Troy: Our Greatest Story Retold (Stephen Fry’s Greek Myths, 3)

Product Information

We follow different stories that explain how Troy came to be ruled by Priam (in fact, how Priam came to his name) - and who would have thought that Herakles had a lot to do with that?! - and are introduced to everyone who will become important in the actual battle for Troy. In Troy you will find heroism and hatred, revenge and regret, desire and despair. It is these human passions, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore, that still speak to us today. It’s the mark of a wonderful story as well as an equally wonderful way of telling said wonderful story if you know exactly what will happen and yet find yourself at the edge of your seat when re-reading it. This is exactly what happened to me here.

In Stephen Fry's exceptional retelling of our greatest story, TROY will transport you to the depths of ancient Greece and beyond. Ancient Greeks sure loved their sprawling soap opera dramas, didn’t they? Game of Thrones can shut up and sit in the corner quietly and take notes and learn from those epic bloody myths.

After reading Fry's wonderful book of Greek mythology ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), it was just a matter of time before I got myself a copy of his version of the siege of Troy - and I knew I would love it. Not only because it is easily one of my favorite stories, but because I knew that he loved the subject with such passion and enthusiasm that he would make this classic fresh, entertaining and vivid. Obviously, you can tell from the rating that I was not disappointed. Nevertheless, it was again a struggle to keep all the characters and their relationships straight. For someone relatively new to the material these are challenging books. But Fry knows that, and does a good job of both directing your attention to where it is best used and also never giving you the feeling of being stupid, just because you can't remember all of the names and stories. Where he feels it is necessary he gives you a short reminder, so I never really felt lost. I love Stephen Fry. I love learning about Greek Mythology. The two combined? A match made in Olympus!

Troy is a story that I believe we all know, and it is probably because of that that I did not love this. But, despite reading countless retellings of this tale, I still enjoyed this version, and I believe that is testament unto itself. With a story that has been told a thousandfold, it can be very hard to portray they story from an interesting perspective. Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker achieved this brilliantly. But I believe that Stephen Fry’s attempt to stay as close to the accepted ‘mythology’ meant he could not really explore in that direction, which meant bird of this story felt like regurgitations of the same story we have heard of many times. I saw TROY on NetGalley and jumped at getting to read one of Stephen Fry’s Trilogy. Last year at the virtual Hay Festival in Wales (thank you Richard) I had the opportunity to hear the author read an excerpt of his book and delighted at his storytelling as well as his voice. An inimitable retelling of the siege of Troy . . . Fry's narrative, artfully humorous and rich in detail, breathes life and contemporary relevance into these ancient tales Observer The only thing I found myself missing was more of the tragic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, which might be because I love The Song of Achilles. Fry did mention that it might have been romantic, but I did feel that it was a bit down-played, which doesn't really make sense since the author himself is gay. The problem with this was not only that I didn't get the pining that I personally wanted, but when Patroclus died and Achilles went mad with grief, it didn't quite connect the same way that it would've if we'd really gotten to know just how much these two loved each other.My other point of hesitation is the 2 hours-like part in "Ilium" which is basically a summary, more than a retelling, of that quintessential paradigm of Western (and, arguably, world) literature that is the "Iliad", but I guess that's inevitable: do you set out to write a story of the Trojan cycle only to skip completely such an important part of the Trojan War "because Homer did it best", or do you accept the inevitable and follow Homer sometimes line by line? Fry chooses the latter and I honestly can't blame him, I would find it a difficult choice regardless. Where I think he shines, though, much like he did in his two previous books, is when he patches together (rhapsode-like :D ) all the other previous and following threads of narrative that are *not* part of the "Iliad": this is a praiseworthy achievement because even as a scholar myself it's sometimes hard to piece together a consistent narrative of all the events narrated in this book, and every now and then it's just pleasing to just listen to a good narrator who did the hard work for you! Aside from what I have stated as opinion, I am not sure I have any unique insights to offer. I will place below several additional quotations that attempt to show the fullness of this magnificent creation. Fry’s knowledge of the world - ancient and modern - bursts through at the seams … The reader will find themselves on a fun romp through the world’s greatest story’ DAILY TELEGRAPH Zeus sighed heavily. 'I wish, all those years ago, Prometheus hadn't persuaded me to make mankind,' he said. 'I knew it was a mistake.'"

And witness the epic climax - the wooden horse, delivered to the city of Troy in a masterclass of deception by the Greeks . . . Greek mythology - few things are as epic as the stories of Herakles’ deeds, Odysseus’ wits, or Achilles’ prowess. And here, we get one of THE most famous tales: the rise and fall of Troy. We achieve immortality not through ambrosia and ichor but through history and reputation. Through statues and epic song."

Customer reviews

With so many retellings of the Greek myths available to us these days, one might think that yet another one would be redundant or repetitive. I feel that’s not the case because while the source material and the characters remain the same, it is interesting to see how the author presents, interprets and adds dimension to the characters in question. It is also interesting to see which stories or characters the author chooses to present to the audience. There are so many to choose from. Stephen Fry has done a commendable job in presenting us with his selection of the stories from the myths - the immortals, the mortals and their exploits, while adding his own brand of wit, humor and wisdom. Zeus sighed heavily. “I wish, all those years ago, Prometheus hadn’t persuaded me to make mankind,” he said. “I knew it was a mistake.” When she fell, a hole opened in the human world that may never be filled, save in memory. Poets must sing the story over and over again, passing it from generation to generation, lest in losing Troy we lose a part of ourselves.”