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The Fall of Troy

3.15 of 5 stars 3.15 · rating details · 277 ratings · 57 reviews

In The Fall of Troy, acclaimed novelist and historian Peter Ackroyd creates a fascinating narrative that follows an archaeologist's obsession with finding the ruins of Troy, depicting the blurred line between truth and deception.Obermann, an acclaimed German scholar, fervently believes that his discovery of the ancient ruins of Troy will prove that the heroes of the Iliad,...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published November 11th 2008 by Anchor (first published 2006)

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Apr 26, 2012 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2006-2010, historical-fiction, ebooks, mythstories-and-legends

Archaeology in support of poetry…
Truth informed solely by belief…
Mythology as foundation for worldview…

DAMN...this is crazy, unique, and beautiful story.

19th century archaeology may frame this novel, and the ruins of the ancient city of Troy may color it, but those elements don’t begin to describe this book. This work is a sonnet honoring headstrong, unrestrained human passion and the seductive obsession of personal truth over objective facts. That, plus a lush, lyrical stroll through the pages...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Kalliope rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classical, middle-east

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. It felt like flying, may be because I practically read it in the course of two medium-length flights.

As there are many good reviews of this book, I will not extend myself too much.

Ackroyd is a master teller. He polishes the fascination that his amateur archeologist Heinrich Obermann (a.k.a. Henrich Schliemann) feels for anything Homeric to a degree of brilliance that it naturally reflects back from Obermann himself. Those people living around him, or visi...more

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Nov 16, 2007 Jeremiah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Ackroyd's intricately plotted little tale, Heinrich Schliemann - the controversial 19th century swindler and fabulist-turned-archaeologist who claimed to have discovered Homer's Troy - becomes the character Heinrich Obermann,who has made an arranged marriage to a young Greek wife, Sophia. Like Schliemann, Obermann has a somewhat sinister cast to his project -- a desire to find physical evidence for racialist theories that the Greeks and Trojans were descended from superior Northern European w...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Kat Lowe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

Despite the title, this is not a story about a conquering horde coming to attack the city of Troy. But the story line has about that much energy. Seriously, the pages almost turned themselves.

This is the tale of Heinrich Obermann (a fictionalized version of Heinrich Schliemann, the actual archaeologist who discovered the ruins of Troy in eastern Turkey). When the story begins, the wildly enthusiastic Obermann has just procured himself a bright, young wife from a prominent Greek family. Instead o...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: text book archaeologists and sofa time travellers

Shelves: archaeology, bookcrossing-books, middle-east, read-in-2011

As a practising archaeologist, I'm automatically drawn, like an old moth to an archaic flame when it comes to historical fiction dealing with the pursuit of archaeology. It's like a sickness but I can't stop reading this kind of book. The fixation started with River God by Wilbur Smith and continued with The Seventh Scroll and it has since been born out by Agatha Christie, latterly by Peter Ackroyd and by cinematic greats such as Indiana Jones and the slightly less great "Mummy" series.

The purs...more As a practising archaeologist, I'm automatically drawn, like an old moth to an archaic flame when it comes to historical fiction dealing with the pursuit of archaeology. It's like a sickness but I can't stop reading this kind of book. The fixation started with River God by Wilbur Smith and continued with The Seventh Scroll and it has since been born out by Agatha Christie, latterly by Peter Ackroyd and by cinematic greats such as Indiana Jones and the slightly less great "Mummy" series.

The pursuit of "fact, not truth" and the "fortune and glory" (okay, last Indiana Jones quote, I promise) aspects of archaeology have been gently burying (or unearthing?) themselves in the public psyches since the Grand Tours of the 18th century and the Egypto-mania caused by the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in the 1920s and this seems unlikely to cease any time soon.

Peter Ackroyd is a man who knows history. Not only is he a well respected historian with an encyclopaedic knowledge of London cinched tightly under his belt, but he also understands what draws people to scrabble about on their hands and knees in the dirt, and even better, what draws further people into reading about it. The Fall of Troy is masterfully written and Ackroyd's evocative descriptions of the plains and villages around Hissarlik and the ruins of Troy itself are excellent and absorbing. Herr Obermann believes the ancient Tell site (or hoyuk as it would be in Turkey), to be the Homeric site of Troy. A dangerous obsession with the Gods and mortals depicted by Homer sends the learned but autodidactic Obermann on a flighty path of imagination and ultimately self destruction as his fixation with the truth of Homer and the greatness of Troy come to interfere with the very fact of his own perceptions of reality. It is well documented that archaeology tends to attract people who might be termed a bit unusual but to be a 19th century archaeologist required a breadth of imagination which most people do not grasp and Ackroyd has captured this perfectly with Obermann. He has the ability to pick up an abraded shard of pottery and not only conjure up the shape of the vessel, but to see into the dirt and conjure the face of the man who once shaped it and the city in which he lived and this is something else altogether.

Ackroyd pulls threads of historical fact, fiction and mythology into this book and weaves them tighter than a Turkish kilim. Rarely have I read a book which highlights so well one of the core fears which plagues that of the "digger" both modern and antiquarian - the hope to have discovered a famous site so well documented in ancient texts, only to find that not only is the archaeology intent on disproving your theories, so is the rest of the academic community. (less)

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Aug 12, 2009 Frank Dahai rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Peter Ackroyd, the London seer, cockney rebel and analyst of cross-dressing trends, has a disturbing tendency to associate land with intention. In his novels and histories of London and England, he often refers to the land as 'working through' its people and usually in a less-than-nice way, as with the murderers of London for example: they didn't do it, the city did. All of this can suggest a highly-unpleasant 'blood and soil' brand of Fascism, lurking under the surface, especially when it comes...more Peter Ackroyd, the London seer, cockney rebel and analyst of cross-dressing trends, has a disturbing tendency to associate land with intention. In his novels and histories of London and England, he often refers to the land as 'working through' its people and usually in a less-than-nice way, as with the murderers of London for example: they didn't do it, the city did. All of this can suggest a highly-unpleasant 'blood and soil' brand of Fascism, lurking under the surface, especially when it comes for example to 'Albion', Ackroyd's "history" of England.

The real story is, I think, more subtle than that. Ackroyd is playing with notions of truth and make-believe. This dynamic motivates the cross-dresser as much as it does the novelist. His histories mix fact with suggestion in a way that is both compelling and repelling. Fictions are seductive, troublesome and dangerous, but there is no getting away from them. They are as much a part of human life as fact.

I think that Ackroyd is at his strongest when he makes the truth/invention dynamic most explicit in his work - when he shows his hand. It works best when he works with the father/son(daughter) structure. In both "English Music" and "The Fall of Troy" there is a major, dominating father-figure set against a naive, innocent child-figure.

The father-figure is not, as one might expect, the arbiter of truth and justice. Quite the opposite. These characters are fuelled by dangerous fantasies. Experience does not open their eyes to the truth - it only shows them how to exploit it for fantastical ends. 'Herr Oberman" (Uberman) in 'Troy' destroys genuine archaeological evidence in the service of his fantastical claims. Clement Harcombe in 'English Music' is a highly dubious "Medium and Healer".

In a neat act of subversion, Ackroyd deploys the children as the rational truth finders. In 'Troy', Sophia (a clear stand-in for a 'daughter' figure) can literally see right through Oberman's lies. Yet, being child-like, she remains in thrall with the daemonic father figure. Similarly, Tim Harcombe in 'English Music' tries to escape his father by slipping into artistic vision.

I believe that these oppressive, anti-rational father figures stand in for the 'land' in Ackroyd's histories. They are both everywhere and inescapable. We are fatally in thrall with them even while understanding the trick of it. And that is ultimately what any novelist would want. (less)

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Jan 28, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When writers play writer games with their subject, resulting novels seem to beg for a book club to help untangle all the layers of metafiction. And for the most part, I finish these books, and think for a while about how deep it is for the novelist to call into question the truth of the narrative, the truth of truthiness, and the truth that truth is relative. Unfortunately for Peter Ackroyd, this is the third or fourth metafiction book I've read in the last six months, and I'm having a bit of tr...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

The prolific Brit Peter Ackroyd has built his reputation on eclectic, wide-ranging projects that include a dozen novels (such as The Lambs of London, HHHH Sept/Oct 2006) and biographies of Shakespeare, William Blake, Chaucer, and the city of London, among others. The Fall of Troy is a meditation on the siren song of history and a compact, disarming (if ultimately dark) character sketch that explores the limits of belief. The author displays his wit and polymathic interests here, though he cuts t

...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Lady Knight rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-c, adult, asia-india-middle-east, historical-fiction, mediterranean, online-library

First off, I'm going to admit that there were several times I was ready to give up on this one and only restrained myself as I had no other audiobooks to listen to as I worked.

This really should have been a good read for me as, superficially at least, the book ticked a lot of boxes for me:
Archaeology? Check.
Fictional retelling of real historical figures? Check.
Interesting premise? Check.
Historical setting? Check.
My problem(s)? I hated the characters (and yes I know Obermann is suppossed to be a...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Uncle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Readers of Peter Ackroyd will already be familiar with his interest, some might even say preoccupation, with the concept of history. But for Ackroyd, history itself is not a static monument, but rather a perpetually shifting, unstable idea. Those Ackroyd novels I have read involve scholars of one kind or another. Those in pursuit of historical truth often find themselves disconcertingly uncovering aspects of their own lives and identities which they would prefer remain hidden. And though researc...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: romantics

Recommended to Mark by: Shovelmonkey1

You know how as you read a novel you will often get a picture of one of the characters in your head and after that all evidence to the contrary will have to be subsumed into your image no matter how much mental gymnasticing that might involve. Here, for me, was a classic case in point. The main character, a german archaeologist called Obermann, had the misfortune of resembling in my head the author picture of Peter Ackroyd on the inside cover of my copy. This meant every scene was played through...more You know how as you read a novel you will often get a picture of one of the characters in your head and after that all evidence to the contrary will have to be subsumed into your image no matter how much mental gymnasticing that might involve. Here, for me, was a classic case in point. The main character, a german archaeologist called Obermann, had the misfortune of resembling in my head the author picture of Peter Ackroyd on the inside cover of my copy. This meant every scene was played through with the squat, slick backed hair of the chubby Peter playing the lead. This was fine until half way through the book when the character suddenly challenges another of the men to a running race echoing that of Hector and Achilles. As I read this account my poor little imagination nigh on exploded as i had to imagine the squat little bloke careering around the ruins of ancient Troy and winning aforesaid race ( though as a result of some sinister shenanigans ).

I only offer you this glimpse into my imagination because it is a useful pointer to the main thrust of this great little novel. It is the story of one man's obsession, an obsession which brooks no contradiction or alteration. He is one who decides on His Truth (intentionally capitalized) and that truth is maintained and elevated no matter what evidence may be found to the contrary.

The excavation of a site of which he is certain is the grave of Ancient Troy is the setting for all kinds of battles. Battles of will between an ego who refuses to allow questions of any kind unless they be to elucidate his certainties and of those seeking genuine truth, battles of the heart in which questions of loyalty and faithfulness and affection struggle with duty and social expectation or the need for a single-minded search after adventurous discovery, battles of the old gods of warm mystery or is that superstition with the new gods of cold fact or is that impoverishment of the human spirit and then the question that is left hanging is which of these gods actually is in control and is one disguised in another form.

Really clever linking of the struggles of ancient Troy and the actions of the gods with the deliberations and adventures of these 19th century explorers. It is wonderfully open-ended and all sorts of loose threads hang off this unfinished tapestry. A mysterious death left unexplained, an object lost inexplicably during the night in a sacred grove, the natural world of earthquake and owl cries challenging a too simplistic acceptance of a godless world.

One of the characters mournfully observes towards the end of the book that he must now find out what the world is like without vision. It seems to me that Peter Ackroyd makes very clear in the last sentence of his book that he does not want us to share that poverty.(less)

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Oct 29, 2012 Christopher H. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-literature, british-authors-translators, historical-fiction, iliad-odyssey-homer, modern-literature, mythology-mythopoeia, read-in-2012

I rather enjoyed this slim novel. If you've read Homer's Iliad and have any interest, whatsoever, about the historical aspects of the discovery of Troy on the Asia Minor coastline, then this book is for you. Peter Ackroyd does a wonderful job of telling an enthralling tale about the discovery of the ruins of Troy and its initial excavation. His two primary protagonists are rather tightly based upon the German amateur archaeologists, Heinrich Schliemann, and his young Greek wife, Sofia, who disco...more

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Mar 15, 2011 Frank rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-british

This is my second try of a Peter Ackroyd novel this year, and I come away with pretty much the same impression as with the first, The Lambs of London: not very substantive. Not that every story I reads needs to be life changing or earth shattering; the substance I'm looking for is a voice, an authorial voice, commanding or charming, distinctive or demanding. Ackroyd's voice (at least in these two selections) seems thin and watery. To apply a much used quote, "There's no there there".

The characte...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Sundry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Sundry by: Joan

Shelves: fiction, historicalfiction, kindle

Very much enjoyed this bit of historical fiction, especially when I mentioned it to my husband, who told me how much of the central character's back story paralleled that of Heinrich Schlieman, the controversial person who went at his archaeological digs pretty haphazardly.

Ackroyd's one of my favorite writers. In this book he draws heavily on the rather melodramatic writing style of the era he writes about. Some of the tropes reminded me of the Bronte sisters' works. Lots of history, mystery and...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Philip rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In The Fall Of Troy, Peter Ackroyd explores some grand themes against a backdrop of a grander history, but always from the narrowed view of an obsession that denies experience. The story is set in the early twentieth century, a period of great and fast discovery of ancient sites. It is also a time when archaeology is being transformed from a pastime of those with time on their hands to a science for professionals.

Obermann has his mission, an overbearing, all-consuming obsession that drives him...more In The Fall Of Troy, Peter Ackroyd explores some grand themes against a backdrop of a grander history, but always from the narrowed view of an obsession that denies experience. The story is set in the early twentieth century, a period of great and fast discovery of ancient sites. It is also a time when archaeology is being transformed from a pastime of those with time on their hands to a science for professionals.

Obermann has his mission, an overbearing, all-consuming obsession that drives him to uncover ancient Troy. He knows where to look. In defiance of received wisdom, he demonstrates the accuracy and veracity of his assertions. He feels things to be correct, admits no question and seeks to edit all dissent from any discussion. Enthusiasm feeds obsession, while obsession drives the man, excluding others. He has a track history of success, however, so when he pontificates about the whereabouts of the lost city, others tend to listen, despite his ideas appearing at best off-beat.

Obermann has taken a new wife, a young and attractive Greek woman called Sophia. She reads ancient Greek, so she can recite Homer to her new husband in the hours that cannot be devoted either to practical archaeology, of which we learn much, or marital duties, of which we learn nothing. She becomes a member of his team, entrusted if not actively enlightened, and soon learns how certain discoveries of her husband need to be sanitised to protect them from the gaze of their resident Turkish official, who is burdened with the task of inspecting all finds. She learns, also, how not to question the wisdom of her husband, a wisdom apparently founded in myth, expressed via whim and summing to obsession, but which is invariably correct. Until, that is, visitors appear.

There is a Harvard academic called Brand and an English vicar. Then there is Thornton from The British Museum. These visitors join Obermann and his wife, alongside a self-confessed Frenchman and a young man the boss calls Telemachus, who helps, but whose motivation remains suitably opaque.

But Obermann always dominates. Sophia becomes a new Helen of Troy while her husband’s assumptions are elevated to a religion he must live or be punished by. As the dig progresses, finds appear, are sometimes revealed, sometimes not, and are interpreted, discussed, even fought over. If the resulting ideas conform to Obermann’s assumptions, harmony is publicly maintained. But if contradicted, the archaeologist appears to have the power to conjure divine retribution upon his critics. He is a man of the gods.

But eventually he is revealed as a man of the world. Sophia, the new wife, discovers a reality she never expected. She acts decisively when things come to a head but, as far as Obermann is concerned, it is the gods, perhaps, who play the last card.
(less)

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Sep 16, 2007 Spiros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

Peter Ackroyd is his own Evil Twin. As a literary historian, he is absolutely brilliant; he has written insightful, cogent, and stirring biographies of Blake, More, and Shakespeare, as well as incisive overviews of the intellectual life of London and the history of the English imagination. His biography of Dickens may well be the greatest "non-fiction" book that I have ever read. As a novelist, however, he is (to put it charitably) wildly uneven. He has written the wonderful Milton in America,...more Peter Ackroyd is his own Evil Twin. As a literary historian, he is absolutely brilliant; he has written insightful, cogent, and stirring biographies of Blake, More, and Shakespeare, as well as incisive overviews of the intellectual life of London and the history of the English imagination. His biography of Dickens may well be the greatest "non-fiction" book that I have ever read. As a novelist, however, he is (to put it charitably) wildly uneven. He has written the wonderful Milton in America, but he has also written several novels which I have struggled to get through or even abandoned altogether. They suffer from a feeling of inconsequence, almost as though they were byproducts of his research for his weightier non-fiction works. Howsobeit, my esteem for Ackroyd as a literary historian is so great that I feel almost obliged to read all of his novels, or at least attempt to do so; I must admit that I pick up a new Ackroyd novel with a feeling not unlike trepidation.
His latest, The Fall of Troy, decidedly falls into the top rank of his fiction. It is the story of a megalomaniacal German archaeologist, Heinrich Obermann (not Ubermensch), a bumptious autodidact who not only is convinced that every word in Homer is the literal truth, but that he, Obermann, has found and is excavating the City of Troy; we also witness the impact of his obsession on his young Greek wife, Sophia(!), on his devoted acolyte, Leonid, whom he tiresomely but significantly refers to as Telemachus(!), and on the much more scientifically inclined British linguist, Alexander(!). The story runs satisfyingly from suspense to melodrama, and is wonderfully evocative of the age of the primordial crackpot archaologists, such as Howard Carter, Arthur Evans, and, of course, Heinrich Schliemann, the fabled discoverer of Troy: men not afraid to ignore any evidence that would interfere with their cherished image of the past. In our own fallen age, paleontology and primatology are the fields that attract the self-aggrandizing showboats; the obsessions seem somehow less poetic.

(!) above denotes names which may (or may not) have allegorical significance.(less)

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May 19, 2012 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I believe Ackroyd did a great job with the research and his use of poetic dialogue was brilliant as well as creating a mystery about "Obermann's" knowledge. That said, it was really hard for me to read it (I forced myself because I love reading about Troy), even at just over 200 pages. Obermann (aka Schliemann, no?) is such an unlikeable character (and I'm sure that is intentional), I found it so hard to want to keep reading what awful thing he may have done next.

Also, I think the title should b...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: published-2006, historical-masturbation, mythology, autumn-2012

Obermann is based on Schliemann. Quirky, however I wasn't that keen on any of the characters.

3* Hawksmoor
4* Shakespeare
1* The Lambs of London
3* The Fall of Troy
4* Chatterton
3* The House of Dr Dee
5* Dickens
2* The Plato Papers
4* Wilkie Collins

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Jul 29, 2011 Catherine Woodman added it · review of another edition

I just read the 'Casebook of Victor Frankenstein' and really liked it, so picked this up by the same author--this is wonderful, and better than what I first read. The rendition of archeologists, and how history is uncovered is wickedly described in a way that is believable and impressive. The book is a thin tome, and I highly recommend it.

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Mar 19, 2009 Jen Schroeder rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, so another random book that I hadn't intended upon reading but enjoyed.

Found this one browsing the "A" section of adult fiction in the library.

Lots of references to mythology, Homer, etc. so fun in that sense. The last 50 pages or so are totally worth the investment of the first 150 - had no idea where it was going to go!

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Apr 30, 2013 Christopher Eich rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very funny, historical fiction on two planes... An archaeological dig in the 19c and Homeric Troy. Great cast of characters, led by Heinrich Obermann, who wants to ensure that it's his (i.e. Homer's) Troy that is uncovered and all relics kept away from the Turkish monitor. Lots of action to enjoy. Don't need to know the Greats to enjoy.

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May 01, 2010 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-alternatehistory, greek-roman

This was a lot better than I expected it to be, given it was a random find in a charity shop. The central character, Herr Obermann, is an odd one: unlikeable in his fanaticism, and yet attractive in his dedication to his ideas. The supporting characters are not so vivid, but Sophia has a quiet strength which is very appealing.

The story itself is more suspense and quiet threat than action, really. The dialogue is odd, rather stiff, because Peter Ackroyd seems to make a pretty good attempt at repr...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Perry Whitford rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another slight but satisfying novel from Ackroyd, this time a fictionalised account of the life and death of Heinrich Schliemann, the businessman, archaeologist and mountebank who thundered across Greece and Turkey in search of the legendary sites of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

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Oct 30, 2009 Kelly A. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: since-may-2009, library

A book pulled randomly off a shelf at the library.
At just past 200 pages, this was an extremely short, enjoyable read.
Beautiful language, wonderful scenery and details. If you are going to read this, read it for the last forty pages or so! It's amazing.

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Feb 19, 2013 Mysteryfan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A cleverly executed combination of archaeology and the fantastical. It's based on Schliemann's discovery and excavation of Troy. I loved the characters he created and the quotes from Homer and Virgil. Well worth reading.

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Apr 30, 2012 Fiona Robson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have always loved Peter Ackroyd, but haven't read anything by him for absolutely ages. This was a really quick read, but just as thought provoking as anything else he has written and thoroughly enjoyable.

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Mar 14, 2011 Fahmida rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a good read, a lot of information about the Romans and other empires at that time.Seemed like Ackroyd wanted a happy ending and so what happens at the end was a little too coincidental and 'lucky'.

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Dec 23, 2012 Jayaprakash Satyamurthy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not Ackroyd's finest novel, but peopled with vividly sketched characters in fascinating locales and with a few scenes of mythic resonance that are quite the equal of anything in his best works.

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Jul 19, 2011 Diana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Three and a half stars really. Short, interesting book. Sophia was an interesting heroine,loyal to her mad husband both ridiculous and dangerous, but also thoughtful.

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Dec 19, 2008 Darkpool rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Cathy, Caz, Larry, and others who appreciate good writing

Shelves: historical, auckland-library, audiobook, fiction, read-in-2008

I listened to the Audiobook version, rather than reading this book. There is something of a theatrical quality to this book, and I feel it would make a wonderful film. There is the real sense of inevitability to the story - once the characters have made their decisions the plot thunders inexorably to its conclusion like a Greek tragedy. Michael Maloney, who reads the book, does a wonderful job, and enhances the author's characterisations with his reading. I'm left wondering the extent to which t...more

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About Peter Ackroyd

Peter Ackroyd CBE is an English novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London.

Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was gay at the age...more

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