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126th out of 289 books
—
47 voters
A Memory of Wind
by
Rachel Swirsky (Goodreads Author),
Sam Weber
The heroes are eager to sail to Troy for war, but the wind is still. To fill their sails and set out, they must sacrifice Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia--and how does a human girl become the wind?
ebook, 90 pages
Published
November 2009
by Tor
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NEWSFLASH...Rachel Swirsky can scribe it like an opera and make your heart go ouch! I picked up this free download on www.tor.com after seeing a good review by one of my fellow goodreaders (thanks J.M.) and am one very happy (and weepy) camper because I did. Set right before the Trojan War, this short story is told in the first person and tells the story of the daughter of Agamemnon who is fated to be sacrificed to the goddess Artemis so that the goddess will provide the wind necessary for the...more
A beautifully tragic short story that tells the tale of Iphigenia the daughter of Agamemnon as she's about to be sacrificed to Artemis to raise a wind to sail the fleet to Troy.
This is my first exposure to Swirsky and the quality of writing definitely means I'll be looking for other things she's written. I highly recommend this to everybody.
This is my first exposure to Swirsky and the quality of writing definitely means I'll be looking for other things she's written. I highly recommend this to everybody.
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A MEMORY OF WIND
Rating: 2* of five
The story of Iphigenia, sacrificed by her father to Aphrodite, so the fleet carrying the Greeks could leave port. She has a very modern sensibility, does this Iphigenia, demanding the right to be happy and marry someone she loves.
This is codswallop. I doubt anyone goes to their death happily, but demanding things no woman of the time was likely even to conceptualize because it wasn't part of the universe they knew? Hm.
Oh, and Achilles is straight.
THE MONSTER'S...more
Rating: 2* of five
The story of Iphigenia, sacrificed by her father to Aphrodite, so the fleet carrying the Greeks could leave port. She has a very modern sensibility, does this Iphigenia, demanding the right to be happy and marry someone she loves.
This is codswallop. I doubt anyone goes to their death happily, but demanding things no woman of the time was likely even to conceptualize because it wasn't part of the universe they knew? Hm.
Oh, and Achilles is straight.
THE MONSTER'S...more
4 likes · like · see review
Book Review: “A Memory of Wind” by Rachel Swirsky
Short Stories, they say they are a dead medium, but I find them fascinating. Some days I don’t want to sit down and start a new novel, especially since most of the books I like to read are trilogies at minimum.
This story is about a girl named Iphigenia, set in the time of the war of Troy. She becomes the wind, and this story gives us background into how she becomes the wind.
It was a nice story. It has a lot of dream-like qualities to it. Her memor...more
Short Stories, they say they are a dead medium, but I find them fascinating. Some days I don’t want to sit down and start a new novel, especially since most of the books I like to read are trilogies at minimum.
This story is about a girl named Iphigenia, set in the time of the war of Troy. She becomes the wind, and this story gives us background into how she becomes the wind.
It was a nice story. It has a lot of dream-like qualities to it. Her memor...more
When I saw a review of this book, and found out I could download it free from Tor.com (here), I was intrigued. I love stories about Greek myth -- actually, retellings of any myth -- and especially those which bring back the lost voices of women of these stories. So I downloaded it right away. It's a short story, really, so it doesn't take very long to read, and it drew me in from the first paragraphs: the way she describes Iphigenia going toward the sacrifice, losing everything she had before, i...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I really am a sucker for well written stories built on myths. Found the writing haunting and read the novella in one sitting. Did find it occasionally a bit disjointed, and it sometimes was a bit off-putting how much repetition there was.
Overall, however, I very much enjoyed. It's refreshing to see a story told from the view of Iphigenia, whose death facilitates a war and later is the impetus for multiple murders. In those stories you learn nothing more about her than the fact of her death, thi...more
Overall, however, I very much enjoyed. It's refreshing to see a story told from the view of Iphigenia, whose death facilitates a war and later is the impetus for multiple murders. In those stories you learn nothing more about her than the fact of her death, thi...more
I've been thinking of Helen of Troy and Cassandra all morning and then - completely by accident - stumbled upon this little story. Synchronicity be damned. In any case, A Memory of Wind is a poetic and haunting retelling of a famous myth from a perspective of a character of whom the original tells us little more than her name. Rachel Swirky's manages to breathe life into that name, make it memorable and even make us (readers) hope against hope for a different, happier ending.
I wonder if there is...more
I wonder if there is...more
Another Tor.com short story.
It's been a long time since I've read the myths that this story is based on, so I think I'm missing a lot of depth here. That being said I faintly remember my feelings of frustration that the girls in these stories only ever have bad things happen to them, and they never seemed to DO anything. As an adult I know that it was a reflection of the culture they came from, but at the time it left a bad taste in my mouth (actually it still does). I think this story went a sm...more
It's been a long time since I've read the myths that this story is based on, so I think I'm missing a lot of depth here. That being said I faintly remember my feelings of frustration that the girls in these stories only ever have bad things happen to them, and they never seemed to DO anything. As an adult I know that it was a reflection of the culture they came from, but at the time it left a bad taste in my mouth (actually it still does). I think this story went a sm...more
I was attracted to this story over the summer, not so much because of the content, but because of the haunting cover. A girl with haunting eyes, a slash in her neck, and her body becoming one with the wind.
The story is about Iphigenia, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Helen and Paris have gone to Troy and Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Odysseus have their thousand ships waiting in the harbor, only deterred by the lack of wind. The priest of Artemis tells them that the goddess is angr...more
The story is about Iphigenia, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Helen and Paris have gone to Troy and Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Odysseus have their thousand ships waiting in the harbor, only deterred by the lack of wind. The priest of Artemis tells them that the goddess is angr...more
Jul 05, 2011
Shellie (Layers of Thought)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
myth and short story lovers
Original review posted at Layers of Thought.
This is the sad tale of Iphigenia, the daughter of King Agamemnon. She is sacrificed by her father to the Goddess Artemis in order to create wind so that they (the Greeks) might sail to Troy - all to avenge the “kidnap” of the unhappily married Helen of Troy (or rather her elopement with Paris - the prince of Troy).
What is so special about “A Memory of Wind” is that unlike other stories around this particular Myth, in this telling Iphigenia is not marg...more
This is the sad tale of Iphigenia, the daughter of King Agamemnon. She is sacrificed by her father to the Goddess Artemis in order to create wind so that they (the Greeks) might sail to Troy - all to avenge the “kidnap” of the unhappily married Helen of Troy (or rather her elopement with Paris - the prince of Troy).
What is so special about “A Memory of Wind” is that unlike other stories around this particular Myth, in this telling Iphigenia is not marg...more
My first exposure to Swirsky (read it at Tor.com ), and all I can say is she can write. The story is a retelling of the sacrifice of Iphigenia during the Trojan War to bring wind to the fleet, and the basic plot follows the more tragic versions. I enjoy retellings of these myths, even the ones that are too tragic for my tastes. But the author's style bumps it up a notch for me. I won't hesitate to read any of her short stories I come across.
How can anybody not love this?
It's strange to see the myth of Troy and The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships from the eyes of a character I've never heard of.
I don't know how to describe something as tragic and dramatically beautiful as this. You can read the story online at Tor.com.
It's strange to see the myth of Troy and The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships from the eyes of a character I've never heard of.
I don't know how to describe something as tragic and dramatically beautiful as this. You can read the story online at Tor.com.
This was excellent. I think it would have been even more excellent if her editor had not allowed her to use the word "chary" three different times to describe eyes. Cautious or wary would have done just as well, and would have convinced me that "chary" was not just a vocabulary fluke that you were determined to use in a sentence by the end of the day.
I have always enjoyed this part of Greek myth, and Clytemnestra was one of my favorite characters. The Humanities course I attended claimed that Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon because he had her daughter killed, but Iphigenia was never heard from in my textbook. Reading this first-person memory was haunting. A must read for all myth fans.
This is actually a 4.5 for me, all things considered.
This was such a poignant, tragic story. There is an art to the author's sentences. The dialogue is rather modern, but to me, it only added to the tragic feeling...it made it feel much more real. I got a Lovely Bones feeling from this, but it was enjoyable of its on merits.
This was such a poignant, tragic story. There is an art to the author's sentences. The dialogue is rather modern, but to me, it only added to the tragic feeling...it made it feel much more real. I got a Lovely Bones feeling from this, but it was enjoyable of its on merits.
Beautifully written rendering of the story of Agamenon's sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia so that his ships could sail to Troy. It is haunting and heartbreaking and powerful, and true to the original myth. It's available for free on Tor's website, or as a free ebook download; I highly recommend it.
This short story about the sacrifice of Iphigenia, brought tears to my eyes. It's very poignant and moving. Ms. Swirsky's writing is so descriptive I felt as if I was Iphigenia, and watching the events occur. Greek lore is mostly tragic and Iphigenia's is just one of many sad tales.
Poetic retelling of Iphigenia at Aulis. The vivid sensory detail fades as the novella progresses, but that may be less an inability to sustain, and more intentional depiction of flesh and blood girl dissolving into spirit wind. Swirsky circles back again and again to two key familial moments in Iphigenia's life, fleshing out the memories a little at a time to emotionally coincide with the story's climax.
Visceral, heart-rending, and excellent. This 30-page FREE download from Tor.com is well worth your time, especially if you love Greek mythology or are a fan of speculative fiction. Swirsky's writing is nigh perfect here.
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Five out of five stars. Highly recommended.
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Five out of five stars. Highly recommended.
The dramatic irony in this short story is gut wrenching, and Iphigenia's voice is compelling and mature. The story was a little overwritten for me, but I found it really interesting to read about Iphigenia's part in the Trojan War from her perspective.
My first audio book. I didn't think I would enjoy a book in audio but I was wrong. This was a fascinating and tragic story, and I liked the way it was narrated, almost matter-of-factly, yet with some emotion, subdued but present.
2 likes · like · see review
This is a moving, poetic and pychological short novelette. It is the story of a human girl who is slowly but irrevocably becoming the Wind so that her father, who ordered her sacrificed to appease Artemis, can sail to Troy.
A beautifully-written novella--the Trojan War told from the point of view of Agamemnon's ill-fated daughter Iphigenia when she learns her father plans to sacrifice her in exchange for winds to sail the Greek fleet to Troy.
Aug 20, 2010
Natalie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes mythology
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I really liked this book. It was sad, yet beautifully written. The author did such an amazing job bringing the story and this young lady to life. Normally, I don't like sad endings, but this one was so well done, that it was worth reading.
I like the idea of taking non-essential characters from stories and making new stories with them. I didn't see the point in this story though. Also, having what is akin to a flashback in a short story is really hard to swallow.
I was so pleasantly surprised with this book. It is short but well worth reading. It had a dream like quality to the story. I love the new perspective it give the story of Helen of Troy and to Agamemnon's sacrifice. If you have a Kindle it is free to download.
I read this because it was grouped with the Hugo nominees and was free on iBooks for the iPad. It was an okay story about Iphigenia being transformed into wind.
You would not expect much meat to this story but the author does a steller job of fooling the mind into thinking the story is longer. A do not miss read.
It was very good for a short story. You really got a feel for the way she was starting to become the wind, and the feeling that she was loosing durning her transformation.
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Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop and is a graduate of Clarion West. Her work has been short-listed for the Nebula, the Hugo, and the Sturgeon Award, and placed second in 2010's Million Writers Award. In addition to numerous publications in magazines and anthologies, Swirsky is the author of three short stories published as e-books, "Eros, Philia, Agape," "The Memory of Wi...more
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