Erica Jong decided to take a leap in her new novel, taking readers into the past to the times of ancient Egyptians and Romans. In the book, “Sappho’s Leap,” Jong tries to bring the life of Sappho, one of history’s greatest poets to life for her audience.
Jong takes Sappho’s still existing poetic phrases and weaves them into her writing, as she attempts to narrate Sappho’s life. Readers learn of Sappho’s childhood, her marriage and her lovers. They receive an intimate glance at what could have been Sappho’s life, mixed with a sprinkling of Egyptian and Greek mythology.
The story begins with Sappho climbing to the top of a mountain. She has only one goal in mind – she wants to commit suicide. According to legend, Sappho did commit suicide while calling out for the man she truly loves. Then Jong takes her audience back to Sappho’s childhood, where starts her fictional narration of the legendary poet.
Although Jong uses all kinds of scenic vocabulary and beautiful words to create ancient images of the past, some of the scenes she is creating can be nauseating. The sex scenes Sappho has with her partners, including the love of her life Alcaeus, an Egyptian priestess, and other mythological gods and legends are more detailed then they need to be. In fact, with every other page displaying a sex scene, it seems Jong thought the only way to sell her book was by emphasizing sex as much as possible.
Many already know of Sappho’s lesbian pleasures, but Jong does not need to go into every intricate aspect of lesbian sex. In fact, many don’t even want to read about the ins and outs of hetero-sex either.
Jong also needs to work on making the novel more exciting. Instead of going from one sexual scene to the next, Jong could try to concentrate on other angles of Sappho’s life. Readers might be more interested in the adventures of Sappho’s life – for instance, how she lived during the ancient Greek and Roman times. Although Jong does touch on such areas, she places such a strong focus on Sappho’s sexual life that people are too preoccupied with the love scenes to think about anything else.
However, Jong should be given credit for one thing. She does at least stimulate an individual’s mind. For those readers who know nothing about Sappho or her life, Jong does a wonderful job in displaying the known facts about Sappho’s life.
It is obvious through Jong’s writings she spent much time researching Sappho. Not much is known about Sappho, other than the fact she was probably the first celebrated lesbian poet. No one knows much about the poet, who was born in about 600 B.C. No one knows what the orator looked like. Her images come from figments of people’s imaginations. Not to mention, only one of her poems has lasted throughout the years in its complete version.
This novel is not the only time Jong has tried to recapture history and spring it alive through the words of a book. Two of her previous novels, “Fanny” and “Shylock’s Daughter,” have also been historical narratives. In fact, Jong has received many awards for her work, including the United Nations Award for Excellence. With all the praise she has received, it is surprising her novel is such a disappointment.
“Sappho’s Leap” is not the kind of novel people will be raving about for years to come. Instead, it will be one of those lying in the attic with dust and spiders crawling across the cover of the torn book.
This book was provided foir review by Barnes and Nobleat the Lennox Towne Center.
