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A review by abij
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Not perfect but I loved it and honestly didn't want to put it down.
Two men in BC Syracuse direct plays by Euripides using Athenian prisoners of war as actors initially by bribing them with food??
The whole thing is massively uncomfortable obviously with the power imbalance between prisoners and the main characters - but in this way it somehow still feels authentic. The questionable and contradictory morality of the main characters and their methods while interacting with prisoners in order to stage plays is so strange and sometimes made me wish the author had explored certain things more deeply - however the more I think on it, the more I can see the subtlety in the story and I'm quite happy that the author didn't bash me over the head with obvious messages in order to provide a morality tale.
It was funny and frustrating (you will not like the main characters but you will love them and root for them), and the whole thing was made perfect by the use of the modern Irish vernacular in an ancient Sicilian setting.
Will definitely be a memorable read and a favourite of the year...
"Gelon's mad for Euripides. It's the main reason he comes. I think he would've been almost happy for the Athenians to have won if it meant Euripides would've popped over and put on some plays. He once spent a month's wages to pay an old actor to come to our factory and recite scenes while we shaped pots. The foreman said it was reducing productivity, and he threw the actor out. Gelon didn't give up, though. He had the actor shout the lines from across the street. You'd hear snatches of poetry through the blaze of the kiln, and though I think we made fewer pots that week, they were stranger, more beauti ful. This was all before the war, and the actor's dead now, the factory gone. I look over at Gelon. His blue eyes wide and nervous. A block of cheese held over his head. Shouting about olives. Gelon's just mad. Never mind Euripides." p.8
Two men in BC Syracuse direct plays by Euripides using Athenian prisoners of war as actors initially by bribing them with food??
The whole thing is massively uncomfortable obviously with the power imbalance between prisoners and the main characters - but in this way it somehow still feels authentic. The questionable and contradictory morality of the main characters and their methods while interacting with prisoners in order to stage plays is so strange and sometimes made me wish the author had explored certain things more deeply - however the more I think on it, the more I can see the subtlety in the story and I'm quite happy that the author didn't bash me over the head with obvious messages in order to provide a morality tale.
It was funny and frustrating (you will not like the main characters but you will love them and root for them), and the whole thing was made perfect by the use of the modern Irish vernacular in an ancient Sicilian setting.
Will definitely be a memorable read and a favourite of the year...
"Gelon's mad for Euripides. It's the main reason he comes. I think he would've been almost happy for the Athenians to have won if it meant Euripides would've popped over and put on some plays. He once spent a month's wages to pay an old actor to come to our factory and recite scenes while we shaped pots. The foreman said it was reducing productivity, and he threw the actor out. Gelon didn't give up, though. He had the actor shout the lines from across the street. You'd hear snatches of poetry through the blaze of the kiln, and though I think we made fewer pots that week, they were stranger, more beauti ful. This was all before the war, and the actor's dead now, the factory gone. I look over at Gelon. His blue eyes wide and nervous. A block of cheese held over his head. Shouting about olives. Gelon's just mad. Never mind Euripides." p.8