The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur (2006)

Eight characters find themselves in separate cells with a computer set to a chat room their only link to each other. They can leave their cells to enter a labyrinth but is it the same labyrinth? All we see is their chat room conversation as they explore and attempt to understand their environment.

A cute concept, especially as I was reading it on my ereader. However, when I looked at the Amazon entry for the physical book and saw it was 250 pages long, I must admit my heart did sink a little.

The narrative parts were fine and read very fluently, but I have to admit the more philosophical discussions about the nature of their virtual reality as a metaphor of real-world reality were way over my head in places. ( )

Produced for Cannongate's The Myths series and recreating and updating to modern times the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Written in the form of posts to a bulletin board, the reader (or lurker) follows along as the posters tell of their experiences having found themselves alone in a room with just a keyboard and screen for company. All they can do is post to a single thread and any form of personal information is censored by moderators. Exploring their environment reveals they each have their own part of a labyrinth and further information is relayed via dreams to Ariadne, one of the posters, who then relates to the rest of the group. There is a lot of philosophising about their predicament and the reality of it all and I'm not very adroit at weeding out the information in this form so no doubt have missed a whole heap of stuff that would have helped make sense of what was going on. I'm not even sure a re-read would help me that much. Even so, there was enough here to keep me whizzing around the next corner to see what was there. ( )

This book is a total mindf*ck. - Thoughts on The Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin (translated from Russian by Andrew Bromfield)

Here’s the thing: I don’t know what to feel about this book. It frustrates me; it frustrates me to no end after reading. You see, I didn’t get it. No, that's not true, because I did, really, generally get it. But that’s the thing, see – it’s the surface things that I understood, but for anyone who’s ever read Victor Pelevin, there’s always more to his books, and The Helmet of Horror is no exception. Merely understanding does not cut it.

So why am I so frustrated? Why don’t I just altogether hate the book and be done with it? Because it’s so good, that’s why – it is dark, it is funny, it’s subtle, it’s shrewd. It loses you and then pulls you back again and then loses you again, but this time it is you who forces yourself back in it. It is a labyrinthine book about labyrinths – actual and imagined, in all shapes and sizes and meaning – and nothing gets crazier than that.

Pelevin’s modern (and nothing says modern more than a chatroom conversation by virtual strangers, from different backgrounds and with different issues in life) adaptation of the story of the labyrinth, the Minotaur (half man, half bull), Ariadne and Theseus, The Helmet of Horror gets weirder and darker and seemingly confounded as it progresses. It reminds me of the movie Saw, only minus the bloodshed and more of a psychological thriller of sorts. “I shall construct a labyrinth in which I can lose myself, together with anyone who tries to find me,” so it begins, opening up a cyberworld devoid of time and true identity, and touches on aspects of religion, philosophy, politics, technology, even love. “In fact, the whole cycle is simply the circulation of now in various states of mind, in the same way that water can be ice, or the sea, or thirst.”

And yet, with all that heaviness, Pelevin nevertheless threw in some irony and humor for good measure – moments that allowed for one to breathe in-between lines. Mind you, though, these were inserted by Pelevin in the long-winded conversations so discreetly, so as not to mess with the whole somber, mysterious mood of the book. A sampling:

“Dead people don’t hang around in chat rooms.”

“People go bald because they have no choice, but they shave their heads out of self-respect.”

“If you had genuinely free choice, the results could be pretty miserable.”

“If we start worrying about spies, pretty soon the world will be full of them.”

And my favorite, on the subject of free will – not only because the analogy is funny, but because it’s so true, too:

“Life’s like falling off a roof. Can you stop on the way? No. Can you turn back? No. Can you fly off sideways? Only in an advertisement for underpants specially made for jumping off roofs. all free will means is you can choose whether to fart in mid-flight or wait till you hit the ground. And that’s what all the philosophers argue about.”

This book deserves a re-read – one day, when I’m ready enough to devour the book entirely, and not just nibble on the surface. And if this is how Pelevin leaves me after reading his books – babbling and confused – the by Jove, bring it on.

PS. The title isn’t a quote from the book – I couldn’t find one (or if there was one, I’d have missed it) to fully encompass what the book is. Also, it really is a mindfuck.

PPS. Look out for Romeo-y-Cohiba and IsoldA - they’re my favorite of the bunch of online misfits.

Originally posted here. ( )

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Q: What is the Helmet of Horror?

A: The sound of one hand clapping. ( )