Rating: 
Summary: A rollicking fantasy
Review: .
Jong's Sappho is a male chauvenist in the best patriarchal tradition, but the book is a good read nonetheless.A rollicking fantasy in which the names used are the only historic accuracies. I found it interesting that Jong had Sappho in love with Alcaeus and married to a drunk when the leanest research shows that it is Alcaeus' fondness for wine that permeats his poetry. Even so, Sappho's Leap (refering no doubt to Ovid's imaginary play regarding her supposed suicide) is a fun read if entertainment is what you seek. It is, however of no use to those of us who seek feminist enlightenment through a study of our past.
Rating: 
Summary: Transcending time and traditions. . .
Review: Erica Jong does it again. This is her third historical novel, and it is absolutely glorious to read. Flawlessly incorporating historical facts into the novel (after reading it, you'll be able to hold your own with many classics majors), she creates a full, three-dimensional portrait of Sappho and the world she lived in. The writing is beautiful as ever, seamlessly weaving in Sappho's fragments. Jong captures the ancient voice of the original storytellers, but isn't afraid to deviate from that with hilarious language anachronisms (hint: at one point, Zeus says "Plato, schmato."). She takes historical figures, such as Rhodopis (the Egyptian Cinderella), Aesop (the famed fabulist) and Alcaeus (Sappho's contemporary poet) and fleshes them out into characters that, while not always complex, are always compelling.
Jong's Sappho is indeed a female Odysseus, traveling through lands both real and mythical, learning lessons along the way and leaving behind her songs. Sappho, like Jong's other heroines, is a consummate woman - independent, yet warm and motherly; sensual and romantic, yet able to take positions of leadership; vulnerable, yet protective of those close to her; brilliant, yet often ruled by her emotions.
"Sappho's Leap" lets us take a closer look at the poetry of the woman Plato termed the 'Tenth Muse'. It shows us how timeless the themes in her poetry really are, and points out what an enormous impact this woman has made on our own language and poetry. That, and it's a fun, exciting read that I wasn't able to put down. Hope you enjoy it! :)
Rating: 
Summary: A MAJOR Disappointment
Review: Erica Jong is an important writer. One had hoped that in writing about one of the first and most important characters in feminist history she would produce a book worthy of the challenge. Sadly she hasn't. How anyone could could make such a fascinating story boring I'll never know. To anyone wanting to read a novel about Sappho (based on the relatively few facts that we know) I would point them in the direction of Peggy Ullman Bell's excellent "Psappha: A Novel of Sappho." They should also get a good translation of the poetry of Sappho that was not destroyed.
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Summary: Love Comes In Many Forms: Erica Jong At Her Best
Review: Erica Jong is best known for her first novel "Fear of Flying" which was immersed in tremendous success. Pro-feminist, spiritual, poetic, tolerant and highly intellectual, Erica Jong has written numerous novels that deal with women, men, true love, lust, bad relationships, good relationships, the list is endless. Her novels are of the highest literary caliber, and the erotica she writes goes far beyond sensual pleasure. It becomes a religious experience. Erica Jong's "Sappho's Leap" is about the historic lesbian poet Sappho, who lived in thousands of years ago in the Greek island of Lesbos. From Lesbos, we get the term "lesbian." And it was Sappho who encouraged free love, female independence, equal rights and a lot of modern ideals that were considered unorthodox in her day. Sappho was enamored with women, as well as men, and this quasi-historic novel does not merely serve to titillate the reader with her erotic adventures, it is instead a great portrayal of the great Greek poetess, a mystic journey back in time and a fervent celebration of life. Sappho is born to an aristocratic family. When she was born, a prophetess announced that she would become famous one day. Aphrodite champions Sappho's cause and makes a bet with Zeus. Zeus and Aphrodite play a game with her life... will Sappho become the famous singer and Greek philosopher she wants to be ? Or will, as Zeus, insists, merely conform to women of her time and marry an unworthy man ? It is Sappho, in the end, who decides her own destiny. The novel is romantic, highly dramatic and full of historic accuracies, enhanced visually by the involvement of gods, goddesses and historic figures such as Queen Jezabel from the Old Testament and the fable writer Aesop. A good read for men and women alike, this novel is sure to touch you with its humor, sadness, and profound wisdom. Viva Erica Jong!
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Summary: Fans will relish this great beach read
Review: Erica Jong leads us on a journey back 2,600 years to experience the adventurous life of history's most famed love poetess, Sappho of Lesbos. Sappho was seduced at the tender age of 14 by her idol, the romantic poet Alcaeus. Pregnant and in disgrace, she is forced to marry a lecherous old sot to keep her out of trouble, but she instead plots to overthrow her stepfather, the island's cruel dictator. She loses custody of her baby daughter through her mother's treachery, and she and her female lover and slave, Praxinoa, are banished from Lesbos, doomed to roam the islands in search of her daughter and her true love, Alcaeus. Aphrodite and Zeus amuse themselves by toying with Sappho to challenge her resourcefulness and prove her worthiness. Aphrodite has faith that Sappho is worthy of being memorialized as history's greatest singer. Zeus scoffs that she will fail as all women do, by throwing herself away on a man. They toss heaving ocean storms, shipwrecks, pirates, erupting volcanoes and hordes of barbarians in her path on an odyssey to rival Odysseus. She encounters centaurs, the legendary Amazons, wanders aimlessly through Hades, becomes the favorite of an Egyptian Pharaoh, vies with the Oracle of Delphi as a seeress, winning her way into portals usually closed to women with her enchanting songs and poetry. The few remaining fragments of poems available to scholars stirred Jong to research the fascinating times of ancient Greece and bring Sappho to life in a way portrayed by no other author. Jong says in the afterword: "Sappho is an icon to women everywhere despite the fact that so little is known about her. She is associated with women's sexuality and gay rights, but she may not have been homosexual at all, or she may have loved both women and men as was common in the ancient world, and in ours. The concept of homosexuality as a distinct lifestyle did not exist in classical antiquity. People were bisexual, free of sexual guilt as we know it; it was a pagan world. Attitudes toward love, toward sex, toward conquest, toward slavery, toward money, toward social climbing were uncannily like our own --- and yet fascinatingly different. Women were sexual chattel, yet, as in all times, there were rebellious, adventurous women." It's no wonder Erica Jong was fascinated with the multi-faceted poet of legend. When she roared onto the bestseller lists with FEAR OF FLYING in the 1970s she was hailed as shocking, exhilarating and at the cutting edge of women's sexuality. Fans will relish this creative and thoroughly exuberant historic romp through ancient times. I had not read Jong since FEAR OF FLYING, but am now looking for back titles. My pick for a great beach read.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: Erica Jong's story is fantastic. Turning Sappho into a modern feminist heroin, Erica Jong takes readers on an incredible journey through antique Greece, perfectly mixing love, mythology, womanhood, poetry and epic tales. She is a gifted writer and I hightly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A VERY NICE BIT OF HISTORICAL FICTION
Review: Erica Jong, possibly one of the most underestimated writers of today, does herself well with this wonderful work of historical fiction. Her prose is absolutely delightful as is her ability to tell a story. Here Ms. Jong has melded fiction, mysticism, historical fact and speculation into a wonderful tale about a fascinating woman in a fascinating time. She, the author, also gives us a good account of the ancient Gods, and the role they were felt to play in human lives. We have the added bonus of having some of Ms. Jong's translations (there are many many of these out there, and these of Ms. Jong's are as good as any) along with some very nice pieces (poetry) by the author, written in the style of the time. As with any work, there are a couple of questionable lines in the book. I more or less had to agree with another reviewer that the couple of lines discussing dildos may have been a bit over the top, but they certainly do not distract from the work or the story in the least....in my most
humble opinion. I would also suggest you follow the authors suggestion that you find and read for yourself some of the great translations of Sappho's wonderful work. Read the story, enjoy it. All in all, I highly recommend.
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Summary: Utter Tripe
Review: Have you ever desperately wanted a book to end but hated leaving it unfinished?
That's the way Sappho's Leap was for me. I finally finished it over the weekend and am still wishing I hadn't spent good money, even bad money, any money on it.
Admittedly, very little is known about the only ancient Greek female poet besides where she probably lived and a few snippets of her poetry. Her words are searing, lovely and sometimes erotic. But Erica Jong's novel fictionalizing her life was banal and boring and droll. Sappho, as her heroine is not only uninteresting, but has no single aspect of her personality that makes me like her. Sure, she experiences heartache and longing, but Jong simply fails to give me a reason to care.
Jong just tells me, flatly, in first person, how Sappho feels and what she thinks, but doesn't make it real for me. She tries to make Sappho into a female Odysseus and can't figure out if the novel should be a fantasy or a semi-believable historical account. And all that wrapped up with a very disappointing, Hollywood ending, tied it off into an unequivocal piece of garbage.
I can't believe Erica Jong has actually written and published eight novels. It honestly seems like she wrote Sappho's Leap specifically to sell to high school English departments to teach a bit of Greek history with a feminist slant. Regardless of whatever pocket genre she was trying to exploit, Sappho's Leap is utter tripe.
Rating: 
Summary: Way inferior to PSAPPHA, a novel of Sappho
Review: I bought this novel together with PSAPPHA by Peggy Ullman Bell and there is no comparison between the two nor should there be. Jong's Sappho's Leap is an obvious parody of Greek fiction through the ages whereas Bell's PSAPPHA may well become a modern classic. Where Sappho's Leap is based on mythology and comic plays, PSAPPHA stands on a firm foundation of Sappho's own words - what few of them are left to us after centuries of censorship and deliberate destruction. For those contemplating purchase and wanting a quality read, I hightly recommend PSAPPHA, a novel of Sappho instead of Sappho's Leap. Or, buy them both. This one is good for a lot of laughs.
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Summary: Sappho and sex.... and magic??
Review: I have very mixed feelings about this book and can't say I enjoyed it all that much. I love the story of Sappho, what little is known of it, and so I picked up this book expecting to see a historical fiction novel cut with realism, research, and certainly the unavoidable necessary lewdness of the celebrity of Lesbos. But monsters? Centaurs? I mean, the story of Sappho's life is not the story of The Odyssey and for the life of me I don't understand why author Erica Jong decided to give her readers a combination of Greek heroine and Clash of the Titans.
Once I was able to get past the fantasy elements, I realized that I was not being pulled into the story on its own merits. There wasn't enough emotional dimension -- for all her travels, we're shown pretty landscapes and scary oceans but we don't see enough of a real character. I read Sappho's poems in college and the talented mind behind those words is NOT present in this book.
I'm not saying the book is without its good points. Jong has certainly done a lot of research and her enthusiasm is many times contagious. But I found the whole bit a little odd... like picking up a book about Cleopatra and seeing her encounter dragons, unicorns, and the goddess Isis. If Jong had written about Ariadne, this all might have worked. The blend of fantasy just didn't add up to a palatable meal for me.
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