Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy by Margaret George

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


OK--I want to say that I really wanted to like this book, nay, I wanted to love it. But I didn't. It was long and windy, like the steep hill of the citadel Margaret wrote about. In all honesty, I couldn't finish the last 40 pages. I just didn't want to do it. I am sorry Ms. George.



The story telling from the beginning was cold and stoic; all the characters were marbleized statues of heroes and heroines of Greek mythology that should have had you standing on the edge of your bed screaming for the next exciting thing. I kept thinking, is life in TROY so boring? The portrayal of Paris and Hector were flat and uninspiring. I kept thinking why would Helen run away with a "boy" who could ignite her passions more than an experienced man who craved her body, but she couldn't surrender her soul? I think this is the biggest problem writers have when attempting to explain WHY Helen ran away with Paris, or was she kidnapped, please make up your mind before you write about it. It's as if Margaret was afraid to really show WHY--without this compelling relationship the story just continues flatly. The story of Troy and Achilles and Odysseus is full of blood, guts, sex, intrigue, quiet passion, longing, hate...and none of these jumped out at me. It felt like reading a research paper that was way too long.



I feel bad giving 3 stars to an established writer, but it felt like she just wrote this to make a deadline...





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