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milliewhattt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Child death, Misogyny, Rape, War, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Genocide, Suicide, Slavery, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Infidelity
friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Gore, Infertility, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, and Grief
annasbookreviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War
itsredandread's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Slavery, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Pregnancy and Death of parent
gracewiley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, War, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Death, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, and Sexism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, Vomit, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, Excrement, Domestic abuse, and Infertility
incrediblemelk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I haven't read The Song of Achilles but its treatment of the Achilles/Patroclus relationship would be an interesting point of comparison with The Silence of the Girls, which focuses much more on Briseis, the Trojan queen who becomes Achilles' fateful, fought-over war prize.
Here, Achilles and Patroclus are joked about as gay lovers among the other Greeks, but share a deeper and harder to explain love that stems from some childhood mutual recognition of trauma. Patroclus is basically the nicest of the men Briseis meets, and she comes to love him too (no, not in that way) to the point where their shared loss of Patroclus provokes a kind of rapprochement between Achilles and Briseis towards the end of the book.
In general this is quite a striking and grim picture of life for noncombatants in the Greek war village outside Troy, nine years into the Trojan War, who have been living there long enough to have small children by their captors. Barker vividly summons the misery of enslavement and the different ways in which different women respond to their change in social circumstances.
When we talk of war we imagine soldiers living alone and self-sufficiently in a homosocial environment, but this novel brings to life those whom historians patronisingly call "camp followers" and frame as parasitic opportunists. This novel is full of the textures of domestic life: cooking, cleaning, weaving cloth, tending to fires, serving meals, the problems of waste management and the pleasures of grinding herbs for medicine.
Knowing the mythology and the other literary depictions of these characters made the novel more rewarding – for instance, the way Barker treats the supernatural in both a skeptical and a quotidian way. Briseis doesn't believe that Achilles truly was invulnerable except for his heel – that's clearly propaganda to her – yet we see his nymph mum Thetis emerging from the mist-cloaked sea, and witness the way Hector's corpse miraculously becomes whole every time Achilles tries to desecrate it.
After Chryses, priest of Apollo, is rebuffed when he pleads with Agamemnon to return his daughter Chryseis, Briseis joins in the prayers to the "Lord of the silver arrows" and "Lord of mice", and plague strikes the camp and begins to spread from the sick rats, in what could be either a natural consequence of the filthy conditions, or the god's revenge.
The tragic irony, of course, is that Agamemnon is one of the most superstitious characters, and yet his petty mortal selfishness leads him to fatally offend the gods again and again. Of any of the Greeks, his actions are basically most directly responsible for the carnage of Troy and its long repercussions through Greek life, from the complete destruction of the House of Atreus to the Odyssey.
Briseis witnesses the final captivity of the Trojan royal women and observes that everyone is annoyed by Cassandra's raving prophecy that she and Agamemnon are heading off to their deaths. "Mate, I wouldn't want to have that in my bed," says one soldier – and it's the everyday blokeyness of these men, juxtaposed with the misery they inflict on women, that makes this a striking read.
It's less successful when it leaves Briseis's point of view and adopts that of Achilles himself. I found myself wishing Barker hadn't done this. It illuminates Achilles' character but it seems out of place in a book whose raison d'être seems to be restoring the voice of "silent" women.
BTW I really didn't like the title – it just reminded me of The Silence of the Lambs, but the novel doesn't borrow any of the themes of that story so why piggyback on it? It's based on an ancient ideology that linked women's virtue to their silence and invisibility. The whole Trojan conflict was caused by men but projected onto women, so it was interesting to give voice to Briseis.
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Violence, War, Death, Gore, Grief, and Slavery
Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Genocide
jabberwalky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, War, Slavery, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Animal death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Kidnapping, Slavery, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Suicide, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Excrement, Pregnancy, and Vomit
ladystardust1979's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, War, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Rape, Grief, Misogyny, Slavery, and Violence
franzeerdbeerbacke's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Mental illness, War, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Deportation, Genocide, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship