jocelyn_sp's review against another edition
4.0
This was excellent. I had a lovely time reading it. It's politics are a little darker than I think reality is, but close enough to be acceptable/convincing as a fiction. Some of the wrap-up was a bit glib, but still satisfying.
vivbot's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
urlphantomhive's review against another edition
3.0
READ IN DUTCH
It may not really come as a surprise that this book is like a modern retelling of the story of Orpheus and Euridice. Although in this book, 'Orpheus' gets lost (the title is already spoiling it, really).
Mishka is a musician, and ironically plays a piece of music about Orpheus on multiple occasions. He's also looking for his Lebanese father, which brings him into a world of terrorism. His girlfriend sets out to find him and bring him back. Sounds familiar huh?
The book has a lot of different setting, America (multiple places), Middle East and Australia. The switching between the places/times got me a bit out of the flow of the book. The story itself was quite interesting and I did like the writing, although it was at times a bit slow.
It may not really come as a surprise that this book is like a modern retelling of the story of Orpheus and Euridice. Although in this book, 'Orpheus' gets lost (the title is already spoiling it, really).
Mishka is a musician, and ironically plays a piece of music about Orpheus on multiple occasions. He's also looking for his Lebanese father, which brings him into a world of terrorism. His girlfriend sets out to find him and bring him back. Sounds familiar huh?
The book has a lot of different setting, America (multiple places), Middle East and Australia. The switching between the places/times got me a bit out of the flow of the book. The story itself was quite interesting and I did like the writing, although it was at times a bit slow.
infinitebynature's review against another edition
4.0
An intriguing storyline, this was a reread for me and I enjoyed it immensely. The beginning of the novel for me had a little too much mathematical exploration which took away from the flow of the story for me personally although that may not be the case for everyone else.
An excellent Australian author whom I plan to read much more of this year
An excellent Australian author whom I plan to read much more of this year
elysh_kaye's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, and Torture
stefhyena's review against another edition
4.0
This was a complex interweaving of the Orpheus/Euriydice myth with questions around power and control, identity and love. I thought the misogynist abusers in the book on the whole got off too easy and ended up too redeemed (there was sacrifice). Leela was an interesting character, but I would have liked her better if she was less of a femme fatale. I could accept her sexual activity. I could accept Cobb's fatal desire for her as well as her strong connection (sexual and emotional though the sexual was more obvious for most of the story) with Mishka but Berg as well? Why did she have that effect?
I think I have read Janette Turner Hospital write about a musician before in another novel, there music and sex were also intertwined. This one came out better in the end. The stuff around terrorists and military people (including privatised ones and how chilling that is) was frightening. I don't know why the author kept insisting that quandongs are blue when they are actually red (I know I have eaten them). They are also not impossible to grow away from Queensland. I liked the idea of the mansion built out over the water and the feeding of the parrots as well as the haunting music coming from it. I loved the description of maths people, obsessed with numbers (my son is exactly like that).
There was much in the detail and richness of the book to love even though the darkness and violence was always present. Despite Leela's opinions of Cobb I could not like him nor acquit him of blame considering his stupid power-plays got everyone where they ended up. The stuff about trying to visit people in gaol with privatised guards was probably true and really chilling. The mythology was mainly woven in well. I had to laugh at the surname "Slaughter" it reminds me of when we studied Oyster at uni (back when I was a tiny little undergrad) and the lecturer commented that the apt names was a bit heavy-handed. It wasn't so bad in this book though "Bartok" was a bit of a stretch for a musician.
An original and thought-provoking read.
I think I have read Janette Turner Hospital write about a musician before in another novel, there music and sex were also intertwined. This one came out better in the end. The stuff around terrorists and military people (including privatised ones and how chilling that is) was frightening. I don't know why the author kept insisting that quandongs are blue when they are actually red (I know I have eaten them). They are also not impossible to grow away from Queensland. I liked the idea of the mansion built out over the water and the feeding of the parrots as well as the haunting music coming from it. I loved the description of maths people, obsessed with numbers (my son is exactly like that).
There was much in the detail and richness of the book to love even though the darkness and violence was always present. Despite Leela's opinions of Cobb I could not like him nor acquit him of blame considering his stupid power-plays got everyone where they ended up. The stuff about trying to visit people in gaol with privatised guards was probably true and really chilling. The mythology was mainly woven in well. I had to laugh at the surname "Slaughter" it reminds me of when we studied Oyster at uni (back when I was a tiny little undergrad) and the lecturer commented that the apt names was a bit heavy-handed. It wasn't so bad in this book though "Bartok" was a bit of a stretch for a musician.
An original and thought-provoking read.
celiaedf12's review
4.0
I love Hospital's writing, and I think even if you didn't enjoy Orpheus Lost, you can't deny the skill of Hospital as an author.
Orpheus Lost is a re-working of the myth of Orpheus - although any subtleties would have been lost on me, given that my knowledge of the myth is Orpheus seeks to retrieve Eurydice from the dead, and looks back at the last minute only to lose her forever. Our Orpheus in Orpheus Lost is Mishka, whom Leela discovers playing his violin in the subway. They become lovers, and we explore each of their backgrounds - Mishka's in the Daintree rainforest, Leela's in the American South with her religious father. I found the Daintree rainforest sections a bit forced in their descriptiveness, but that's probably because of my familiarity with the area.
Mishka occasionally disappears overnight, and after a bombing in the city Leela is approached by the secret service with questions about Mishka's movements. The story moves on from there, and overseas. Leela's role is to bring Mishka home, from the land of the dead he finds himself in, while Mishka struggles to come to terms with the past he came to find. Parts of the story are quite viscerally horrifying, particularly those that evoke Abu Ghraib.
As a whole I really enjoyed the book, although I found some of the sequences, which are written in a dream-like hallucinatry manner, a little too confusing when they were stationed during vital places in the plot.
Orpheus Lost is a re-working of the myth of Orpheus - although any subtleties would have been lost on me, given that my knowledge of the myth is Orpheus seeks to retrieve Eurydice from the dead, and looks back at the last minute only to lose her forever. Our Orpheus in Orpheus Lost is Mishka, whom Leela discovers playing his violin in the subway. They become lovers, and we explore each of their backgrounds - Mishka's in the Daintree rainforest, Leela's in the American South with her religious father. I found the Daintree rainforest sections a bit forced in their descriptiveness, but that's probably because of my familiarity with the area.
Mishka occasionally disappears overnight, and after a bombing in the city Leela is approached by the secret service with questions about Mishka's movements. The story moves on from there, and overseas. Leela's role is to bring Mishka home, from the land of the dead he finds himself in, while Mishka struggles to come to terms with the past he came to find. Parts of the story are quite viscerally horrifying, particularly those that evoke Abu Ghraib.
As a whole I really enjoyed the book, although I found some of the sequences, which are written in a dream-like hallucinatry manner, a little too confusing when they were stationed during vital places in the plot.