House of Names

by Colm Tóibín (Author), Colm Tóibín (Author)

New
Paperback
2018
$11.88

On the day of his daughter's wedding, Agamemnon orders her sacrifice. His daughter is led to her death, and Agamemnon leads his army into battle, where he is rewarded with glorious victory. Three years later, he returns home and his murderous action has set the entire family - mother, brother, sister - on a path of intimate violence, as they enter a world of hushed commands and soundless journeys through the palace's dungeons and bedchambers. As his wife seeks his death, his daughter, Electra, is the silent observer to the family's game of innocence while his son, Orestes, is sent into bewildering, frightening exile where survival is far from certain. Out of their desolating loss, Electra and Orestes must find a way to right these wrongs of the past even if it means committing themselves to a terrible, barbarous act.

Synopsis

On the day of his daughter's wedding, Agamemnon orders her sacrifice. His daughter is led to her death, and Agamemnon leads his army into battle, where he is rewarded with glorious victory. Three years later, he returns home and his murderous action has set the entire family - mother, brother, sister - on a path of intimate violence, as they enter a world of hushed commands and soundless journeys through the palace's dungeons and bedchambers. As his wife seeks his death, his daughter, Electra, is the silent observer to the family's game of innocence while his son, Orestes, is sent into bewildering, frightening exile where survival is far from certain. Out of their desolating loss, Electra and Orestes must find a way to right these wrongs of the past even if it means committing themselves to a terrible, barbarous act.

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16 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Edition: 1
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 05 Apr 2018
ISBN 10: 0241257697
ISBN 13: 9780241257692

Media Reviews

Part of Toibin's success comes down to the power of his writing: an almost unfaultable combination of artful restraint and wonderfully observed detail . . . Unforgettable -- Mary Beard * New York Times *
A giant amongst storytellers, Toibin has thrown down the gauntlet with his latest novel . . . And it is a masterpiece -- Edith Hall * Daily Telegraph *
A gorgeous stylist, Toibin captures the subtle flutterings of consciousness better than any writer alive . . . Never before has Toibin demonstrated such range, not just in tone but in action. He creates the arresting, hushed scenes for which he's so well known just as effectively as he whips up murders that compete, pint for spilled pint, with those immortal Greek playwrights * Washington Post *
This is a novel about the way the members of a family keep secrets from one another, tell lies and make mistakes.. . * Literary Review *
In a novel describing one of the Western world's oldest legends, in which the gods are conspicuous by their absence, Toibin achieves a paradoxical richness of characterisation and a humanisation of the mythological, marking House Of Names as the superbly realised work of an author at the top of his game. * Daily Express *
A spellbinding adaptation of the Clytemnestra myth, House of Names considers the Mycenaen queen in all her guises: grieving mother, seductress, ruthless leader - and victim of the ultimate betrayal. * Vogue *
A haunting story, largely because Toibin tells it in spare, resonant prose... -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * New Statesman *
A Greek House of Cards... Just like Heaney at the end of his Mycenae lookout, Toibin's novel augurs an era of renewal that comes directly from the cessation of hostilities. -- Fiona Macintosh * Irish Times *
The book's mastery of pacing and tone affirm the writer as one of our finest at work today. -- John Boland * Irish Independent *
A daring, and triumphant return, to the Oresteia... bleakly beautiful twilight of the Gods. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Arts Desk *
It couldn't have been done better * Scotsman *
A visceral reworking of Oresteia * Observer *
The escalation of violence and desire for revenge has deliberate echoes of the Irish Troubles * Observer Books of the Year *

Author Bio

Colm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy in 1955. He is the author of nine novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary and Nora Webster. His work has been shortlisted for the Booker three times, has won the Costa Novel Award and the Impac Award. His most recent novel is House of Names. He has also published two collections of stories and many works of non-fiction. He lives in Dublin.