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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Started and finished another Trojan tale! Heard some great things about this feminist retelling, and after loving Silence of the Girls and the Women of Troy I had high hopes of striking gold again. Well... half of what I struck did turn out to be gold, and the other half just plain stone (I may have taken the metaphor too far....).
Natalie Haynes does a brilliant job of presenting the impact of the Trojan war on the many women who are too often mentioned almost in a perfunctory manner in Trojan retellings. Through the perspective of about a dozen female characters, some who we follow at a staggered pace from beginning and end, and some who we follow for just one chapter, Natalie Haynes creates a vivid image of the tragedy the Trojan war wrought on the women in a whole variety of forms.
I would say to push through the opening third of this book. It is very well written, but I felt that there was no fluctuation in tone and atmosphere, which made it feel a bit stagnant. Very different events were depicted, but the narration seemed to just continue with the exact same emotion. However, after about a third, it completely changed. There was a great mix of moods and atmospheres as we jumped from one character to another, and I really felt the grief, confusion and anger of these figures. From Cassandra to Andromache to Iphigenia to Penelope to Hecuba, we have a wide variety of characters who respond to the tragedies that unfold in a very interesting variety of manners and truly offers a range of emotion
So, this really was a book of two tales. Initially it was interesting, but without a strong hook. And then it became great, with some brilliant moments. I became immersed. I felt engaged and invested and clicked with Natalie Haynes' writing style. I felt the characters suddenly emerge as unique, with their own voices and motivations and desires and regrets, and each perspective came to feel distinctive.
Overall, I feel that Natalie Haynes was slightly too ambitious with the amount of characters and perspectives, so that I was just short of that attachment needed to move me and make me love A Thousand Ships. But I really respect what Haynes has done with A Thousand Ships, and will definitely pick up more of her works, as I feel that with closer character work, I could love a book she puts out.
3/5 STARS
Natalie Haynes does a brilliant job of presenting the impact of the Trojan war on the many women who are too often mentioned almost in a perfunctory manner in Trojan retellings. Through the perspective of about a dozen female characters, some who we follow at a staggered pace from beginning and end, and some who we follow for just one chapter, Natalie Haynes creates a vivid image of the tragedy the Trojan war wrought on the women in a whole variety of forms.
I would say to push through the opening third of this book. It is very well written, but I felt that there was no fluctuation in tone and atmosphere, which made it feel a bit stagnant. Very different events were depicted, but the narration seemed to just continue with the exact same emotion. However, after about a third, it completely changed. There was a great mix of moods and atmospheres as we jumped from one character to another, and I really felt the grief, confusion and anger of these figures. From Cassandra to Andromache to Iphigenia to Penelope to Hecuba, we have a wide variety of characters who respond to the tragedies that unfold in a very interesting variety of manners and truly offers a range of emotion
So, this really was a book of two tales. Initially it was interesting, but without a strong hook. And then it became great, with some brilliant moments. I became immersed. I felt engaged and invested and clicked with Natalie Haynes' writing style. I felt the characters suddenly emerge as unique, with their own voices and motivations and desires and regrets, and each perspective came to feel distinctive.
Overall, I feel that Natalie Haynes was slightly too ambitious with the amount of characters and perspectives, so that I was just short of that attachment needed to move me and make me love A Thousand Ships. But I really respect what Haynes has done with A Thousand Ships, and will definitely pick up more of her works, as I feel that with closer character work, I could love a book she puts out.
3/5 STARS
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
informative
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Hearing from Penelope in the form of letters to Odysseus was made her story feel more personal. It almost felt like we were reading her diary. Overall I loved the women of Troy getting a voice through familiar and unfamiliar stories. Including the incidents and conversations among the gods.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
I enjoyed this book, it was interesting to hear all the stories of women in the Trojan war, often so overlooked. I thought some moments were genuinely brilliant, and I loved the inclusion of characters like Gaia or Calliope. However, I was slightly disappointed by the Penelope chapters: I just don’t think they really added anything at all to her character and were generally a bit weak. I also would have loved to see more of Andromache, she is one of my favourite women in the Iliad
Still, all in all, a very interesting read
Still, all in all, a very interesting read
I absolutely loved this retelling of the story of the Trojan wars. I enjoyed the way the story unfolded but through the eyes of so many of the women giving a new insight to such an old story.
All in all a good book. I read this book coming off of the Madeline Miller high, looking to sate my thirst for more. Though not as poetically written, perhaps that is representative of the more brutal stories being told. Very interesting to get more detailed looks into the many women involved in (on all sides and from all angles of) Trojan war especially by an author who is willing to give appropriate lengths of time to the characters (not dragging out deaths, being short, sweet and succinct with all, something as a reader, I appreciate). The only thing keeping this from 5 stars is the through narrative of Calliope, the switching between characters provided enough world building without having it set in the context of a muse saying cheesy and worn out lines about justice for historical women.