Book #10 of 2020: House of Names by Colm Toibin

I believe my first encounter with Toibin was The Master: A Novel. His pitch-perfect recreation of Henry James was historical fiction at its best, and on top of the deep scholarship and research supporting the novel was a keen sensitivity to James and his emotions and passions and intellect. Where Toibin had to "fill in" gaps in the record, he did so as someone who knew James, and I appreciated that.

Over the past two decades I've read his other novels with great pleasure, as well as perhaps a couple dozen essays here and there (most in the New York Review of Books). Most recently I began reading a biography of Alice James re-issued by the excellent NYBooks imprint and there was Colm Toibin writing the excellent Introduction.

House of Names is something of a departure for Toibin, who typically focuses on one consciousness through which the rest of the action is perceived and filtered. Sort of like The Master himself, I might add, who was a stickler for point of view, but an innovator at the same time. Toibin writes about the Virgin Mary through her eyes only, or Brooklyn entirely from the protagonist's POV. But here we shuffle through different characters and get their experience.

House of Names is drenched with Greek thought and Greek imagery and Greek tragedy and Greek belief. It is also drenched in blood. Clytemnestra is completely aware that she is wrapped in a dark net of Fate, but thinks her actions will free herself and her family moving forward. Alas, that is not the case, as her revenge is only part of the pre-woven fabric. Toibin masterfully guides the bob and weave through this delicious and delirious retelling.

I'm on a roll with these Greek-inspired novels--maybe I should keep it going! We can all use a little catharsis right now.

Book #9 of 2020: The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault

Recently I read Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones and Literature and the Gods. These sent me spiraling down a path back to the Ancient Greeks. Mendelsohn's book contained an elegant and touching reminiscence about his teenage infatuation with Mary Renault and her novels. This infatuation blossomed into a long-term correspondence with the author. As a result of that essay I read The Last of the Wine, which just happened to be be free on Amazon Prime.

What a timely read, finely tuned to our current reality. There was at that time in Greece a conspiracy of oligarchs to recruit foreign influence in the overthrow of the democratic government in Athens. Sparta was the recruited foe and the oligarchs successfully returned to power with their aid and support. Renault's depiction of the catastrophe is vivid and really captures what I imagine the Greek experience of the world was like. Along the way the reader gets to hang out with several characters we know well from Plato's dialogues.

Now I've moved on to House of Names: A Novel and I'm sure I'll have much more to say afterward. Toibin is a fantastic writer and I've already fallen deep into this retelling of Iphigenia, told from Clytemnestra's point of view. All of this is great, because I'll be teaching Ancient Greece to 8th graders next year and I need to brush up and put my own spin on the material. I'm already churning ideas for teaching the unit. Wonder if I'll be teaching it from quarantine? Toibin's Clytemnestra sees the world pregnant with omen and curse and wonders at the malignant power of her family's blood, but at the same time doubts the Gods are real and wonders how to mollify them and/or recruit them into her vengeful scheme. We all feel disturbing and discomfiting emotions at this time, and the Greeks somehow charted courses through them all for us.

PS: As I was typing this entry the Mrs. came in and interrupted me. I turned around and did a teasing Jack Torrence in The Shining impersonation. She was not amused, given we have not left the apartment in six days due to quarantine.