Orrie's Story

by Thomas Berger

A retelling of the Greek Oresteia trilogy through the lives of a seemingly ordinary small-town American family. The author also wrote "Little Big Man", "Killing Time" and several other novels.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Greek Mythology, Mythology

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Thomas Louis Berger was an American novelist, probably best known for his picaresque novel Little Big Man, which was adapted into a film by Arthur Penn. Berger explored and manipulated many genres of fiction throughout his career, including the crime novel, the hard-boiled detective story, science fiction, the utopian novel, plus re-workings of classical mythology, Arthurian legend, and the survival adventure.

Berger's use of humor and his often biting wit led many reviewers to refer to him as a satirist or "comic" novelist, though he rejected that classification.

Reviews

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

While better than the novel that preceded this one (_Changing the Past_), this transmogrification of the Oresteia poses some problems and doesn't show off Berger's wit and dexterity with prose to good effect. While the _idea_ of setting the tale of Orestes's murder of his mother and her lover in the days immediately following the end of World War II sounds like potential gold, there are some irreconcilable and fundamental differences between Greek culture and values and American culture and values that Berger is never quite able to overcome. For me, the most impressive thing about the novel is how Berger manages to keep the role of the Chorus in his work (there are even identifiable strophes and antistrophes in the chapters in which they appear). The other characters, however, are more problematic. While Agamemnon, in the original tragedy, did actually go to the Trojan War, his equivalent in this work did not, which I'm sure served Berger's need for irony, but frankly clouds the story and the motivations of the characters beyond redemption. Another example (and note that this is a potential spoiler) is the need to personify the Furies in the form of a prosecuting attorney who is happy that Orrie (Orestes) is acquitted of murdering his mother and lover. Both Orrie and Ellie (Electra) survive; this, therefore, is _not_ the Oresteia nor a tragedy. It's a rather mundane story of the murder of three more-or-less stock characters by an even more generic character. This is neither enlightening nor moving and is not one of Berger's better efforts.

[Suns Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reasons I gave it three stars is because it’s an interesting story yet generally unsatisfying. He wrote the women as cliche and dependent aside from one character. The men on the other hand seem to be different yet with not much depth. I’m very influenced by the way a book is written and set up and he had introduced characters and their backstories in the final chapters as well as not explaining main characters or separating their backstories and names very well so even now having finished the book I’m not fully aware of who was who and what their particular roles and importance to the story was but other Than all that the idea of the story kept me reading and I wasnt to uninterested.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

He never disappoints.

[Bill FromPA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Berger does for The Orestead what Jane Smiley dis for King Lear in A Thousand Acres. This retelling of classic stories by moving them forward in time is actually a common practice with stage productions of the classics and perhaps an even more frequent practice with opera productions. Berger comes up with many clever parallels, such as the "Chorus" being the regular patrons of a local bar, the Idle Hour, and manages to make the story interesting even for the reader who knows its outcome, at least in broad terms. However, the author leaves some threads dangling in the course of the tale.

Pat 1. Augie Mencken comes home from WWII and is murdered the same day by his wife Esther and her lover E. G. Actually Augie was working in a defense industry in the south where he has become engaged to young Cassie, who he intends to marry after divorcing Esther.
Part 2. Augie's son Orries comes home from college to attend his father's funeral. His sister Ellie tells him that E. G. and Esther killed Augie, but Orrie refuses to acknowledge this, though he is actually convinced this is true, as he finally admits to himself in Part 3.
Esther is unable to claim Augie's Army insurance death benefit. After Esther's death, this story thread is dropped and Augie's imposture is never discovered by any characters. It isn't clear why Berger introduced this element into the story, except to maintain Augie as a thoroughly unheroic figure.
During a violent assault by E.G. on Esther, Orries kills both with Augie's shotgun.
Part 3. Orrie and Ellie are living with the childless Terwilligers, friends of Augie. In a brief chapter we are told that Cassie has died. Ellie receives a letter from her sister Gena who ran away from home shortly after Augie left for the "army". Gena has joined a cult in California; Ellie destroys the letter. Orrie is tried for manslaughter but acquitted. Ellie has an informal engagement with Orrie's college roommate, Paul; Orrie has met and fallen in love with the Terwilliger's niece, Hermione.

Previous: Changing the Past
Next: Meeting Evil

[Aaron Martz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly straightforward crime story from Thomas Berger, lacking both the dark humor and tension brought to his other similar works, Meeting Evil and The Houseguest. His writing, as usual, is impeccable, and there are twists and turns in the story that I didn't see coming, but it all seemed rather forgettable, and certainly paled in comparison to his greater works.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern retelling of Orestes. Too bad this fell out of print!