THE GREAT CHIMERA (1953), was, I'm sad to say, a disappointment. I am aware that many readers (mostly Greek) love this classic novel so I tried very hard to discover its finest points. I failed miserably. It is safe to say that I don't like melodrama, and this novel is full of it.
Marina, the protagonist, is a French beauty. A narcissistic, ravishing beauty, and a highly educated, brilliant young woman (with, oh horror, a mother with a shady past). She falls in love with a wonderful, handsome, rich Greek sea captain, she moves to the island of Syros, they marry, they have a child and they are idylically happy for several years.
Her enchanted life comes to an end abruptly when her husband's business suffers a setback and he needs to leave Syros for a long period of time. Marina remains in Syros with her intimidating mother- in-law and their sweet, little daughter. Poor Marina is bored to death, she has to be rather frugal because they are broke and worst of all, she now has this strong sexual desire. She becomes wild with desire. Finally she can no longer resist sexual temptation, she does the wrong thing and all manner of tragic things happen after a couple of indiscretions.
During most of the narrative the focus is on Marina's interiority and, in my opinion, the author got it totally wrong. Marina seems to belong to the world of a Greek tragedy, not to the early 20th century novel. Karagatsis seems to dislike Marina. She is represented as a dirty, sinful, hysterical nymphomanic. Even the gods despise her. She is so despicable that the unruly Erinyes punish her for her transgression. And what a mighty punishment they have chosen!
Marina is a FOREIGNER. This is not a minor detail. Only a foreigner can be so utterly flawed, so driven by deterministic, uncontrollable forces which she cannot understand or fight. Marina fails because she can never fully acclimatize to Greece, although she has tried hard.
THE GREAT CHIMERA is a sexist relic of its time. The author seems to believe that strong biological forces determine our actions, our character, our fates. These forces are inexorable and in this novel they are lodged, of course, in the FOREIGNER. No wonder Marina identifies with Medea: she will always be an outsider.
2.5🌟