was charged to abandon him as a baby, Oedipus realises he has killed his father and marries his mother. He blinds himself with a pin from Jocasta's dress and spends the rest of his days wandering Greece, guided by his faithful daughter Antigone.


*****

The Review

*****SPOILERS***
*****SPOILERS***

*****SPOILERS***

Now me with my classical background know Oedipus through the play Antigone, which I was forced to do at school (awful thing), but of course the name is more familiar to modern audiences as a complex, named by Freud for the 'unnatural' longings of a man for his mother and subsequent hatred of his father. Whether or not you think this is bollocks is up to you, but it makes a good story, and this is what Vickers has used; bringing the myth back to being just that. It is 1939 and Freud is lying on his death bed, suffering from the cancer of the mouth that has plagued him for nearly twenty years. He is visited by a strange shadowy figure, sometimes speaking Greek, sometimes English, who tells him, over the last months of his life, the story of Oedipus. This figure is revealed to be Tiresias, the prophet, who reveals his own life story alongside that of his master.

The language is stripped bear, and plods along, much like a Greek tragedy (can you tell how much I loved doing Greek at school?) and the myth that Tiresias tells isn't so very different from the original; this isn't a re-telling, just a telling. That, though,is what Vickers does so well; by reclaiming the myth as a story from Freud the usurper who is so successful in skimming the plot that the metaphor becomes more famous than myth.

I really really wish I hadn't read the introduction to this novella that explains the history of Freud's exile from Europe and his subsequent illness as this is the book's main flaw; it utterly fails to show, not tell. By being a dialogue between Freud and Tiresias all subtlety in introducing Freud's deathbed status is lost-what could have been a evoking tale of a man nearing death and learning from his mistakes becomes instead an almost homage to the myth and it's history, with nothing really changed or brought forward into modern time. This again fits with the Greek, but isn't very exciting to the reader. It also feels a little like Vickers is trying to show that the myth is ancient in origin and that should be respected, but it wasn't at all a fun way of bringing new readers to old tales.

I was, to be honest, bitterly disappointed by this book. Vickers usually takes her inspiration from great pieces of art, the inside front covers of her earlier novels show their inspiration so I thought the idea of re-telling a myth would suit her. But this instance the idea is better than the execution and whilst I still love her writing, I wouldn't be recommending this one.

Ongoing Challenges - Table of Contents
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Monday, 7 November 2011

Canongate Book 5 - Dream a little dream of me...

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After some delay; the next book in the LeedsBookClub Canongate Challenge was Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith. 

A huge fan of Alexander McCall Smith (Please read his wikipedia page - he is fascinating); I discovered the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency a few years ago and read about six books in the series over one weekend, so enchanted by the world and characters described. I deliberately left this book until I had written a less than glowing review as I knew that this would be just fantastic and accessible. 

Additionally, Aengus is one of *ours* - an Irish myth - and one of the most beautiful, magical and transformative of them all. As frivalous cruel and thoughtless gods go; Aengus is a cuddily cuddily teddy bear.   

Background to the Myth -  Wandering Aengus

Usually in this section; I clarify the myth, so that the modern telling has a comparative base. I'm half tempted not to do so in this case.
True McCall Smith mixes the modern with the mythical - wandering in directions not consistent with the original story. However the broad strokes he makes are very in tune with the stories I grew up hearing and reading.
It's a dilemma!
Aengus is the child of the Dagda (I shall keep the definitive article thank you!). The Dagda deceived the water spirit Boann, tricking her to take advantage of her. Both were part of the ancient race known as the Tuatha de Danann - the magical children of the goddess Danu. However; the Dagda couldn't quite conceive and run. Boann's husband Nechtan would have been furious and kicked up all sorts of fuss - so the Dagda froze time; leaving the sun still in the sky for nine months. Aengus was therefore conceived and born in a single day. Granted, a long day; but still just the one.

Upon his birth; the Dagda tore the baby from his mothers arms and dumped him on one of his other sons, Midir. Boann was heartbroken but unable to act without raising the suspicions of her husband. Midir - thankfully - was a decent and honourable god who raised the boy in a warm and loving home. He was honest with him about his parentage though Aengus never had any reason not to love his step father.

Aengus was a happy child, smart and resourceful. As he grew; he was handsome and brave. Though deeply loyal to Midir - he was also pretty disgusted at the behaviour of his real father. Upon reaching his maturity; he conned the Dagda - pretty much as described in the book; so I won't ruin it for you - and took over his domain.

However; the reason that he is the god of dreams relates to his own love life. Aengus was a bit of a looker; friendly and open with more than his fair share of charm. Women flocked to him - knowing that although he would never commit to them - he would bring good fortune and love their way.

One night however, Aengus had a dream more vivid than any he had ever experienced. He was visited by a woman so beautiful that she took his breath away. After many months of interacting with her only in his sleep; Aengus became morose and introverted. His mother and father both searched Ireland for a year before they tracked this elusive maiden down. Even then Aengus had to identify her out of 150 other women, and defeat a curse, and transform himself into a ....

 See; protecting you from spoilers again. 

 Long story short; Aengus was one of those gods with a fingers in a lot of different mythical pies. His influence and his magic can be seen throughout Irish lore; interacting with (or related to!) most of the Tuatha de Danann. 
*****
The Review 
*****SPOILERS***
*****SPOILERS***
*****SPOILERS***
The book can be broken into two. On the one hand; there is the life story of Angus - from conception to marriage. On the other; his influence in more contemporary life stories. 
I can't fault the story of Angus at all. It's all here - and McCall Smith breathes life and humour into his characters - from father Dagda to duped mother Boann with a light and simple touch that feels utterly in line with the oral tradition from which the story emerged. I  occasionally found the dialogue to be a little stilted; but ultimately I very much enjoyed his take on this old story. 

Between the recitation of Angus' life are snippets in time - this time the timeline is our everyday world. Angus walks amongst us, unrecognised but still performing his ageless tasks. 

He gives sweet dreams for sweet resolutions; promotes true love; highlights that decency towards any living being (PIGS!) demonstrates an inherent good will and proving that for the right reasons; people will cross any line to protect the one they love - be that love sexual, romantic or fraternal.

 It's funny. I've always loved Aengus/Angus. He is one of my favourite mythical characters. I loved his sly way of looking at the world; his odd solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. I still do. 
But... But...
McCall Smith manages to capture the essence of the original tales and transpose these into an up to date setting. However; the amortily of the gods; their callous and cold thought processes are jarring in the contemporary. 
Whlie the style of the writing is breezy and the stories are - on the surface of it - light and fluffy; there is a bite in the tale. Just like in the best fairytales there is a sinister edge that creeps over your subconscious. I wasn't even aware of it unil I put the book down. Then little flashes of creepy would make me shiver.

What's that line from the musical? 'Dreams come true, not free'...

A fantastic read. 

Go.

 Read.

 Now!!


   
Perhaps the best known version of Aengus was written by W.B. Yates - see poem here. 


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Canongate

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Ongoing Challenges - Table of Contents
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Saturday, 1 October 2011

Canongate Book 4 - And we'll all go together....

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Next up on the LeedsBookClub Canongate challenge was The Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin.

Victor Pelevin is a Russian author, famed for his work in the SF genera; so I approached this book with very high hopes. I was also very curious as I've heard that his style is to use multi-layered
philosophical techniques, designed to encourage the reader to create their own fiction, heroes and universe out of his words.

On the other hand; somewhat dampening my enthusiasm; the Minotaur and Labyrinth myth was one I LOATHED when I first encountered it, primarily due to it's (to my mind) unnecessarily tragic conclusion.

Background to the Myth - Theseus and the Minotaur
(I'm going to try to nut shell this origin story in particular.
Binu focused on a particular time frame of the original myth, the Penelopiad followed the myth into the underworld and Girl meets Boys related the myth in its entirety. This book seemed to borrow certain motifs from the original myth - most obviously the minotaur and the labyrinth - without aligning the plot in any way with the storyline.)

King Minos and his wife had many children. The eldest - Androgeus - grew into a particularly talented and skilled athlete. More than that, he was intelligent, resourceful and charismatic. One year, he decided to travel to Athens and compete in the Pan-Athenian games, held only one year in five. 
Androgeus dominated every sport that he participated in. He won not only every title but also the hearts and minds of the viewing crowds. Every one in fact, except the other competitors, who became so enraged that they assassinated him. 

 The King promptly gathered his fleet, set sail for Athens and demanded that the city hand over the murderers or dire consequences etc etc. Not knowing exactly who had preformed the dastardly deed, King Aegeus instead surrendered the entire town. King Minos considered for some time and set his conditions. Every Great Year (that's seven for the uninitiated) the seven bravest youths and most beautiful maidens were to be sent to Crete...never to be seen again.

Henri Matisse
It transpired that somewhere down the genetic line, the King and Queen had a rather unusual child. A human from the neck down, the child had the head of a bullock and was known as the Minotaur. He was sent by his parents to live in the Labyrinth. The 14 Athenians were dumped into the labyrinth, presumably to satiate his monstrous appetite (which now I think of it is considerably creepier than when I was ten...) 

After three cycles, the prince of Athens - Theseus - decided that enough was enough. He would go as part of the sacrificial youths and slay the beast. He promised his father that if he succeeded, he would fly white sails - so that his father would instantly know that he was returning. 
I think it's fair to say, Theseus would probably not have succeeded if he hadn't had the luck to charm the Princess Ariadne. Presumably she wasn't too well up on her own family tree as she aided Theseus in freeing the 13 other youngsters and killing her brother - the Minotaur - utterly betraying her father and mother. 

She then fled with Theseus to Crete with her younger sister. 
Actually, she didn't. Thesesus dumped her on the island of Naxos and she cursed her former lover. As a result he forgot to change the sails of his boat from black to white and his father - believing the worst - threw himself off a cliff in despair at having lost his son. 
Theseus returned home, victorious but devastated.   


*****

The Review 

*****SPOILERS-ISH***
*****SPOILERS-ISH***
*****SPOILERS-ISH***

 
What a weird book. 
Ok. Part of me thinks that this is one of the best stories I've ever read (barring the ending). Another part of me is still bogged down in the myriad of possible explanations - desperately trying to work out what the hell was going on. A third part thinks that while it was a noble effort, Pelevin just don't quite hit the nail on the head.

Very much in the here and now; the book is set in cyberspace. Correction - it is set in a closed corner of the cyber world. One little conversation thread in fact. 

Eight characters wake up one morning (or do they?) and find themselves in a small room (or are they?) - with only a computer for company (or...you get it right?). They are unable to contact the outside world, only able to commune with one another. Through dreams, exploration of the available outside world - which seems to consist of a giant labyrinthine complex and a sweet/horrid love affair we discover more about the characters and their lives, opinions and philosophies.

The solutions offered depend very much on their personality of the one proposing it; which in turn seems to be influenced by the name they are allocated. For UGLI666 - seeningly a religious fundamental throwback - every thing is dripping in sin. Romeo and Isolde - influenced no doubt by their tragic romantic name inspirations - every event reinforeces the possibility of a romantic or physical connection.

So far, so awesome. But then...I don't know. It just doesn't work. Every time it looks like we're getting somewhere, Pelevin runs off on a comedic tangent - which is actually quite amusing, but ultimately frustrating. While I liked the idea of the Minotaur's head being a virtual reality headset - and it was discussed in some detail - the explanation was either adopted or dropped entirely by the second half of the book - I just couldn't tell which. I really enjoyed the interchanges between the characters; but due to the linear nature, I'm not sure I actually engaged with them the way I was supposed to.

For all of the philosophising; it feels like the author is afraid to commit - the sheer number of possibilities renders the labyrinth meaningless. Without one fixed point to work from or on, the story descends into surreality.  


I'll definately read more of Pelevin's work in the future. Hopefully this was a forey in a new direction and that his previuos works feel less artificially light and comedic; offering a read with more bite.  

Ongoing Challenges - Table of Contents
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