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A review by dfwsusie
House of Names by Colm Tóibín
3.0
2.5/5 This is a very odd take on The Oresteian. As the author notes at the end, he chose to take Aeschylus’ and Sophocles’ story and embellish with his own imagination. In some parts this works well, giving us characters that do not exist in the original tales and a richer story to work with. But when this story doesn’t work, it’s maddening.
Clytemnestra’s first person passages are a visceral revenge driven account that redeems her actions on Agamemnon in the eyes of the reader. When she’s on stage I’m rapt.
However, I do not understand the writer’s decision to take Orestes’ story to third person limited POV. It creates such a distance from the character to the reader, I was unable to develop any kinship to him. The effect is relegating Orestes as a third-tier character in a story named for him, while giving Clytemnestra and Electra the mic. His part of the story drags, with a narrator just telling you how some guy went from point A to point B. The Orestes portion is an ideal example of where showing and not telling can make or break a narrative.
Electra comes across as an insufferable brat who can’t make up her mind, while also not conveying why Orestes would listen to her in the first place. We see nothing that leads to her earning his devotion. Her loyalties shift on the breeze, for no reason whatsoever. His loyalty was only based on him being forced by the pen to do this woman’s bidding.
The end is so abrupt I had to check to make sure my copy fully downloaded. There is simply nothing there, as if the narrator covered books I & II of the trilogy and thought it fine to deny us any of book III to make this story have meaning. This is all revenge, but no justice or redemption - the very reason why we want a story about Orestes.
To be clear, this book is beautifully written. The writer is so talented with language that even when the spine of the story is a disaster, I’m still devouring the way these sentences come together. But I can’t help but be disappointed that it feels unfinished, as if the narrator became bored with the story and closed the book.
Clytemnestra’s first person passages are a visceral revenge driven account that redeems her actions on Agamemnon in the eyes of the reader. When she’s on stage I’m rapt.
However, I do not understand the writer’s decision to take Orestes’ story to third person limited POV. It creates such a distance from the character to the reader, I was unable to develop any kinship to him. The effect is relegating Orestes as a third-tier character in a story named for him, while giving Clytemnestra and Electra the mic. His part of the story drags, with a narrator just telling you how some guy went from point A to point B. The Orestes portion is an ideal example of where showing and not telling can make or break a narrative.
Electra comes across as an insufferable brat who can’t make up her mind, while also not conveying why Orestes would listen to her in the first place. We see nothing that leads to her earning his devotion. Her loyalties shift on the breeze, for no reason whatsoever. His loyalty was only based on him being forced by the pen to do this woman’s bidding.
The end is so abrupt I had to check to make sure my copy fully downloaded. There is simply nothing there, as if the narrator covered books I & II of the trilogy and thought it fine to deny us any of book III to make this story have meaning. This is all revenge, but no justice or redemption - the very reason why we want a story about Orestes.
To be clear, this book is beautifully written. The writer is so talented with language that even when the spine of the story is a disaster, I’m still devouring the way these sentences come together. But I can’t help but be disappointed that it feels unfinished, as if the narrator became bored with the story and closed the book.