Book Review

Helen of Troy: Goddess Princess Whore by Bettany Hughes

I have read many a book about world history written by many writers.  Alison Weir, Peter Ackroyd and Antonia Fraser are three of my favorites. They all have their strengths and weaknesses but all in all I really enjoy reading their histories as evidenced by how often these three names turn up on my book shelves. But never have I found an author bring to life the classical world quite like Bettany Hughes.   I recently had the good fortune to acquire her study of Helen of Troy and, boy, was it a treat. I am very interested in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome and I enjoy learning about it but, although, I don’t consider myself ignorant on the topic and could probably hold my own in conversation, I am by no means an expert. I still feel that I have so much to learn about these amazing civilizations that inspired so much of the Western world and whose legacies we are living with every day. And Bettany Hughes took something academic and prone to dry prose about a people who populated the Mediterranean 3000 years ago and turned it into a living thing that came off the page and transported me to another time and place, a kind of literary time machine combined with a travelogue.  

“Tracing the site of those dancing grounds in Sparta early one summer, along the river-banks of the Eurotas, I lost my way. The Bulrushes here are 3m high-the perfect hiding place for a Theseus, prowling around for young girls. Twisting and turning I ended up in one of the orange groves, hundreds of which now edge the river and carpet the Eurotan plain. In the next-door field, women were lopping olive trees, to allow the top growth all the strength it needed. As they burned the branches, smoke mixed with the smell of Jasmine which wound around the mature boughs. I was investigating the scene of a crime, but the sensuous charge of the place was sweet and overwhelming." --From chapter 6 "The Rape of Fair Helen".

Bettany Hughes is not just there to inform, which she most certainly does, but to evoke. As she writes, I can feel the layers of the present peel away. As she journeys in the book she makes you feel the past is just there beneath the surface, as real as the sand under her feet when she stands on a shore and looks across the waters and imagines Helen and Paris’ journey to Troy.

"As a Bronze Age Helen and Paris sailed along from West to East they would have passed seasonal beach markets and ports pockmarked with colour, pungent with the smells of livestock and spices, their traders standing by ready to tout their wares. Out on the open sea there would be pirates waiting to relieve the ocean traveller of vital supplies and priceless consignments of hippopotamus ivories and the like."--From Chapter 22 "The Seas Foaming Lanes".

Using contemporary archeological findings, classical writings, art and her own voice to tell the story of Helen, she inspires while she teaches. Her words are evocative and fragrantly redolent as she invites us to explore long forgotten shrines, overgrown temples and cramped museums with her.  She relates Helen to history and present, she has become an icon. Helen is also a cypher, who becomes whatever the author wants her to be: goddess, victim or whore. Each era has made a version of Helen their own. Was she a human woman at all? By telling what a woman of her time and place would be, Bettany makes a good case. Maybe Helen was an amalgamation. Troy has been determined to have existed so maybe this creature of immense beauty did too. A beauty so terrible that it brought nothing but death and destruction to all her knew her. Her life as tragic in its own way as poor doomed Cassandra, speaking a truthful prophecy that no one will believe. I don’t know the answer but I enjoyed the journey.

Greece is one of the many places I long to visit. There is so much history there and I want to see it by land and sea. I want to walk the modern streets as well as old paths more traveled by goats than man nowadays, so much to see and experience. To step outside on a sultry evening with nothing but the sound of the rustling of the leaves of olive trees by the warm night breeze and look at the stars that Socrates and Homer looked upon thousands of years in the past and get even a glimpse of what they lived like would be priceless to me. To smell the scents, taste the foods, meet the people and even to just be enveloped by the velvety Mediterranean air would almost be magic. I may never make it there in person but with this book (there is an accompanying PBS show) I feel a little closer to it. I wholeheartedly recommend this excellent book to anyone. And now I can’t wait to read her new book, The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life.

None of the contents of this book or the photo used belong to me.

Being Human

I love British TV. I grew up with Benny Hill and was introduced to Monty Python in college by watching Life of Brian on VHS incrementally at the Everett Community College library (and it reached its apogee when I was invited to the opening of Spamalot in Las Vegas and was able to get Eric Idle to sign one of my books while standing within touching distance from Terry Gilliam and... wait for it...John Cleese). It grew with Red Dwarf and Blackadder. I remember watching a Blackadder marathon on a PBS station in Seattle in 1993. I still have the T Shirt and even went so far as to attend an Anglophile convention. I have so many British comedies on DVD and in my Netflix Queue plus am a huge Dr. Who fanatic (the original not the redux) so bad that I have drawn versions of the Doctor from William Hartnell through Sylvester McCoy. I love the show Little Britain (computer says no) and Coupling (which is the British and arguably better version of Friends). I am also quite addicted to BBC America. One of the best shows to come from this channel recently (besides Life on Mars) is Being Human. So, with much trepidation, I decided to watch the SyFy Americanized version of this great show. I loved the concept. A werewolf, a vampire and a ghost shack up in a flat while the hijincks ensue. I expected that the American version would suck all of the life and thoughtfulness out of the British version but they have taken a thoughtful show with 6 British episodes and actually took the 13 episodes offered with US TV and made the show better. I have seen the failure of Americanized adaptions so many times that this one show makes me look forward to Torchwood. The only problem I have with this version is that I don't like the cast as much. The ghost, Sally (Annie in the BBC version), is better British and I don't find the actor who plays the vampire attractive at all while the British one is super hot.

 Hot! Plus he has an Irish accent.

 Not so much.







The casting is spot on for the werewolf. Sam Huntington is adorable, likable and strangely sexy. Its good to see that we finally got a translation right.

And for comparison, here is the complete British cast:

What a pleasant surprise!

Once upon a time I used to really enjoy American Idol. I loved to see the contestants get up there and perform every week and often times I'd get goose bumps with a particularly good song. Like Fantasia and Summertime, Melinda Dolittle with My Funny Valentine or Bo Bice singing Spinning Wheel. So many talented people. I hated the audition phase, although I never missed it, and a lot of the times there was always one or two contestants I loathed. But it was a good time and I watched it religiously every week and even would vote on occasion. For the last three years though I have given the show a pass. It just seemed to lose something and became boring and stale. Now with the addition of J-Lo who I can't stand as an actress, singer or person and Steven Tyler who I just can't look at, the show is unwatchable. Still I missed it. I like shows that feature real talent, that is why I love So You Think You Can Dance. When I saw advertisements for The Voice, I was like, oh here we go. This will be just another American Idol knock off and I did not think it was going to be any good. I figured I would just wait to get my singing competition fix when The X-Factor finally made it to the TV. I took a chance though and programed my DVR to record it and would just watch a little bit until it got too bad and I would delete it half watched. But to my great surprise, I loved it. The judges were fun and actually relevant and the talent, OMG! So good! I already have a few favorites (I'm looking at you Xenia) and am looking forward to watching next week. The concept is so much better then I thought it would be. There is a whole lot of spinning in these big chairs that keep the judges from seeing the contestants before they choose them just on their voice, get it? Each judge has a big shiny red button that they get to hit when they have decided they want to work with that person. There were times when I was telling the judges to hit that damn button already, this person is really good. I know a show is for me when I talk at the TV. It is just all around very enjoyable. I think Simon Cowell should be worried. This show just might be the one that can finally topple his empire. I'll still watch The X-Factor but I am not near as excited about it as I was.  This really was a pleasant surprise.

Book Review: The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin

I like scary stories. One of the scariest stories I ever read was by Dean Koontz called Phantoms. That book kept me awake with the light on reading until the sun came up. And as I have said before in this blog my favorite author is Stephen King. So when I can find a new author whose book is alluded as one of the scariest books in recent years I get excited. I had read many great reviews about this book saying it was creepy and that I would never look at the woods the same way again so I ordered it. It was a small book and I finished it fairly quickly and although I enjoyed it, it was not as good as I was expecting.

Our protagonist is a man named Nicholas Close. He is a new widower who is driven to his childhood home by the loss of his wife and new found ability to see ghosts in the last few seconds of their lives played endlessly. This homecoming is marred by the abduction and brutal murder of a local child that is somehow connected to a mysterious wood that may contain an unspeakable evil. Over the years many children have gone missing and turned up dead around these woods and Nicholas sees the ghosts of these doomed children as they are dragged to their deaths. We follow Nicholas with the help of a woman who lost her husband, his sister and an unbelievably plucky child named Hannah as he attempts to slay the monster. Plus is has an interesting twist at the end.

This book is part The Sixth Sense, part IT and part any fairy tale with a witch residing in the forest. It had good atmosphere and likable characters but just didn't click with me. There were a few harrowing moments and if you have a pathological fear of spiders this book may not be for you.  I judge the success of a story if I want to read it again and this book failed that test. I am not sorry I read it and I would recommend it but so far this author is not the second coming of Mr. King. So I will keep searching but would read another book by this author in future.

Into the mud scum queen

That is the best header, considering that on this date has spawned so much calamity. It is Hitler's birthday. It is the one year anniversary of the blow out of the deep water horizon (it sounds so science fictiony and ends up being so like the Borg) and the columbine shooting. This should be a day of rest and munchies. I don't smoke but I know so many who do. The one thing that I have realized is that 4/20 is not positive and our beloved tokers need to choose a better date. Taco Bell is waiting.

The Good and the Ugly

I am in the midst of taking classes for my Bachelor's degree so that I can go into social work. One of the important aspects is to volunteer and help in the community to get a feel about what you might want to do once graduated. So today I went to Helping Hands and delivered food to needy seniors in our city. I should be selfless but I could not quite believe how good it made me feel. They are so grateful and it seems that many are lonely and like having the company as much as the food. This is something I am going to make time for quite often. I was surprised to see so many smiling faces so early in the morning to get the food to deliver. It made me feel that there is hope for mankind. And then to see the other side so soon after makes me think the earth would be better off without us. As I was on the way to make my last delivery there was a man with one leg by the traffic signal trying to maneuver in his wheelchair. He was asking for money. I usually will give if I have cash in my wallet but I was over too far to be able to reach him. A big Mercedes SUV pulled up beside him and this asshole threw a piece of garbage at the man. I was flabbergasted. Why be so cruel when one rim on his assholemobile could have fed that poor man for months. I wanted to pull him from the truck and give him a piece of my mind. But alas I just had to watch. I felt so helpless and horrible for the man. He has nothing and he is treated thusly by those who only care about themselves. I actually started to cry. So later in the day I was pulling out of a shopping center and there was another man asking for change and I pulled up and smiled at him and said I don't have much but here you go. I gave him some change that was in the glove box. He seemed so genuinely happy to get what little I had to give. I don't know if it was because he got some much needed money or that someone smiled and treated him like a person deserving of respect. I don't think it really matters.

The Borgias

Showtime has a new series based on the infamous Borgia crime family. It is beautifully costumed, with lush sets and a terrific cast. So far it has been very enjoyable. I love these kind of historical dramas. I like that it can bring interest to history and may spark some to seek out more information for themselves. I have read a few books about the Borgias and this period but I don't know enough about it to have any inaccuracies suck my enjoyment out. That was my main issue with The Tudors. I wanted to watch and love that show so badly as it is my favorite historical era but it was just so inaccurate that I was unable to get past it. For the Borgias what amazes me is the absolute corruption of the church at this time. These were the keepers of men's soul, whether they wanted it or not . They held knowledge hostage and could take your life with impunity while the supposed face of God on earth fathered legions of bastard children, lived ostentatiously off the money taken from the poor all over Christendom used to enrich themselves and lived lives that were far from holy. It was all image with no substance. Rodrigo was the patriarch of the family, picture him like Marlon Brando in the Godfather. He sat like a loathsome spider spinning his webs. He would stop at nothing to increase his wealth and power, usually using his eldest son Cesare as the muscle, who was smart but ruthless. But the most famous of course is the infamous Lucrezia. Married for the first time at 13 she spent her life being used as a pawn in her families machinations. Victim or whore? You decide.