Illiad lovers rejoice, we now have "An Illiad"

[Sequoia]

(Good intro for those of you who haven't tackled the masterpiece but want to)

Starred Review. Baricco made his name internationally with his debut, Silk (1997), and has since released three more well-received novels, most recently the war-themed Without Blood (2004). This prose retelling of the Iliad is sure to top them all. Baricco eliminates the appearances of the gods, adds an ending chapter (borrowed from the Odyssey) that recounts the famous incident of the wooden horse and the sack of Troy and—an ingenious touch—tells the story from the first-person viewpoint of various participants: Odysseus, Thersites, Nestor, Achilles. The famed physicality and violence of the poem are here ("the bronze tip... cut the tongue cleanly at the base, came out through the neck"), and Baricco doesn't sentimentalize the story—easy to do, especially with Helen. The larger plot remains: Agamemnon insults Achilles, the best warrior on the Achaean (Greek) side, who then refuses to further serve, which allows the Trojans to rally under their greatest warrior, King Priam's son, Hector. Achilles' best friend, Patroclus, receives Achilles' permission to help the Greeks, but is killed in battle. Achilles returns to the battlefield, succeeds in isolating Hector underneath the walls of Troy and strikes him down. Finally, Priam goes to Achilles' tent and begs for the body of his son, and Achilles grants his return. Medieval versions of the Iliad story conceived it in chivalrous terms, but Baricco conveys the real story, an epic of harsh dealings, small treacheries and large vanities. He adds only a few modern reflections to the character's thoughts: old Nestor, for instance, plays with the paradox that the young have an "old idea of war," which entails honor, beauty and glory, while the old take up new ways to fight simply in order to win. In an afterword, Baricco states that "this is not an ordinary time to read the Iliad," and his book is more than a pasteurized version of a great poem. It is a variation, and a very moving one, on timeless Homeric themes. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

www.amazon.com

I saw this in the library and whipped it right off the shelf.

[happyslug]

1. What is a "It is a variation, .... on timeless Homeric themes" but without the Gods and Goddesses???

The Iliad is a combination of various stories Homer composed about 300 years after the actual events (The Iliad was believed to have been written around 800 BC about events that occurred about 1200 BC). Homer wrote as much about the Gods and Goddesses as he did the heroes. Why did the wind shift, why did one side seems to get advantage through nature over the other? Homer explained these in terms of the Gods and Goddesses who played with the fates of men, these Gods and Goddesses MUST be appeased or those who do NOT will suffer the wrath of the Gods and Goddesses.

Remember Homer wrote of TWO wars going on at the same time, one among the mortals fighting outside Troy, the other in Mount Olympus among the Gods and Goddesses and how these two playing fields interacted with each other. This was the key to HOMER's Iliad, it may not be the key to your interpretation of Homer's work, but it was the key to how HOMER viewed his work. Thus to take the Gods and Goddesses out of the Iliad is to re-write the book. This is NOT a variation but a re-writing, there is no law against re-writing a tale (Homer himself seems to have done that when he wrote his stories) but to call such re-writing or re-telling, it a "Variation" of Homer's tale is to keep to much of Homer's name while taking out Homer's version for this story to be a "Variation"".

[Sequoia]

2. I would look at it as a warm up to the classic.

I've read The Illiad...just loved it. It was fun to read this and brush up on the characters. I have The Aaenid (sp) to read so this is like a refresher course. However, the gods and goddesses are not entirely missing either.

[YankeyMCC]

3. Ok I had to mull this over a bit

My immediate reaction pretty much matched the sentiments expressed in Sequoia's post above. And basically after thinking about it the bottom line is I still feel the same.

Mr Baricco might have spun a good story, in fact it sounds like something I might very much enjoy if I had come across it and was Not familiar with the Iliad. But the Iliad is a favorite, that I reread, along with the Odyssey, every couple of years or so. Because of that and because he has removed a core piece of the story I do not think I could enjoy this story.

And because of that I don't think I could recommend this, even if it is told well - perhaps particularly if it is told well, as a means of introduction to the Iliad. I picture this, if I had read this story before The Iliad I probably would have a very hard time integrating and seeing the importance of the gods in The Iliad. I have a young son and the way I'm introducing the Iliad and Odyssey to him is by telling him the stories (I've taken him and one of his friends camping a few times and I use these stories as campfire stories, both kids seem to love it) and recently getting him some children versions that include all the aspects of the story but presented in a less complex way and leaving room for the child to want more if they find it interesting.

[Sequoia]

4. Yes, the gods and goddesses are important

to the story, central really since they wanted this war and made it happen on purpose. When I saw the book I just got jazzed. Kinda like looking at a live webcam of a place you've been or enjoyed visting without being there but rather stuck at your computer while it rains outside and you are viewing that site with the sun on the warm sandy beach and the waves rolling in.

[Cleita]

5. The meddling of the gods in mortals' affairs is central to the story.

Without it you get a lukewarm war tale that borders on soap opera. The old bards knew what they were doing when they retold historical events by including the gods to make them more interesting. It made what could have been a dull chronicle an epic tale that was fated to happen because of the gods.

I do think that telling the story sans the gods from the viewpoint of the warriors who were there is an interesting back story reference. Maybe these were the tales the war veterans told to the bards, who improved on them.