Rating: 
Summary: BRILLIANT!
Review: "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts"! And in "An Arrow's Flight," this Greek seems to have a real gift! Mark Merlis has taken the Homerian classic "The Iliad" and given it a rollicking--and irreverent--"updating"! However, this "edition" is more than mere clever anachronism, as Merlis is to be given some credit here. In an odyssey all its own, "Arrow" tells the story of how Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, is called upon to "pay his duty" and come to Troy to help his fellow Greeks achieve victory in this ten-year-old struggle. (The oracle had predicted that it would be Pyrrhus to lead the Greeks to victory, if they were to in at all!) It's not so easy, though, as Pyrrhus is reluctant to enter the fray--gods or no gods--as he is amidst the high life working as a male stripper in a local bar, and quite in demand he is! However, of course, he yields to his destiny, and proceeds to Ilium! Merlis, in this story, incorporates a number of socially significant topics--as the themes he uses are easily recognized as themes of the modern gay community. As with any successful attempt with satire, he takes most serious subjects and hammers at them (sometimes mercilessly) with an Achillian aim. He treats the Homerian epic with respect, however, regardless of his comedy and satire. Granted, liberties are taken, but, regardless, it's a "different" and refreshing take on this venerable classic. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: A brilliant, troubling retelling of the story of the son of Achilles & the archer Philoctetes. The book is full of explicit gay sex: it is also emotionally shaking & intellectually satisfying. The more familiar one is with Greek literature, the more one will find Arrow in Flight engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: A True Five Strar Pyrrhic Victory!!!
Review: A great accomplishment. Merlis breaks very fresh literary ground with this imaginative tale of contemporary hustler/stripper/heir Pyrrhus being led by an oracle (and a eunuch) to claim his birthright as the son of Achilles and conquerer of The Trojans in the Trojan War. AN ARROW'S FLIGHT is a brilliant (and tres gay) retelling of THE ODYSSEY as well as an on-target commentary on current gay identity and politics. The narrative presents a crazy and brilliant mix of then and now, classic and disposable, enduring and fleeting, myth and mansex, humor and tragedy, and much more...and amazingly it all makes sense! With this novel Merlis surpasses even the highest hopes I had after his wonderful debut novel AMERICAN STUDIES. I think this one is destined to be a classic gay novel in the years to come. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: Ambitious but ultimately disappointing
Review: A very ambitious novel that reimagines Sophocles' Philoctetes as a gay fantasy story set during the Trojan War and uses anachronisms like Baz Luhrman does in his films. For me, however, all the trappings didn't mask a bland story about a hustler looking to escape and a look at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic.
Rating:
Summary: Another triumph for Merlis
Review: After reading and thoroughly enjoying Merlis' first novel, "American Studies", I was eager to read his second novel. It did not disappoint; if anything, he has gone beyond what he accomplished in "American Studies". At first I was a bit leery of the transposition of contemporary Western culture on the ancient Greek characters, but he succeeds brilliantly with this rather risky proposition. Unlike "American Studies", the book is shot through with a healthy dose of graphic sex scenes, adding to a sense of reality in an otherwise rather allegorical tale. Merlis makes his political points in a way that goes beyond the usual rhetoric; as a gay male, I found it both comforting and challenging.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun--And Significance Too
Review: AN ARROW'S FLIGHT offers wit, humor, suspense, thrills and a compelling plot. Probably the most original and intriguing aspect of this beautifully written novel lies not in its gay main character--but the way the book playfully undermines the kind of societal values we expect in a war novel, without being esoteric, obscure, or unpatriotic. The premise is this: during the time the Athenians and Trojans were fighting back in several hundred B.C., Greeks enjoyed a 20th/21st Century standard of technology. They believed in a Pantheon of gods--the devout ones, anyway--but had cars, computers, battleships, gentrification, TV: all the accoutrements of modern life. The plot is fascinating, yet timeless, and it was derived from the Greek history and mythology that Merlis so obviously well knows. A young (gay) man who lives a rather insipid life finds himself--for reasons best left to the novel--a naval commander with a ship, a crew, and significant tactical authority. While he doesn't rise to the command magnificently, he copes--this is not a Jerry Lewis-type fish-out-of-water farce. Along the way the ship calls at a small vacation island (complete with T-shirt shops, lesbians on motorcycles and frozen yogurt) and something unfortunate and life-threatening happens to him. It's impossible to write off AN ARROW'S FLIGHT as merely a "one-joke" book like "Egalia's Daughter" or the masterful "Being There." Just as soon as you've adjusted your mindset to accommodate this mind-blowing premise, something will come along to amuse, beguile or extend the anthropological implications of Merlis' world. (The book drew a lot of "Hmmm, I guess it would work that way" reactions from me.) The premise is fantastic, but Merlis' great storytelling gifts and understanding of the Ancient World make the novel as realistic as any other war novel. And despite my awkward theorizing, it is not a difficult read. While Athens had a commercialized gay life not unlike, say, San Francisco or New York, Merlis subtly demonstrates the differences in a culture that has not been reared on Judeo-Christian values, including sexual shame and guilt. Do gay men and lesbians run wild? No--the matter of their being tolerated or accepted is different--but by no means a Gay Liberationist's dream. In this and other subtle and quite believable ways, Merlis shows how different a world Athens was, even with today's high-tech toys. He does this without lecturing or grandstanding, but simply by having enough faith in his readers to know and appreciate these differences when they arise in the context of the plot. It takes real talent to create such a credible fictive world. It's hard to recommend this book too much. Get it. Unless you simply cannot tolerate a novel with a gay protagonist, I bet you'll like AN ARROW'S FLIGHT too.
Rating:
Summary: No Summary Will Prepare You for How Truly Wonderful This Is
Review: I haven't been this impressed with a work of fiction in quite some time. Mark Merlis sets himself up to fail, with his idea of semi-updating the Trojan war, and then succeeds so wondrously. He catches the reader quickly with opening chapters that are funny, engaging, swift-moving (any man or woman who was ever young and confused will identify, but gay men in particular will laugh out loud) then deftly begins weaving in deeper themes. In some ways, his subject is the same as Homer's (or Shakespeare's, or just about any great writer's): what does it mean to be a man? His answer is slowly and beautifully revealed to the reader, as it is to his protagonist. The surprising ending (always the toughest part of a novel, especially for one this original) is so well done I turned the last pages in amazement. And heartbreak. Ignore this book at your peril. You won't make a better purchase this year.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to his best
Review: I must admit that reading all the reviews in this section made me return to "An Arrow's Flight" after a very uninspired first reading when it was released. Surely, I thought, all these readers got something I missed. I re-read the book, and while I agree that it is a fun way to look at mythology again, I think this book pushes the envelope of credibilty as far as creating real characters about whom we are able to care. Merlis certainly knows his craft as "American Studies" attests. I think the novel is a fun romp through very "cute" references, but on the whole it fails to linger as anything more. But at least I trust his ability and eagerly await a new work to reinforce the promise he has established as a writer to watch
Rating:
Summary: How Did Merlis Do This????
Review: I read all the reviews (all raves), and I still was totally prepared to dislike this book. I mean, come on! A novel about ancient Greek characters, awash in anachronisms and thinly veiled references to gay life today? But Merlis does it! He pulls it off spectacularly! The book is funny and aphoristic without ever being corny. It's touching and fairly rings with truth without ever becoming sentimental. And, all right, yes, it is an allegory, but it's unlike any you've ever read before. If the characters are not as deeply fleshed out as people in a comparable Isabelle Allende novel, they reflect various sections of today's gay/non-gay society with the precision of a clear mirror. Trust me, guys: get this book. Against all odds, it works on many wonderful levels. Mr. Merlis is a magician.
Rating:
Summary: An arrow's curve...
Review: Merlis is an author we'd read in my reading group--his first novel had won awards, and had generally been favourably received if not universally enjoyed. So, we thought we would give the second novel a try. The general consensus was that the book could benefit from a good editor (a benefit that many recent books, fiction and nonfiction, could stand--alas, we live in an age where spell checking passes for editing even at major, reputable publishing houses). The story line was interesting: Merlis brings characters from ancient Greece and puts them essentially in modern dress. Achilles' family live in a trailer with a satellite dish; Pyrrhus is a go-go boy; well, you get the picture. This novel was at many times an exercise of Merlis displaying his imagination and erudition, by showing what parallels he could make between the underpinning Greek myths and the present day storyline. "I'm sorry. I'm all by myself, I'd be delighted if you could join me for dinner. My name's Paris, by the way." He stuck out his hand. "Yours?"
Paris, of course. So he had seen the face, not in person, but in the newsmagazines and the men's fashion magazines and, just before the army embarked for Troy, the propaganda film shown to all the troops. 'Why We Must Fight', with its footage of Paris masterfully edited, so that the amiable playboy was transformed into a rapacious fiend. Good writing, and interesting inter-connexions. But sometimes it would go on for pages. This is what needed to be edited, for there are times when the description or the detail clogs the flow of the story. Odysseus, in the end, returns, making this an uncomfortable parallel to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Merlis is a gay writer, and while the Greeks were no stranger to this concept, I'm not sure it does a good service to the Iliad and Odyssey to recast them into tales of modern day gay ghettos. However, if anyone were to do it, I would say Merlis would probably be the one to be most successful at it. One review on the back states that the work 'so seamlessly merges the ancient and the contemporary that we never give a thought to anachronism', and I pondered, what book did this reviewer read? That was my thought on every page! I give a hesitant recommendation to read this book, but would recommend Merlis' first book, 'American Studies' over this.
|
