eveningsout
The Trojan War seen through a postmodern lens
An Arrow's Flight
by Mark Merlis
$13.95, 384 pp, trade paperback St. Martin's Press,
Stonewall Inn Editions
Reviewed by Kaizaad Kotwal
The biggest paradox in the world of books these days is that while many are lamenting the decline of reading, publishers are churning out books faster than ever. Regardless, great books are still hard to find, and when found, sweeter joys cannot be described. Mark Merlis' An Arrow's Flight is a standout novel that is simply brilliant. Just when it seemed that there were no unique ideas left in writing, Merlis counters with a story that is both timely and timeless.
Merlis broke onto the literary scene with American Studies in 1994 and won raves for a compassionate and sweeping story of an older gay man forced to reckon with his past while lying in a hospital bed recovering from an attack by a hustler. American Studies, through the reminiscing of a gay man from a bygone era, becomes a meditation on what it meant to be gay in preStonewall America.
If American Studies was epic, then Merlis' sophomore outing, An Arrow's Flight, is an uberepic. Here Merlis has the audacity to take on one of the oldest and greatest of western myths, the Trojan War, and his chutzpah would make Homer blush.
At another level this novel is about transformations and metamorphosis. Primarily we watch Pyrrhus struggle with trading in the freedom of gyrating naked on a bar in lieu of a waltz with impending doom and a tango with the diseased Philoctetes.
In many ways, this is a coming of age and a coming out fable, but Merlis' genius is so superb that old ideas seem stunningly new and radical while timeless myths become contemporary and explosively relative to the post-Stonewall era.
Merlis works in his metaphors seamlessly and seductively, making it hard to put this book down once one boards this arrow's
Mark Merlis
In An Arrow's Flight Merlis' conceit is to retell the final days of the Trojan War through a postmodern lens fractured by the dazzling brilliance of modern gay liberation and tinted by the persistent pestilence of AIDS. The protagonist here is Pyrrhus (more regally known as Neoptolemus), son of Achil-
les, who in his Merlisian incarnation is a go-go
MARK MERLIS dancer in a city
AN ARROW'S FLIGHT
that is nowhere in particular and everywhere all at
once.
The Trojan War has reached a stalemate, Achilles is dead and the Oracles are up to their usual manipulative shenanigans. The prophecies have chosen Pyrrhus as the one who will lead the Greeks to victory over Troy.
Phoenix, the eunuch advisor, finds Pyrrhus, the "hemidemigod," but before Pyrrhus can succeed he must acquire a magical bow from Philoctetes. Legend tells us that Philoctetes was abandoned on the island of Lemnos by his fellow sailors because his festering wounds from a snake bite refused to heal. Pyrrhus must seduce the diseased Philoctetes to acquire the bow.
Also competing for the bow is Paris (Helen's suitor) who must mask his heterosexuality in order to also try to seduce Philoctetes. Odysseus, the Greek Commander, is reincarnated as an aging lawyer.
An Arrow's Flight is about manipulative recruiting and political seductions. The title suggests the fluidity of an arrow's flight through space, straight and unidirectional. Paradoxically, the journeys that the characters are destined to undertake are tangential, circuitous and bound by earth and sea.
flight through the troubled and tawdry firmaments of Pyrrhus' universe.
While it is clear that Philoctetes' festering snakebite is a lucid metaphor for AIDS, never once does Merlis use its name. Much of the book is about things with no names or generic ones and yet it all seems so palpable, easily recognizable and intimately identifiable.
Pyrrhus' seduction of Philoctetes is ultimately about two generations colliding with distinctly differing gay sensibilities. Merlis, ambitiously, is not just retelling the Trojan War myth, he is also revisiting the varied trajectories of queer history and gay liberation.
Merlis tells us in a note at the end of the novel that the story of Philoctetes and Pyrrhus "has been recounted for almost three millennia." There are varying accounts through history and early accounts were passed on orally. We also know that history has primarily been written by its winners. All this is not lost on Merlis and his novel reminds us that history is far from absolute and factual.
This novel tangentially raises the idea that groups struggling for liberation must write their own stories. More importantly, when our history is told by others, we must reclaim our own histories for ourselves.
In the hands of a lesser writer all this would be unmanageable and chaotic. In the magical and meticulous mind of Merlis, An Arrow's Flight soars with intrigue, compassion, and seductive skill. Above all, this novel is compellingly sexy and richly passionate. This is one of the best books (gay or straight) to emerge in recent memory. It took Merlis four years since American Studies to give us An Arrow's Flight. It's been a wait well worth it and a literary reward worthy of Greek Gods.
Kaizaad Kotwal is a Chronicle contributing writer in Columbus.
November 5, 1999 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE — 15
Robert M. Kuhnhenn, DO
Board Certified in Family Practice
Graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Former Practicing Faculty at the Hassler Center for Family Medicine
Specializing in comprehensive "family" care; including newborns, pediatrics, adolescents, well adult, geriatrics, health maintenance and osteopathic manipulation for musculoskeletal problems.
Provider on Most Medical Plans
ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS, CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT
29325 HEALTH CAMPUS DR. SUITE #1 WESTLAKE, OHIO 440-899-4400
Airfares to Europe Have Never Been Lower!
Frankfurt $540* London $565* Paris $535. Munich $555*
•
·
Above fares are per person roundtrip and include taxes.
Departures are from Columbus and are for mid-week travel. Weekend surcharges apply.
Rates based on availability.
Barcelona $525
Rome $532
Departures are out of Cincinnati. Winter fares are valid from 1 November, 1999 thru 15 March, 2000 and are subject to availability. Certain restrictions apply. Call 614-888-6133 for further info.
Ski the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland for $999 this Thanksgiving!
Price includes airfare hotel stay, daily breakfast and taxes Ski lift passes extra. Leave late Tuesday or Wednesday evening, return Monday, 29 Nov. Call 614-888-6133 to book now!
SKI TRIPS!
Beginning at $234 per person
STAY 3 NIGHTS SKI 3 DAYS AND THE 4TH NIGHT AND DAY ARE FREE! Keystone Resorts All packages include hotel/ski passes & taxes. Air/hotel/ski packages available. Similar rates and packages available at Telluride and Breckenridge Resorts.
Powell Travel Center
Powelltravel@Prodigy.net
55 E. Olentangy Street • Powell, Ohio 43065
614-888-6133
Lowest Prices in the Travel Industry! Gay Owned and Operated