House of Names

There are writers that choose to build their own work on stories that have existed for an eternity and create their own vision of them, because they know they have the skills to do so.There are books that you can see they are glorious 5 star material before you even reach page 50 Colm Toibin is one of those writers and House of Names is one of those books I have been acquainted with the smell of death Don t tell me I need spoiler alertsI shall be very disappointedDeath is always the main charact [...]

A retelling of a Greek tragedy, Agamemnon tricks his wife and daughter into coming to the war front by telling them that he wants to marry Iphigenia, his daughter, to one of his soldiers When Clytemnestra, Agamemnon s wife, and Iphigenia arrive though they quickly find out that Iphigenia is actually there to be sacrificed to the gods to ensure victory Agamemnon though hesitant to do so relents and Iphigenia is killed while Clytemnestra is locked in an underground pit to stop any attempts at inte [...]

Colm Tobin revisits the recurrent subject of the mother in his novels in this reimagining of the Ancient Greek tragedy of the House of Atreus told in four parts The mother here is the despised and cursed Clytemnestra, whose damning historical reputation he counters by making her human and understandable The retelling departs from the original where the characters actions are directed as the gods will and instead result from natural human emotions and misjudgment This is a story that dwells on [...]

It has been forever and a day, back to my school days, since I have read anything concerning mythology, the gods and the ancient Greeks To be honest, if it wasn t written by this author I probably would have passed on reading So I can in no way pretend to be an expert nor even make any educated thoughts on its comparisons to the original I can say that I surprised myself by how much I became engaged and enjoyed the telling of this story.Tobin sets his story at a time when the power of the God s [...]

Everything old is new again, or so goes the thought process when there s a retelling or reimagining of or reengaging with a classic text As a writer, dipping into a well of classic material must be exciting, filled with rich characters and deep moral, human questions that transcend space and time But as a reader, it can be a bit sticky going to wade into this world of retellings, especially if one is a lover of the source material You hope they get it right, stick the landing, tell their own tal [...]

House of Whispers, House of MurderFran ois Perrier The Sacrifice of Iphigenia detail The basic story, of course, is that of Aeschylus Oresteia a chain of killings, each in revenge for the other King Agamemnon of Argos, the leader of the Greeks, prevented by contrary winds from setting sail for Troy sacrifices his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the gods Years pass before Agamemnon returns, only to be killed in revenge by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus Years pass again, duri [...]

We live in a strange time, Electra said A time when the gods are fading Some of us still see them but there are times when we don t Their power is waning Soon, it will be a different world It will be ruled by the light of day Soon it will be a world barely worth inhabiting You should feel lucky that you were touched by the old world, that in that house it brushed you with its wings I LOVE a good Greek tragedy And this was great It brought an immensely human aspect to all these characters that we [...]

I recently had a conversation with a GR friend about which books are harder to review She said that the ones you love and I opted for the ones for which you feel nothing After reading The House of Names I stick to my choice It is difficult to find my words when there is not much to say I am infuriated to feel so non emotional towards this novel because it started so well I could feel the tension in Clytemnestra s story and the writing was exquisite But I m getting ahead of myself.The House of Na [...]

Colm Toibin is a brilliant writer with great range House of Names is as far from Brooklyn which is as far from The Master as you can imagine A retelling of the Greek tragedy of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, the book begins with the sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia and Clytemnestra s vow of vengeance The story is told by three of the names of this house of tragedy Clytemnestra, her other daughter, Electra, and her son, Orestes.The sections narrated by Clytemnestra are the most powerful Driven [...]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.A strange, dispassionate kind of book, but compelling none the less.An interesting read Prior to reading this, I had no knowledge of Electra or Orestes, so it was a good introduction to the story I m a sucker for anything to do with the ancient Greeks The story is told from multiple perspectives, outlining the sacrifice of Orestes sister by his father, Agamemnon, the murder of Agamemnon by his wife , and Orestes exil [...]

A retelling is a succes if the author manages to reinvent, but not damage the original story Colm T ib n did a half good with his while in The House of Names the female characters of the Greek myth get depth, the male one is sadly left behind This novel is a retelling of the murder of Agamemnon, the Greek army leader and king who, at the beginning of the Trojan War, sacrificed his oldest daughter Iphigenia so that the Greek ships could sail to Troje Ten years after the war Agamemnon returns hom [...]

3 stars Maybe Clytemnestra is one of my favourite women from Greek Tragedy and one of her monologues in particular is quite possibly my favourite of all the speeches Solots of favour going on here Writing her story is something i ve wanted to do for years, so when I saw Toibin had done it I was both pleased and annoyed that he beat me to it Perhaps that coloured my response to it but I felt that he has fundamentally misunderstood or misrepresented her character He has made her smaller This is th [...]

A big thank you to Colm T ib n, Simon and Schuster, and Netgalley for this free copy in exchange for an unbiased review I was immediately drawn to this book by the synopsis I read any retellings or continuations of The Odyssey or The Iliad, my favorite so far being The Song of Achilles I ve also become a fan of T ib n lately, so I jumped on his new release.To clear up any confusion this book does not take any inspiration from the ancient texts, which I wish I had known when I started because I w [...]

4 stars I tell you this man can take a muddy puddle and make you think it is a fresh spring shower I thought I was done with mythology back in college I had two literature classes devoted to mythology and thought I had read and reviewed it all However, with all the authors coming out with up to date revised books on the Bard and mythology I am thoroughly enjoying the stories This is not only one of my favorite authors, but it is his rendition of a Greek tragedy Toibin s writing literally just ta [...]

NOTE I won a copy of this book in a GR Giveaway in return for an honest review.I thoroughly enjoyed this story I m not familiar with the original legend This story is full of revenge, deception, murders, isolation It all blends together for an intriguing story The character of Clytemnestra was the strongest portrayed At first, her motivations seemed fueled in revenge rage But then she seemed to turn on her remaining children Her son is removed and isolated her remaining daughter is kept at bay, [...]

Dysfunctional familyWhen Agamemnon decides to sacrifice his daughter to the gods to gain their support for his war, his wife Clytemnestra plots a bloody and horrific revenge In her grief and rage, she doesn t consider the profound effects her actions will have on her surviving children Electra, silently watching as her mother finds herself at the mercy of her lover and fellow conspirator, Aegisthus and young Orestes, exiled from his home and facing many dangers as he fights for survival.This ret [...]

To date, I had enjoyed everything I d read by Colm Toibin I love his lyrical writing, his ability to enter a female character s psyche which is a gift that s rare in a man At first, I thought this book was going to be similar in style to The Testament of Mary, i.e a familiar story told through a female character and from a different perspective than usual When Toibin is writing in the first person as Clytemnestra, I was drawn into the story in an atmosphere of sinister suspense The sentences are [...]

The houses were all filled with names, she said All the names This house was She put her head down and did not say anything .When I read and loved Colm T ib n sThe Testament of Mary, I had the advantage of a familiarity with the New Testament, and I was therefore able to recognise where T ib n s account differed from the official record and appreciated the ensuing ironies With House of Names, however, having no prior knowledge of the saga of Agamemnon as detailed in Aeschylus dramatic trilogy,Th [...]

This is a somewhat disappointing re imagining, in prose form, of the story of the doomed House of Atreus, drawing primarily on Aeschylus s trilogy Right from the start, Toibin s prose which in the past I ve found delicate and precise, feels here loose and horribly self conscious From the opening it jarred I have been acquainted with the smell of death The sickly, sugary smell that wafts in the wind towards the rooms in this palace sugary really In ancient Mycenae Honey, for sure, but sugar More [...]

Surely the Greek myth of warrior king Agamemnon and his downfall must be the story of the most dysfunctional family in history In his most recent novel House of Names T ib n reenacts this dramatic tragedy, but doesn t focus on the perspective of the great conqueror of Troy who horrifically sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to the gods in order to ensure his victory Instead he flips between the accounts of Agamemnon s scheming wife Clytemnestra, imperious daughter Electra and young son Orestes Mo [...]

It actually breaks my heart to say this, but I could not read this FAR too literary and arsey for me And I m doing a BA in English History I want to read fiction and enjoy it, not read something that I have to struggle through I gave up very early on, as I have 100s of books here that I know I will finish There are literary titles that are mind blowing, like Donal Ryan, Sebastian Barry, Alan McMonagle, Marie T Robinson, Doreen Finn, Shane Connaughton etc however this is too much hard work to mak [...]

House of Names is Irish writer Colm Toibin s retelling of the story of the house of Atreus an ancient tale fraught with tragedy and vengeance, most famously depicted in Aeschylus Oresteia This is going to be a long and detailed though spoiler free review, because Ancient Greek lit is something of a passion of mine and this was my most anticipated read of 2017.This is a story that I ve loved for years, and have loved enough to read it in multiple iterations by different authors Which begs the que [...]

I so wanted to love this book These great iconic stories in the hands of one of our finest contemporary writers But shockingly, it plods And there is no nuance here, no fresh view The characters are largely unidimensional, and the stark emotion of the origin stories muted somehow I admit to being somewhat confused as to what Toibin s project was The most innovative part an invented backstory for our proto Hamlet Orestes who Toibin imbues with a strongly Hamletian dithering character is surrounde [...]

Not a good or interesting novel, unless you are into senseless torture and death 0 of 10 stars

This is an engaging re telling of The Orestia by Aeschylus Told from the perspectives of Clytemnestra, Orestes, and Electra the language is spare and, at times, poetic It is just as bloody as the original text but much has been added in order to flesh out the story The themes are the same rage, revenge, justice and the loss of faith The differing points of view provide insight into the characters motivation and in some ways turn murderous actions into something, if not justifiable, at least unde [...]

As in his Testament of Mary, T ib n turns again to a tale from the ancient world, and this time his subject is the family of Agamemnon with its famous in house murders This retelling involves a good deal of filling out and is all presented in direct, strong prose that suits well the story we have all learned from the ancient Greek dramatists Although the original cast, with all its intrigues is in place, the new center of the tale becomes the relationship between two young men, Orestes and Leand [...]

This novel is an example of why Colm Toibin is one of my favorite authors This retelling of the Greek tragedy about Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and their children is so wrought with murder and pathos that I read it all in a day Beautiful and awful together.

The sections of this book told from Clytemnestra s viewpoint were powerful and fascinating The scene of the death of her daughter took my breath away I could feel the pain the hatred welling up in her He made her story very current while maintaining the mood of Greek tragedy When the narrative changes to Orestes story, however, it lost some momentum for me I expected the son of Agamemnon to be bold fierce, so I could not help but feel disappointed in his meandering, but maybe that was the intent [...]

House of Names by Colm To bin4 stars 8 out of 10In recent years, I have read several reworkings of stories from the Greek I have also recently read The Oresteia by Aeschylus, so I was very interested to read this reworking by Colm To bin.This novel follows the general plot of the original story ie Agamemnon murders sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia Clytemnestra, his wife, plots and kills Agamemnon on his triumphant return home with Cassandra the two surviving children, Electra and Orestes are fa [...]

I received a free advance copy of this novel in return for an honest, unbiased review.I had high hopes for this work I haven t read and T ib n but I have heard good things and I have an endless fascination with retellings of ancient myths and folk tales but I was sadly disappointed.The story of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra has everything you would expect from a Greek myth war, death, murder, kidnapping, betrayals, affairs and Clytemnestra has long been vilified as one of the bad women of literatur [...]