House of Names

By: Colm Tóibín

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson, Charlie Anson, Pippa Nixon

Winner of the 2018 Audie Award for Literary Fiction & Classics

From the thrilling imagination of best-selling, award-winning Colm Tóibín comes a retelling of the story of Clytemnestra - spectacularly audacious, violent, vengeful, lustful, and instantly compelling - and her children.

"I have been acquainted with the smell of death." So begins Clytemnestra's tale of her own life in ancient Mycenae, the legendary Greek city from which her husband, King Agamemnon, left when he set sail with his army for Troy. Clytemnestra rules Mycenae now, along with her new lover, Aegisthus, and together they plot the bloody murder of Agamemnon on the day of his return after nine years at war.

Judged, despised, cursed by gods she has long since lost faith in, Clytemnestra reveals the tragic saga that led to these bloody actions: how her husband deceived her eldest daughter, Iphigeneia, with a promise of marriage to Achilles, only to sacrifice her because that is what he was told would make the winds blow in his favor and take him to Troy; how she seduced and collaborated with the prisoner Aegisthus, who shared her bed in the dark and could kill; how Agamemnon came back with a lover himself; and how Clytemnestra finally achieved her vengeance for his stunning betrayal - his quest for victory greater than his love for his child.

In House of Names, Colm Tóibín brings a modern sensibility and language to an ancient classic and gives this extraordinary character new life so that we not only believe Clytemnestra's thirst for revenge but applaud it. He brilliantly inhabits the mind of one of Greek myth's most powerful villains to reveal the love, lust, and pain she feels. Told in four parts, this is a fiercely dramatic portrait of a murderess who will herself be murdered by her own son, Orestes. It is Orestes' story, too: his capture by the forces of his mother's lover, Aegisthus, his escape, and his exile. And it is the story of the vengeful Electra, who watches over her mother and Aegisthus with cold anger and slow calculation until, on the return of her brother, she has the fates of both of them in her hands.

©2017 Colm Tóibín (P)2017 Simon & Schuster

Fell apart at the end

The modified retelling of this classic was captivating but then dribbled out, didn’t have a cathartic ending. Too bad.
The performance by all was top notch.

Fascinating story

I’m a giant Greek mythology nerd, so this book was SO much fun! If you like the story of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Electra, and Orestes, I really think you’ll enjoy this take. My only complaint is with the narrator who voices the Orestes sections. He has a wonderful voice and I like his differentiation between characters, but be aware that he makes some very interesting choices with pausing. It didn’t detract from the novel much, but I do admit I got irritated more than once because it sounded like a page break when he was halfway through a sentence! Still highly recommend the book!

Very Disappointing

I was pretty disappointed by this. It starts extremely strong with Clytemnestra’s story and then cuts to her son Orestes, who is the POV character for most of the novel. There are two more brief sections narrated by Electra and again by Clytemnestra, and all of these sections are rather good. The Orestes sections really lost me, as they were, in my opinion, rather boring. I didn’t like Orestes as a character, I found him somewhat blank and strange. I struggle to think of an action he takes in the novel that he takes on his own initiative (there is one, that comes rather late, I’m just realizing). I understand that he is supposed to be the single honest member of a family of snakes, and that’s an interesting concept, but he is not charming or interesting on his own and his family is much more interesting. I don’t know if this was the author’s intention, as it is not commented upon explicitly by Orestes or any of the characters. Him being strung along by basically everyone he has ever met is a cool idea, it’s just not fun to follow his point of view. Even his big Mythical act (SPOILERS, I guess?), killing his mother, isn’t undertaken on his own initiative. He thinks about it, but then immediately after he says to himself “I really should kill my mom” his sister presents him with a weapon and a perfect opportunity. Tension? Never heard of her. I wish, ultimately, that the novel contained more of Electra’s point of view, because there were a lot of missed opportunities. This is probably the hardest time I’ve had finishing a novel on Audible.

The writing was acceptable in third person and quite good in first person. I don’t know why the author decided to write the Orestes sections in third person, but I think it contributed to those parts not being engaging. It would have helped me get to know the character. I felt I got to know and like Clytemnestra and Electra, but never got that opportunity with Orestes. Something I noticed was that he uses the form “X said” a lot. Like usually repeatedly. I wasn’t a fan of that.

Finally, the performances on this were quite good. Clytemnestra was the best, followed by Electra, and then Orestes. Given my reaction to the Orestes sections, I might be biased.

If you are looking for an expansion of a Greek myth focusing on a minor female character, like Circe or Silence of the Girls, don’t read this. You’ll get that, and you’ll probably like it, but you’ll mostly get a whole lot of wandering around in the woods and being thirsty. I don’t know who I’d recommend this to.

Power. Control. Restraint.

Colm Toibin is a favorite novelist, and House of Names is one of his best. His legendary characters, whose names I vaguely knew—Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Orestes, Electra—struggle in ways that are both remote (the classical world) and current (the lust for power). The novel is filled with surprises, right until the end. The characters accept their world of unbearable violence with restraint and (often) quiet determination.

This novel is so well-written, I would want to listen again. The prose is spare and often moving. By the end, I felt like I knew the palace corridors, the sunken gardens and the barren landscape as if I’d seen a film.

The three narrators were superb. They made judicious use of silence, giving this reader a few moments to grasp the subtlety of the characters’ interactions and the shock of some of the action. Overall, a superb listen.

Have never enjoyed Greek history until now.

Colm Toibin, masterful as always has brought this story fully present. Bravo. I listened to this as I have always enjoyed his work and just discovered the treat of Juliet Stevenson as a reader.

Beautifully written, beautifully read!

I love the works of Toiban. Similar to Ishiguro each book is so different. This is a compelling rewrite of the Orestes revenge myth, certainly not like any of the ancient tales. Would highly recommend

Very interesting. An angle of this story I’ve never seen.

An angle of this story I’ve never read. Very good narrators. All in all worth the time.

Optime! What a great rendition of Fall of the House of Atreus and parts of the Oresteia!

Gripping, articulate, accurate to the Classic literary tradition. The speakers are fabulous. Character development is superb. This is a great listen!

Enjoyed… lots of surprises

This is the first book that I have read by this author. It was intriguing, kept my interest throughout and filled with surprises.

A brilliant book!

Where does House of Names rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Listening to, as opposed to reading this book, adds much to it. It is in the voices of Clytemnestra, Orestes and Elektra, each read by a different reader. And it is fitting to have a Greek legend read to you as it honors the ancient tradition of how the stories were told.

Any additional comments?

If you enjoyed The Master and The Testament of Mary, you will love The House of Names. Colm Toibin outdoes himself in this work. He combines his exceptional ability to imagine the life of legendary figures and make them human by giving them a voice, as well as leaving much to the imagination in what is said and what is unsaid, as in the relationship between Orestes and Leander.