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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108737 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 274 pages

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"

About the Author
VICTOR PELEVIN has established a reputation as one of the most interesting of the younger generation of Russian writers. He has degrees from Moscow's Gorky Institute of Literature and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Granta, and Open City. His previous novels include The Victor Clay Machine and The Life of Insects. ANDREW BROMFIELD is a regular translator from the Russian, and has translated works by Boris Akunin, Vladimir Voinovich and Irina Denezhkina, as well as other titles by Victor Pelevin.

Customer Reviews

Intriguing
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.

Twisting and turning - an intriguing, complex tale
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.

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 within its pages. It's post-modern in the best sense of the word, taking the idea of the Minotaur as guardian of the labyrinth and basically running with it. Pelevin has a lot of fun playing with language and perception, although these aren't the only issues discussed within the book.

Buy this if you're a fan of intelligent and offbeat writing.