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410 reviews for:
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
Kara Cooney
3.71 AVERAGE
410 reviews for:
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
Kara Cooney
3.71 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I really enjoy Kara Cooney's works. This is the second book I've listened to and I always learn so much. I think Kara does an excellent job presenting her research while making it approachable for non-historians.
When does the Hollywood version of Hatshepsut's life come to the big screen? Although many readers were frustrated by Dr. Cooney's perceptions of what "possibly" or "likely" happened, I found them thought provoking and even allowed me to try to get inside the mind of the great Hatshepsut. One can only begin to imagine the possibilities of what really happened not only during her reign but how she was treated afterward and why. Although I imagine she would not be someone I would like as a person, I do admire many things about this self made woman who really had no royal lineage. Her intellect, vision and endurance to succeed in her self made role is true testimony to that all things are possible, even for a girl yet to become a woman. As with most non fiction biographies of this nature, I had to go back and reread several times different passages to make sure I understood or read them correctly. The description of her embalming was complete, leaving me cringing at the account. The lasting impression of the Egyptian culture, as any of the ancients, are to be remembered in our fast paced modern world. The length of the dynasties,care of future generations, and homage to those who went before them can only be recognized as positive qualities to their existence. Hatshepsut was fit to be king with the understanding and delivering all that was needed to make Egypt stronger. An enjoyable read even for someone who may not enjoy biographies.
An amazing historical memoir about what we know of one of the first female rulers of history. Hatshepsut is an absolute inspiration, even millennia later.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I like the author's attempt to bring the ancient culture to life, though it is through conjecture. I enjoyed learning about politics in ancient Egypt. It's amazing we can know as much as we do, all these years later.
A very detailed exploration of some parts of life in the ancient world inside a well reasoned and well informed meditation on the life of Hatshepsut and why she isn’t as famous as she should be
Egypt is one of those locales of which I inhale anything that I can find – be in fiction or non-fiction. Non-fiction that focuses on the royal women of Egypt is a rare sight indeed and I was excited to see The Woman Who Would Be King would be taking on the subject of Hatshepsut. She was such a fascinating woman who was one of the most powerful women of her age and I have been fascinated by how after her death it was attempted to erase her from history.
This book addresses both the life of Hatshepsut as well as the time and place around her. The setting was well brought to life and I learned so much about Egypt during the preceding reign as well as her own. However, my struggles came with regards to the discussion of the life of Hatshepsut, the part I was most interested in here. So much of her life is an unknown and that is part of the problem, albeit one that the author acknowledges. In her discussion of Hatshepsut’s life, so much that is presented is done so in the form of a question or in terms of speculation, worded such as “perhaps she did this” or “perhaps she thought that”. If that usage was merely sprinkled occasionally throughout the text I would not take issue with that, as of course there are things that may not be known, however, it is entirely overused here. Coming away from this book I felt that all I learned was even more speculation, and I was hoping for more. It also made for the text to be a little clunky as each “perhaps” stood out to me.
There was certainly great research done here into the time and place, it came to life, and if this was a book about Hatshepsut’s times, I wouldn’t have any issues with the book. It never felt like a book on Hatshepsut though.
This book is narrated by the author, which always leaves me a little hesitant as I have had good and bad experiences with self-narrated books. I can attest here that this was an occasion where the author did a great job with narrating her work. Based on her experience as an Egyptologist I fully believe her pronunciation of those difficult Egyptian names. Additionally, I thought that she pulled off a perfect pacing and cadence to her narration.
This book was previously reviewed at The Maiden's Court blog.
This book addresses both the life of Hatshepsut as well as the time and place around her. The setting was well brought to life and I learned so much about Egypt during the preceding reign as well as her own. However, my struggles came with regards to the discussion of the life of Hatshepsut, the part I was most interested in here. So much of her life is an unknown and that is part of the problem, albeit one that the author acknowledges. In her discussion of Hatshepsut’s life, so much that is presented is done so in the form of a question or in terms of speculation, worded such as “perhaps she did this” or “perhaps she thought that”. If that usage was merely sprinkled occasionally throughout the text I would not take issue with that, as of course there are things that may not be known, however, it is entirely overused here. Coming away from this book I felt that all I learned was even more speculation, and I was hoping for more. It also made for the text to be a little clunky as each “perhaps” stood out to me.
There was certainly great research done here into the time and place, it came to life, and if this was a book about Hatshepsut’s times, I wouldn’t have any issues with the book. It never felt like a book on Hatshepsut though.
This book is narrated by the author, which always leaves me a little hesitant as I have had good and bad experiences with self-narrated books. I can attest here that this was an occasion where the author did a great job with narrating her work. Based on her experience as an Egyptologist I fully believe her pronunciation of those difficult Egyptian names. Additionally, I thought that she pulled off a perfect pacing and cadence to her narration.
This book was previously reviewed at The Maiden's Court blog.