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The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur (Canongate Myths)
 
 

The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur (Canongate Myths) (Hardcover)

by Victor Pelevin (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.00
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 274 pages
  • Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; American edition (2 Mar 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841957054
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841957050
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.8 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 76,362 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > P > Pelevin, Victor

Product Description

Review
"'A psychedelic Nabokov for the cyber age' TIME MAGAZINE 'Pelevin is one of the funniest novelists writing today' NEW STATESMAN 'What is truly stunning is the whole-cloth originality of Pelevin's vision... A virtuoso performance, at times as deep-hearted as a Tchaikovsky pas de deux, at others as light-fingered as "The Flight of the Bumblebee'" LOS ANGELES TIMES 'One of the greatest pleasures of Pelevin's writing is the perfectly pitched irony of his narrative voice, which pokes fun at his characters but never abandons sympathy for them' GUARDIAN"

Product Description
Labyrinth 1 is an intricate structure of intercommunicating passages, through which it is difficult to find one's way without a clue; a maze. They have never met, they have been assigned strange pseudonyms, they inhabit identical rooms, which open out onto very different landscapes, and they have entered into a dialogue, which they cannot escape - a discourse defined and destroyed by the "Helmet of Horror". Its wearer is the dominant force they call Asterisk, a force for good and ill in which the Minotaur is forever present and Theseus is the great unknown. Victor Pelevin has created a mesmerising world where the surreal and the hyperreal collide. "The Helmet of Horror" is structured according to the Internet exchanges of the twenty-first century, yet instilled with the figures and narratives of classical mythology. It is a labyrinthine examination of epistemological uncertainty that radically reinvents the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur for an age where information is abundant but knowledge is ultimately unattainable.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, 22 Mar 2006
Pelevin weaves a fascinating tale, built on the myth of Theseus, the Minotaur and the labyrinth. He places a number of people in identical cells, each with their very own especially designed labyrinth outside. The story plays out before our eyes, in the form of a chat room conversation. You as a reader are a lurcher, reading the conversations of others, only atching and waiting. They, on the other hand, are active (more or less), working on finding out what their situation is, how to get out of their labyrinth and who their captor is. They are continuously being fed information, but cannot be sure what to trust...

Pelevin plays with language and form and manages to give each character its unique voice, while at the same time asking the Big Questions about our existence and the essence of Being and Truth.

So far the most original and interesting of the myth series books.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Twisting and turning - an intriguing, complex tale, 9 Nov 2006
By Ian David Curry "Legal Eagle" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
The Canongate Myth series continues with a retelling of the story of Theseus, the Minotaur and the labyrinth. So far this series has seen authors drawing upon the original source of the legend, and weaving their own narrative threads. The Odyssey was retold from Penelope's point of view, whilst the story of Samson focused on a shorter slice of the overall myth. Victor Pelevin took the challenge of the Cretian horror of the half man, half bull Minotaur, and rather than retelling completely reinvents the story.

There are certain continuities. Theseus, the Minotaur and Ariadne are named characters, albeit only the latter enjoying anything like a major piece of the action. Living up to her mythical namesake she spins the thread of the narrative, guiding us around Pelevin's post-modern take on the labyrinth. The major continuity is the concept of the labyrinth, a trapping, twisting, contained environment. This twenty-first century retelling sees the reader take the role of a passive observer to a chat room conversation.

The initial bursts of conversation between the trapped residents of the labyrinth are confused, but gradually a fuller picture of the reality of their imprisonment emerges. Each resident is lodged in a nearly-identical cell, with their own personal labyrinth located beyond the door to their cell. The identity of those responsible for this confinement is not revealed, and the novel instead deviates into an explanation of the nature of the world they now inhabit.

The chat-room format lends an urgency and pace to the novel, which means it can be devoured. It may need re-reading, as you find yourself skipping some of the lengthier, but vital, `posts' that build up the crucial metaphysical and philosophical messages. At times it is unclear to the point of being unintelligible, but the fast nature of the prose ensures that this confusion doesn't lead to a frustration with the novel.

Don't expect a classic rendering of the original tale. There is no tearful departure from Greece, no heroic slaying of the beast. Instead Pelevin has taken the baser, more fundamental concepts of the myth and woven a new tale that delivers a profound philosophical tract along with a fascinating read.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Lost in cyberspace, 1 May 2007
By Deoradh (Dundee United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
A clever enough book, perhaps a little to clever for it's own good. It recreates the challenge of the labyrinth in cyberspace, but unfortunately the sense of danger or ultimate goal lacks. It needed the identifiable hero and goal to be identified at the outset to work as myth, but we are never sure of who is who or what the goal is.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed
The synopsis alone is enough to dissuade me from buying this book, and I've a research degree in mythology and psychology. It's a passion with me. Read more
Published 15 months ago by M.I.

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling but confusing
Don't expect to understand this book on the first or even the second reading. It twists and turns and you can never completely see what's going on, much like the many labyrinths... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2006 by Star_Sea

5.0 out of 5 stars Original
Victor Pelevin once again questions existence in this original twist of the minotaur myth. Written as a conversation in a chat room Pelevin manages to mix modern day youth... Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2006 by P. S. Hansen

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